Taffy 3 and the Battle off Samar: Against the Odds

neutrino109 · February 4, 2015

By 1944, things were looking bleak for the IJN and Japan in general, seeing the USN gaining the upper hand. The US had slowly but steadily been capturing Japanese held territory island by island, and now they were preparing to strike at Leyte in the Philippines. So they decided to bait the main US naval force away to think they were retreating, and the big Japanese fleet shall bring its wrath onto the unprotected landing fleet. It was a genius plan, as the main USN force was successfully baited away, and the trap was set as the main Japanese fleet prepared to shrek the unprotected landing force. But then they stumbled upon the little ships of Taffy 3, an escort carrier force consisting of 6 escort carriers (with FM-2 Wildcats and TBF Avengers) 3 destroyers, and 4 destroyer escorts while the Japanese had 4 battleships including the Yamato, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 11 destroyers, a terrible mismatch. To add to the image, the mighty Yamato alone displaced as much water as the entire Taffy 3 fleet. Not to mention the IJN had long range cannons as large as 18.1 inches on the Yamato, but the USN only had a few 5 inch cannons, 5 per destroyer, 2 per destroyer escort, and 1 per escort carrier. Despite the markedly longer range in the Japanese guns, the Americans had a sneaky trick up their sleeve: Mk 37 fire-control system that allowed them to deliver their small shells on target. Yet the Americans were only prepared to strike ground targets, so most of their weapons were ineffective against ships. An Avenger flying an anti-submarine patrol at around six in the morning, 25th of October, discovered the shocking Japanese force 31km away from Taffy 3, well within gun range, and even though he only had depth charges, he bounced a few of them off the deck the cruiser just to spite them. Taffy 3 spotted the anti-aircraft fire and soon came under attack but the commander of the Japanese fleet couldn't find those damned little silhouettes of the escort carriers in the identification book, so he guessed them to be the main carrier fleet and decided to eliminate them first, forming an anti-aircraft formation but this forced them into a stern chase where they were restricted to use of their forward guns only while the carriers could still use their single 5 inch gun and aircraft; the American commander ordered the carriers to retreat into a storm to reduce visibility while the destroyers, known for their fragility as "tin cans" deployed smoke screens. Then the destroyers turned to attack, likely in vain, but their aggressiveness fooled the Japanese into thinking that they were cruisers and destroyers (not destroyer escorts) instead. Thus the story is told from the ship's perspectives.

The destroyer USS Johnson engaged first, using its fire-control system to effect by scoring several big hits on the heavy cruiser Kumano at the guns' max range of 19km. The Johnston continued to engage, firing over 200 shells while dodging the Japanese fire, moving into torpedo range and fired 10 torpedoes at max range, 8200m, hitting the Kumano a couple times and forcing the battleship Kongo to disengage and then disengaged with a smoke screen. Then several hits from the Kongo and the Yamato crippled the Johnson, taking out power to the rear guns, limiting speed, search radar down, and dead and wounded everywhere but the fact that the Johnson didn't have much fuel it didn't explode and soon commenced attacking again, shooting at a destroyer than some cruisers. Then the Johnson engaged a heavy cruiser that was attacking the escort carriers. Seven Japanese Destroyers followed to engage, but the Johnson "crossed the T" and forced them to disengage. Finally it was being barraged dead in the water, and the captain gave the signal to abandon ship, but it went down with 186 crew. The surviving crew, however, noted with satisfaction that the honorable Japanese captain of a destroyer saluted the Johnston in its dying moments, sinking into the sea.

The destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts was known as the "destroyer escort that fought like a battleship." During the beginning of the engagement, it snuck up on the unsuspecting Japanese ships under cover of the smoke screen and fired torpedoes at close range, crippling the heavy cruiser Chokai from 3700m. The plucky Roberts slipped back into the smoke screen and engaged the heavy cruiser Chikuma, trading broadsides and although the Roberts had less firepower and armor, it used its better accuracy, rate of fire, speed, and small size to its advantage, crippling the Chikuma along with help from the Heerman. Ultimately, the rest of the mighty Japanese cruisers and battleships opened fire, and they took severe damage but fought on, until the Kongo was credited with destroying its final engines, and it's battle was finished.

The destroyer Hoel was the flagship of destroyer/destroyer escort screen, and it first engaged a heavy cruiser, scoring multiple hits, but this got the attention of the rest of the fleet, putting it in the deadly fire of the Japanese fleet. It let loose a salvo of torpedoes but was crippled by gunfire shortly thereafter, slowing it down and jamming its rudder. It then fired some torpedoes, getting possible hits but was surrounded by the enemy, trading shots with its 2 remaining 5 inch guns until the order to abandon ship was given. It was the first Taffy 3 ship to sink and the one with the highest losses (proportion wise) but it is important to note that even though the order was given, the two forward gunners remained in position trading shots with a cruiser and several destroyers, and it wasn't until the vessel capsized did the Japanese seize fire.

The destroyer Heerman first engaged the heavy cruiser with 5 inch guns Haguro and put in just over half a salvo of torpedoes, then engaged 3 battleships. The leader Haruna was under fire by 5 inch guns while more torpedoes were launched; although none hit, it forced the Yamato away from battle, a decisive shot. It then engaged the Nagato, followed by helping the Roberts out with the Chikuma, crippling it but then came under fire from other cruisers and battleships. Help came in the form from airplanes the FM-2s and TBFs from the escort carriers of Taffy 1, 2, and 3 (Taffy 3 aircraft were busy earlier too) chasing away the cruisers and the Chikuma finally sank. It is estimated that these combined escort carrier groups had as much aircraft as Halsey's main fleet, albeit some humble stuff that can fit on escort carriers, but they had the distinct air superiority advantage. The Japanese cruiser Tone was chased away, and although the situation was bleak for the Americans with 3 destroyers down and a 4th crippled (two escort carriers lost too others damaged) the Japanese disengaged as they thought they were fighting the main US fleet.

The carriers were not prepared to fight off a naval force, as their 5 inch guns were filled with AA rounds, and their aircraft were equipped for ground strike/anti submarine combat, no snit-ship bombs or torpedoes, but that didn't stop the pilots from using whatever they could at hand, even just spraying the machine guns, even making mock passes to distract as they ran out of ammo. The Gambier Bay was sunk by the Chikuma, being the only USN carrier ever lost to naval gunfire in the war. Yet these lightly armored "baby flattops" were very durable, and also managed to bag some kamikazes. One of the carriers the St. Lo was lost to kamikazes. In fact, this was the first ever kamikaze attack of the war! The carrier Kalinin Bay proved to be lucky, surviving 2 Kamikazes.

It was a costly loss for both sides. The Americans lost 2 escort carriers, 2 destroyers, and 1 destroyer escort with about 1000 dead, in such a small group they lost as much men as both the losses in Coral Sea and Midway combined. The Japanese were slightly better off, lowing 3 heavy cruisers and a 4th heavily damaged, while others suffered some sort of damage (all the battleships but the Yamato suffered damage). Both sides fought courageously, and this engagement shows that surprise, speed, and precision were just as important as numbers, armor, and firepower (and don't estimate dem tin cans and baby flattops with 5 inch stingers when they are added in game!!!)

:salute: to both sides,

neutrino109

PredalienPlush · February 4, 2015

Admiral Kurita really lost an opportunity by turning away. It would have at least given the Yamato something to it's record besides outstanding damage absorbed and alot of aircraft kills, but it also would have given the Japanese something positive in exchange for those huge losses in the battle the previous day(s), including the loss of Musashi with great life. Plus I doubt it would have stopped the landing invasion, but it could have wreaked havoc and caused massive casualties for the US, making taking Leyte alot longer and difficult. Oh well, at least Yamato holds the record for longest range naval gunnery damage against White Planes (or was it Gambier Bay?)

Edited February 4, 2015 by PredalienPlush