The account of Admiral Kurita’s passage that begins and ends the opening section draws from Cutler, Battle of Leyte Gulf, 219-21; Field, Japanese, 76, 86-87, 98; Prados, Combined Fleet, 662-67; Toland, Rising Sun, 682, 702; Ugaki, Fading Victory, 492; and Woodward, Battle, 87-88. The depiction of midwatch aboard the Samuel B. Roberts is based on Copeland, Spirit, and George Bray and Tom Stevenson interviews. “Douglas, where do we go from here?” …“Leyte, Mr. President…,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 7. “The President… I shall return,” Manchester, American Caesar, 292-311; Potter, Nimitz, 385. MacArthur Returns to Philippines … [headline], Dallas Morning News, Oct. 20, 1944, 1; MacArthur on the beach, Toland, Rising Sun, 676-77; Morison, vol. 12, 136-37; Prados, 401. “Skunk 184 Degrees…” and other TBS transmissions presumably overheard on the Roberts during midwatch are taken from the radio logs and action reports of the Daly, Boise, and West Virginia. The ship had rolled so sharply …, Vince Goodrich interview. As ever, sailors learned …, Ernie Pyle, unpublished dispatch, www.de220.com/Life%20on%20a%20DE/DE-Life.htm. “Hey, Captain …” “That’s not a storm …,” Bray interview.
Chapter 1
“May she be a sound ship …,” Brown Victory Dispatch, Nov. 25, 1944, 1. Train ride to Houston, George Bray, Vince Goodrich, Dudley Moylan, Richard Rohde, and Jack Yusen interviews. “I know what it’s like for you guys …,” Rohde interview.
Chapter 2
Construction and commissioning of the Samuel B. Roberts, Copeland, Spirit, Tom Stevenson and Richard Rohde interviews. Bob Copeland’s childhood, Harriet Copeland interview. “He stood on his own …,” Copeland, 3. “Lloyd knew his navy …,” Copeland, 3. Samuel Booker Roberts on Guadalcanal, Gismo [Roberts ship’s newsletter], Aug. 4, 1944; Program, Dedication of the Taffy 3 Memorial Monument, Oct. 23, 1996; Copeland, Spirit, 5. “If launching may be likened to birth …,” E. B. Hopper, foreword to Ships of the United States Navy (Dept. of the Navy, Naval History Division, 1975). Commissioning ceremony,www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq108.htm. “I think I overdid it…” and “There’s an old saying …,” Copeland, 17; Harriet Copeland interview. “Jack Roberts had made his own way …,” Copeland, 9. What a ship! and “What are you guys looking at?” Jack Yusen interview. In a stained-glass window, Dudley Moylan interview. “We were short of destroyers,” Copeland, 29. “They are rough and tumble little ships …,” Ernie Pyle, www.de220.com/Life%20on%20a%20DE/DE-Life.htm. Destroyers escorts (DEs) were every bit the equal of destroyers …, see data in Friedman, Destroyers, 412, 421. Roberts ’s collision with a whale, Stevenson, Rohde, and Yusen interviews; Copeland, 11. “I was belowdecks when there was a great shock …,” Gene Wallace quoted in Brown Victory Dispatch, Jan. 13, 1945, 2. “It is legendary in the Navy …,” Copeland, 11. “My dad figured …” and “I want to talk to you …,” Bud Comet interview. Background on Everett E. Roberts, Everett E. Roberts, autobiographical narrative. “As fast as a slide rule …,” Copeland, 6. “As long as I have the confidence and trust…,” John LeClercq, letter to his mother, Aug. 31, 1944, 4. Bringing the dog Sammy aboard: In Spirit (12) Copeland credited himself and Lloyd Gurnett for bringing Sammy aboard ship; George Bray said some enlisted men did it. Speculation flew in The Gismo …, Gismo, Aug. 4, 1944.
Chapter 3
This account of the Roberts’s crossing-the-line ceremony is from Copeland, Spirit, 19-26, and Vince Goodrich and Richard Rohde interviews.
Chapter 4
History of the destroyer, Friedman, Destroyers, 7, 11, 111, 167-68. “The hunting dogs of the fleet,” Urbanski, Heermann, 1943-46, n.p. The USS Hoel’s wardroom, Myles Barrett and Clarence Hood interviews. “Nelson touch,” in Mahan, Mahan on Naval Warfare, 201-2. Amos Hathaway’s photographic memory, Harold Whitney interview. “He was a son of a bitch,” Julius Steinberg interview. Bebb feared his skipper would resent…, Edwin Bebb interview. A handful of marbles …, Steinberg interview. “This is going to be a fighting ship …,” Hagen, “We asked for the Jap Fleet,” 9-10. Account of the Johnston during the Marshalls invasion, Jesse Cochran, Robert Hagen, Robert Hollenbaugh, and Ellsworth Welch interviews; accounts by Edward Block, Milt Pehl, and others in Mercer and Chastain, The Fighting and Sinking of the USS Johnston. “Damn it, they need fire support,” Cochran interview. “The captain put the make on him …,” Hagen interview. “The gun boss could fire a hundred shots …” and “We were all so green …,” Hagen interview. An average rate of fire for a five-inch/38-caliber crew, Roscoe, Destroyer Operations, 18. “You may now bring on the Japanese fleet,” Hagen, “We asked for the Jap Fleet,” 10. “Mr. Hagen, that was very good shooting,” Jim Correll interview.
Chapter 5
Ziggy Sprague, “tousled hair swinging fore and aft,” “clever in nearly every sport,”
Lucky Bag in Reneau, Remembered, following p. 152; Wukovits, Devotion, 14. Sprague in Rockport, Massachusetts, Reneau, 7; Wukovits, 3. “Fleet aviation must be developed …” and “the advantage will lie …,” Spector, At War at Sea, 138. “Instrument face,” Reneau, 36; Wukovits, 29. Pensacola aviation fatalities, Wukovits, 25. “Aviation is essentially and fundamentally …,” Spector, 146. “Just a lot of noise,” Wukovits, 26. Sprague and Annabel Fitzgerald, Wukovits, 39-41. “We’re not prepared …,” Wukovits, 48. The Tangier at Pearl Harbor, Reneau, 87-88. “I was eating, drinking, and breathing aviation,” Halsey and Bryan, Admiral, 52. Sprague “came in quietly …,” Wukovits, 83; “took a very green crew,” Wukovits, 86. “The air group is the only reason …,” Wukovits, 84. “You can train a pilot for $50,000 …,” Taylor, Magnificent, 236; Reneau, 130; Arleigh A. Burke in Wooldridge, Carrier, 169. “When he was promoted from Captain to Admiral,” Reneau, 118. Capt. Douglass P. Johnson of theFanshaw Bay , William Murry interview. “Piss on them then,” Fantails [USS Fanshaw Bay newsletter], Jul. 25, 1986, 3. “The commanders of all fleets … patriotism, and subordination,” www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq59-7.htm. Bogan was a “first-class horse’s rear end,” Joe Harrington, “Turn On the Lights.” “The entire crew [of the Fanshaw Bay] was incompetent” and “the worst ship I’d ever seen …,” Y’Blood, Little Giants, 171; Wukovits, 113. “For the first time … hadn’t received an Essex -class command,” Christopher W. M. Carson, undated letter to Clifton Sprague, quoted in Reneau, 200. “A conglomeration of farmers …,” Leonard Moser, supplement to letter to Harold Kight, Apr. 25, 1986, 2. “Active men need …,” “Planning the menu …,” Cook Book of the United States Navy, 1944, 3. “Hey, we had good chow …,” Harold Kight interview. [A] large mess serving 1,000 men …, Cook Book, 13. Sinking of the Liscome Bay , Y’Blood, 1-9; Dix, Missing, 11. “A jeep carrier bears the same relation … not wholly successful results,” Fletcher Pratt, “Jeep Carrier at Best a Makeshift Affair,” Boston Globe and Overseas Press Service, 1944. History of CVE development, www.usmm.org/peary.html; Y’Blood, 34-35; Vice Adm. Fitzhugh Lee, in Wooldridge, Carrier, 204; www.aws.org/about/blockbuster.html. “Boy, I thought we’d bought the farm …,” Vernon Miller, letter to Harold Kight, Apr. 12, 1986, 10-11. Fanshaw Bay damaged off Saipan, Joe Sisul, “Navy Days;” Leonard Moser, letter to Harold Kight; Thomas Lupo interview and letter to author.
Chapter 6
Background on World War II–era pilot training: Bill Brooks, Larry Budnick, Joe Downs, Earl Gifford, Royce Hall, Wayne Hammett, Thomas Lupo, and Thomas B. Van Brunt interviews. “Damn Navy …,” Van Brunt, “A Bird’s-Eye View.” In some divisions on the St. Lo, as many as 90 percent of the men requested transfers, Donald E. Mackay, letter to Michael F. McKenna, May 20, 1982, 17. “We respected their view …,” Brooks interview. Pilots could see submarine silhouettes, Downs interview. Sinking of USS Seawolf , Brooks and Downs interviews; Morison, History, vol. 12, 27-28; Wukovits, Devotion, 113-14; Y’Blood, Little Giants, 107-8. Aircraft production and pilot recruitment, Spector, At War at Sea, 148; Vice Adm. Herbert D. Riley, “Filling the Pipeline,” in Wooldridge, Carrier, 102; Lawson and Tillman, Carrier Air War, 152-57. “Like getting into a shoebox,” Brooks interview. Like “a Hollywood premiere, Chinese New Year’s and Fourth of July rolled into one,” Morison, vol. 8, 302; “I heard pilots express the opinion …,” Rear Adm. James D. Ramage, “Turn On the Lights,” in Wooldridge, 180-81. Lt. Cdr. Ralph Jones’s “big glom,” Brooks interview. “We razzed the torpedo pilots a lot…,” Budnick interview. Background on aerial ops over Leyte, Earl Archer, Bill Brooks, Joe Downs, Earl Gifford, Thomas Lupo, Richard Roby, and Thomas B. Van Brunt interviews. “Hey coxswain …,” Van Brunt interview. “Landing on half a block of Main Street…,” Ernie Pyle, in David Nichols, ed., Ernie’s War, 395. “They came out like sausages …,” Rear Adm. Herbert D. Riley, in Wooldridge, 102.
Chapter 7
Discussion of the Sho plan is based on Prados, Combined, 586-87, 606, 608. Halsey’s strikes on Formosa, Morison, History, vol. 12, 92-95; Prados, 608-9. “… nothing but so many eggs thrown …,” Morison, vol. 12, 93. Activation of Sho-1 plan, Morison, vol. 12, 91; Prados, 621; Field, Japanese, 23-39. Ozawa’s force composition is based on Prados, 644–47; Morison, vol. 12, 320-23. Halsey’s orders to “cover and support” MacArthur “in order to assist in the seizure … of the Central Philippines,” Morison, vol. 12, 58. “… large scale logistic preparations …” Prados, 615.
Chapter 8
“Like elaborate religious scrolls” and “These battleships will be as useful … as a samurai sword,” Prados, Combined Fleet, 126-27. Japanese dissent to the Sho plan, Koyanagi, “The Battle of Leyte Gulf,” in O’connor, The Japanese Navy, 109; Prados, 588. “To intercept and destroy … in a Decisive Battle,” Prados, 587. “Please give the Combined Fleet the chance …,” Cutler, Battle of Leyte Gulf, 67. U.S. air strikes on Nishimura, Morison, History, vol. 12, 190; Prados, 629; Tully, 2. “Skunk 184 degrees, 18 miles,” TBS radio log, in USS West Virginia action report; Morison, vol. 12, 213. The wording varies slightly in USS Boise’s TBS Log Sheet.
Chapter 9
Morison’s chapter in History, vol. 12, 198-241, is the most gripping and authoritative account of the Battle of Surigao Strait to date. Toland’s account in Rising Sun, 697-703, is based on many Japanese sources. In his valuable article, “Shell Game at Surigao,” Tully traces the discrepancies and dispels much of the confusion surrounding the action. As he explains, some authors, including Cutler, Field, and Woodward, relied on an errant Japanese source and in so doing transposed the identities of the Fuso and Yamashiro. “Too beautiful to serve our purpose,” USS Daly action report, 2. The ships up the strait heard a tremendous racket and “I’ve got a big one in sight…,” Holloway, “Battle of Surigao Straits.” Like “animals in a cage,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 215. A “huge, red-hot iron plunged into the water,” Shigeru Nishino, skipper of Shigure, quoted in Toland, 699. “Notify your maximum speed,” Tully. “Each explosion was a round ball …” and “The ship which was hit…,” USS Daly action report, 4. “Two faint [explosions] and a loud snap” and “Flames reaching above the mastheads,” Tully. The West Virginia’s gunnery officer laughed aloud …, Woodward, Battle, 114. The devastating accuracy of this gunfire …, Morison, vol. 12, 228. “It seemed as if every ship …,” Oldendorf quoted in Astor, Crisis, 385-86. It seems that the Shigure’s skipper mistook Nishimura’s own ship for the Fuso , Tully, citing the Naval War College analysis of the battle. A projectile-man … broke his left hand …: USS Boise action report, Executive Officer’s Report, 2, identifies this man as S1 Clayton M. Boone. “We have arrived at battle site,” Shima quoted in Toland, 701. “Burning like a city block,” Morison, vol. 12, 236. “I HAVE RUDDER DIFFICULTIES,” Falk, Decision, 163. “If we continued dashing,” Falk, 164. “In the pale pre-dawn twilight…,” Holloway. At daylight seven heavy pillars …, USS Daly action report, 6. “All survivors in water are Nips …” and “Let them sink,” USS Daly action report, Enclosure C, Voice Radio Log, 5.
Chapter 10
“The fact that I survived …,” Hara, Japanese, 4. “Large target…,” USS Denver to Oldendorf at 0421 hours, per USS West Virginia action report, TBS Log Sheet. “Keep track of enemy …,” Berkey to McManes at 0333 hours, in USS Boise action report, 7. “We have one dead in the water …,” McManes to Berkey at 0348, in USS Boise action report, 8. “We have quite a few survivors in the water,” Cdr. M. H. Hubbard to Oldendorf at 0557, USS Daly action report, Enclosure C, Voice Radio Log, 5. “Pick them up …,” Capt. T F. Conley to skippers of DesDiv 112 at 0611, USS Daly, Enclosure C, 5. “Take three destroyers …,” Oldendorf to Hayler at 0636, USS Boise action report, 12. “By God, I think we finally got ’em,” Tom Stevenson interview.
Chapter 11
“We do not mind death,” Ito, End, 100. “I know that many of you are strongly opposed …,” Prados, Combined Fleet, 631; Ito, 100. “After the spray and smoke had disappeared…,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 172. “The giants of Japan’s Navy …,” Ito, 11. The construction of the Yamato is discussed in Spurr, Glorious, 24-27; Japan’s overall shipbuilding strategy is discussed in Ito, 11, 12, 15-18. “Strike! Repeat: Strike! …,” Halsey and Bryan, Admiral, 214. The destruction of the Musashi is from Cutler, Battle of Leyte Gulf, 146-53; Field, Japanese, 66-69; Lawson and Tillman, Carrier Air War, 131-33; Prados, 639-42; Toland, Rising Sun, 686-94; and Ugaki, Fading, 488-91. “Damn fool! My responsibility is so great…,” Toland, 691-92. “probability is great…,” Ito, 108.
Chapter 12
IF WE CONTINUE WITH OUR PRESENT COURSE …, I TO, END, 108. WITH CONFIDENCE IN HEAVENLY GUIDANCE …,” Prados, Combined, 641; a slightly different translation appears in Morison, History, vol. 12, 189. Background on Vice Adm. Willis Lee is from Halsey and Bryan, Admiral, 257. Discussion of Halsey’s mission orders is from Potter, Nimitz, 416. Halsey’s decision to attack Ozawa’s decoy force is discussed in Potter, Halsey, 417, and in Morison, vol. 12, 193-96. The reports that the carriers Amagi and Katsuragi had joined Ozawa, erroneously circulated by JICPOA, are discussed in Prados, 649. “Before we’re through with ’em …,” Morison, vol. 3, 212.
Chapter 13
This account of Taffy 3’s morning activities is taken from Bill Brooks and Joe Downs interviews; the action reports of CTU 77.4.3 (Rear Admiral Sprague) and CTU 77.4.2 (Rear Admiral Stump); action reports of the St. Lo and VC-65; Sprague, “The Japs Had Us on the Ropes;” and Thomas Van Brunt, “Bird’s-Eye View.” We’re never going to see daylight , Brooks interview. “Enemy surface force of four battleships …,” St Lo action report, 2; Sprague, “The Japs,” quotes this sighting report slightly differently. Now there’s some screwy young aviator …, Sprague, 40. “Air plot, tell him to check his identification,” Sprague, 40. “I can see the pagoda masts …,” Van Brunt, “A Bird’s-Eye View,” 3. “Question: Is TF 34 guarding San Bernardino Strait?” Cox, Battle, 48; Falk, Decision, 172; Cutler, Battle of Leyte Gulf, 216; Potter, Bull Halsey, 300-1. In discussing the system for routing communiqués between the Third and Seventh Fleets through Manus, Potter (in Bull Halsey, 290, 300) points out that Kinkaid had the means to broadcast his query directly to Halsey aboard the New Jersey, had Halsey’s flagship been assigned the right frequency. “My gut feeling was …,” Brooks interview. It is unclear in official records which of the two gallant ensigns spotted Kurita first, Bill Brooks of VC-65 or Hans Jensen of VC-20. Morison is unhelpful, having apparently confused Jensen and Brooks (see vol. 12, 246; see also Sprague, “The Japs”). David C. Wright has used the weight of circumstantial evidence to conclude in an as-yet-unpublished study that Jensen was first. The Taffy 2 flier’s Navy Cross citation credits him with being the first pilot to detect, sight, report, and attack Kurita’s force off Samar. Toland and Y’Blood agree, though the action report of Jensen’s own squadron doesn’t support the conclusion. It’s abundantly evident in any case that the professionalism and enterprise of both pilots were instrumental to the timely recognition of the Japanese force. “Anybody hurt back there?” and “a live pilot rather than a dead hero,” Brooks interview.
Part II
In no engagement in its entire history …, Morison, History, vol. 12, 275.
The battle narrative in Part II is drawn almost exclusively from eyewitness accounts of participants. This has been a blessing, for the rich lode of personal narratives found, among other places, in the valuable crew memory books of the destroyers Hoel, Johnston, and Heermann, and the vivid memoir of Captain Copeland of the Samuel B. Roberts, has not been thoroughly mined by previous authors. But it has also been a curse, for some of the eyewitness accounts, written and oral alike, have been compromised by the passage of years. Though memories are long, they are vulnerable to influence by things one has read or heard secondhand. Generally I used only what the witnesses saw and experienced. I have tried to steer clear of hearsay and secondhand observation.
Citations of the crew memory books are abbreviated as follows:
· “Hoel” = Keith McKay, ed., At Rest 4,000 Fathoms Under the Waves; USS Hoel, DD-533, USS Johnston/Hoel Association, 1990.
· “Johnston” = Bill Mercer and Bob Chastain, eds., The Fighting and Sinking of the USS Johnston, DD-557, as Told by Her Crew, USS Johnston/Hoel Association, 1991.
· “Heermann” = Stanley R. Urbanski, ed., History of USS Heermann, 1943-46, ‘Destroyer X,’ USS Heermann Survivors Association, 1998.
Chapter 14
“How about some bacon … ?” Mercer, “GQ Johnny,” 23, and in Johnston, 128. “I thought someone was joking …,” Burnett, in Johnston, 27. “Our Combat Air Patrol …,” and “I’m drawing fire…. The bastards …,” Dix, Missing Off Samar, 14. “Where the hell is Halsey?” Robert Rutter, letter to author; Ed DiGardi interview. “Designed to jar the brain …,” and Maybe it’s just a false alarm …, Dix, 16. “Surface radar reports …,” “Well, there’s a storm …,” and “Object on the horizon …,” Copeland, Spirit, 35-36. “If you’re interested …,” Tom Stevenson interview. LeClercq and Stevenson, Tom Stevenson, letter to Mrs. LeClercq. “A large Japanese fleet…,” Moore, “A Japanese Admiral’s,” 2. “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds …,” USS Samuel B. Roberts action report, Part VI. Tullio Ser-afini background, Copeland, 8, 69; Moore, 1-2. “Be a good, stout boy …,” “Ser-afini’s entrance …,” and “What are the odds … ?” Moore, 2.
Chapter 15
The Center Force’s opening moves are from Prados, Combined Fleet, 670-71 and Field, Japanese, 98-101. “Each unit seemed very slow …,” Ugaki, Fading Victory, 492. “I feared the spirit of all-out attack …,” Ugaki, 493. “Cruiser divisions attack!” Prados, 672. “WE ARE ENGAGING ENEMY …,” Prados, 671. “BY HEAVEN-SENT OPPORTUNITY…,” Cox, Battle off Samar, 63.
Chapter 16
This is an impossible situation …, Robert Hagen interview. All hands to general quarters …, and Why didn’t I think of that? Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 181. “That was the only time …,” Robert Billie, in Johnston, 12. “Please, sir, let us not go down …,” Hagen interview. “A captain who could strike …” and “I can see him now …,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 10. “But we are not making smoke” and “I want a smoke screen …,” Charles Landreth, in Johnston, 120; Jesse Cochran interview; Cochran, in Johnston, 63. “We were making smoke …,” John Mostowy, in Johnston, 137. “This is fun,” Bill Mercer, in Johnston, 128. Evans’s “heart grinning,” Hagen 10.
Chapter 17
“I wouldn’t say it was like …,” and “Neither could such dream stuff…,” Sprague, “The Japs Had Us on the Ropes,” 41. Development of the Yamato’s guns was so secret, Kurita, USSBS interrogation, 5. “I thought, we might as well give them …,” Sprague, 112. “I wanted to pull the enemy out…,” and “If we were going to expend ourselves …,” Sprague, 114. “Signal execute on receipt…” and other TBS commands are from CTU 77.4.3 (C.A.F. Sprague) action report, TBS Log Sheet, Enclosure G, 2, and USS White Plains action report, Radio Log, Enclosure B, 1. “Come in please …,” CTU 77.4.3 action report, Enclosure G, 2. “To any or all…,” CTU 77.4.2 action report, 14. “Don’t be alarmed, Ziggy …,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 252. “Go after them …,” CTU 77.4.2 (Stump) action report, 14. “… no orders were received …” and “using the initiative …,” CTU 77.4.2 action report, 30. Sprague played golf in a hurry, Wukovits, Devotion, 38.
Chapter 18
“Sir, what’s that?” and “Well, it looks like somebody’s shooting …,” Ed Breeding interview. “Tell us what the hell…,” Holly Crawforth interview. Let me the hell off this thing and “I’m over here …,” Larry Budnick interview. “Hey, Guns, what’s going on?” and “Oh hell, some SOB …,” Royce Hall interview. “My first thought was …,” Royce Hall, letter to The CVE Piper. “He was not inclined to exert himself …” Lewis, “Life in the Navy during World War II,” 15. “A futile gesture …,” Verling Pierson, “Fighting Fanny Bee.” “What are you doing …,” “I am going to check …,” and “He got in, started it up …,” Leonard Moser, letter to Harold Kight, 8, and addendum, 3; per the VC-68 action report, this pilot may have been Lt. W J. “Lucky” Slone. Lord, please don’t let me die sitting here … and background on Archer, Earl Archer interview.
Chapter 19
“This salvo measured the carrier …, USS White Plains action report, Enclosure A, 2; see also engineering report, Enclosure J. Japanese recognition books, Prados, Combined Fleet, 676. Lookouts on the Kumano, Prados, 672. “At this point it did not appear …,” CTU 77.4.3 (Rear Adm. C.A.F. Sprague) action report, Enclosure C, 1. “Stand by to form two torpedo groups …,” CTU 77.4.32 (Rear Admiral Of-stie), Enclosure F (Kitkun Bay Log Sheet), 1; the 7:16 A.M. time is per the USS Raymond action report and Morison, History, vol. 12. However, the CTU 77.4.32 action report puts this order later, at 7:35. This later time is questionable, insofar as the Hoel for one was already inbound and had been severely hit on the way in at about 7:25. “Admiral Halsey is shooting at us,” Clint Carter interview. “All this time I had been completely, sickeningly impotent,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 72. Mark 1A fire-control computer, Navy Department, Gunners Mate 2c Training Course, vol. 2, 184, 191; Robert Hagen interview. “Looks like somebody’s mad at us,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 72. Johnston’s pummeling of Kumano, USS Johnston action report, 3; Hagen and Bob Chastain interviews. “I was never as scared …” Clint Carter, in Johnston, 41. “What are you up to now?” and “Hey, take that ship over there,” Hagen interview.
Chapter 20
“Fire torpedoes!” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 72. Johnston’s torpedo attack, USS Johnston action report, diagram of torpedo attack; Thomas Sullivan, in Johnston, 172; Robert Hagen interview. Torpedo hits on Kumano , Kurita, USSBS interrogation, 5; USS Johnston action report, 3; Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 182; Morison, History, vol. 12, 256. Welch described seeing “one of the [torpedoes] hit the fantail” (182); Prados (Combined Fleet, 675) wrote that the Kumano was hit “forward of the number ten frame,” which blew away her bow.
Chapter 21
This chapter is based on eyewitness accounts of the VC-10, VC-65, and VC-68 pilots and aircrew, including accounts by Edward Huxtable, Burt Bassett, Berman Dillard, J. F. Lischer, and William Shroyer in VC-10 action report No. 2-B; Louis Vilmer’s personal narrative at www.ussgambierbay-vc10.com; Larry Budnick and Royce Hall interviews; and Y’Blood, Little Giants, 164-66. The concert violinist sets considerable store …, Navy Department, Gunnery Sense, 8-9; Royce Hall interview; Royce Hall, letter to CVE Piper, 3. Roby pulled alongside Fowler’s Avenger …, Richard Roby interview. “The rate of hits was quite good …,” Ugaki, Fading Victory, 495. Kurita was doubtless frustrated …, Kurita, USSBS interrogation, 5. “They were shooting the craziest combinations …,” Roby interview.
Chapter 22
“It seemed to take a long time …,” Sam Lucas, in Hoel, 44. You stand there waiting… and “Right full rudder. Meet her…,” Dix, 24-25. “He didn’t designate a target…,” “It just didn’t seem right to me …,” and “Taffy 33, this is Juggernaut…” Copeland, Spirit, 39. “Well, Sis on you, pister. Let’s go!” Copeland, 40-41.
Chapter 23
“It was like a puppy being smacked by a truck,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 72. Johnston’s damage, USS Johnston action report, “Damage to the USS Johnston,” 1-2. Just seconds before impact…, Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 182. “Block is alive,” Edward Block, in Johnston, 19. “Don’t bother me now,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. Johnston’s bridge casualties: to Bechdel per Welch, in Johnston, 182; to Pliska per Mercer, in Johnston, 129; to Fox and Evans per Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74; to Dixon per Edward DiGardi, in Johnston, 86. “Stand by below …,” Mercer, in Johnston, 129. “… clean and professional, without the complications …,” Spector, At War at Sea, 24. Data on Japanese ordnance is from “Japanese Naval Guns,” www.warships1.com/Weapons/WNJAP_main.htm, updated Sept. 10, 2002. “I was looking out of the director …,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 72; USS Johnston action report, 6. “The Johnston was a mess …,” Hagen, 72. “All stations—Control testing!” Hagen, 74. “Gun 54 declared its own war …,” Bob Hollenbaugh, in Johnston, 105.
Chapter 24
ENEMY FORCES ATTACKING OUR FORCES … Prados, Combined Fleet, 679-80. “It just operated all day long …,” Prados, 678. “NEGATIVE. TASK FORCE 34 IS WITH CARRIER GROUPS …,” Potter, Bull Halsey, 301. “Request Lee proceed at top speed…,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 294. “Fast battleships urgently needed…,” and “My situation is critical…,” Prados, 682. “TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG WHERE IS …,” Falk, Decision, 202-3; Cutler, Battle of Leyte Gulf, 251; Wukovits, Devotion, 177. “Stop it! What the hell’s the matter …,” Halsey and Bryan, Admiral, 220.
Chapter 25
“By now the topside of the Johnston …,” Robert Billie, in Johnston, 13. Damage control efforts aboard the Johnston, USS Johnston action report, “Damage to the USS Johnston,” 1-2; Jesse Cochran and Dusty Rhodes interviews; Jesse Cochran, in Johnston, 64. Death of Marley Polk, Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. “Trying to climb out was a fireman by the name of West…” “It was an awful sight to see …,” and “With little help from our battle lantern …,” Bob Sochor, in Johnston, 163-64. “It was the first time in my life …,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. “I had heard all along that destroyers were expendable …,” Everett Lin-dorff, in Hoel, 38. Kight looked on awestruck as the destroyers fell into line …, Harold Kight interview.
Chapter 26
This chapter and the next, covering the Hoel’s torpedo sortie and devastating first hits, are drawn mostly from the written accounts of survivors in the Hoel’s crew memory book, the ship’s action report, Lieutenant Dix’s Missing Off Samar, and interviews with Myles Barrett, Clarence Hood, Sam Lucas, and Derrill Thompson. Bridge, this is Combat… Gunnery Control, this is Combat…, and Damn it was good to hear them …, Dix, 27. They haven’t hit us yet, Dix, 28. Oh, Jesus, this is it! Dix, 28. The blast spattered the Hoel’s passageways …,” Bob DeSpain, personal narrative. “Cruiser observed blowing up and sinking,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 258; Field, Japanese, 102. “We’ll go in with the destroyers …,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. Owing to steering difficulties, the destroyer made a complete circle …, Robert Hagen interview. Oh, dear Lord, I’m in for a swim, Hagen, 74.
Chapter 27
“Tube One—” “One aye!” Dix, 29. “Guys were piling out of there screaming,” Jim Norris, in Hoel, 56-56. “Stuff just flew all over us …,” Hugh Coffelt, in Hoel, 7. Per Dix, 31, the Hoel was locked into a port turn; the ship’s action report states that it was a starboard turn, but that paragraph has been hand-annotated, “Delete.” “Get set to fire …” and “Tube Two—train out to port…,” Dix, 31. “Too much was happening to stand …,” Dix, 31. Morison identifies the target of the Hoel’s second torpedo spread as the Haguro. Though one disagrees with a grand master only at his grave peril, I have departed here from Morison’s narrative, which has the Haguro leading the Japanese cruiser column and thus being the Hoel’s victim. The Hoel’s action report states that the torpedoes struck the lead heavy cruiser, but makes no claim as to its class. Field’s account (Japanese, 103-7) has the Tone in the lead and the Haguro third in a column of four. However, there is no evidence that either the Haguro or the Tone took a torpedo hit in this action—see Prados, Combined Fleet, 673-76. At 7:57 Haguro lookouts spotted two torpedo tracks passing astern; Prados, 676. One of the photo sections of this book features a handsome shot of the Haguro withdrawing at flank speed, unimpeded, at about 10:50. The authors of the action report of the Hoel—and of the Johnston, Samuel B. Roberts, and other lost ships—may be excused for any ambiguity: They wrote them several days after the battle, after extended trauma, and without the aid of logs or other records cast adrift in the Philippine Sea. As with many other particulars of this action, the truth may lie beyond our reach. “Put the sun on your port beam,” Fred Green, in Hoel, 24.
Chapter 28
“The Japs would fire their big guns …” Harold Kight interview. “They oughta fire that thing underwater …,” “Just hold on a little longer …,” and “The Japs were now firing at us from three sides …,” Sprague, “The Japs Had Us on the Ropes,” 114. “I must admit admiration …,” Koyanagi, in O’connor, 114. Pilots were cautioned not to hit the inbound American ships, VC-10 action report, No. 2-B, Lt. J. R. Jackson narrative. VC-3’s exploits are per Y’Blood, Little Giants, 170; the VC-3 action report; Murphy, “I Remember,” and Earl Archer interview. “This is 81 Georgia … ” Thomas Van Brunt, “A Bird’s-Eye View.” “How those Japs could shoot so many guns …,” Murphy, 15. Damage to Kalinin Bay is from the USS Kalinin Bay action report; Keeler, “Memories;” CTU 77.4.3 action report; and Morris Turner interview. “But above all others we could hear men screaming,” Keeler. The Wildcat pilots were given a free hand to strafe …, Sprague, “The Japs Had Us on the Ropes,” 116. “The attack was almost incessant…,” Field, Japanese, 102.
Chapter 29
Lt. (j.g.) Thomas Lupo background and narrative are from Thomas Lupo interview. His account of the Tacloban incident was confirmed by his gunner in an Earl Gifford interview. “Like chunks of vanilla ice cream in a sarsaparilla soda,” Falk, Decision, 185 (unattributed). “Like a flight of birds at the first crack of a shotgun,” “Navy planes, Navy planes …,” Hubbard, “Scrub Team at Tacloban,” 10-11. See also Farris, “Tacloban.”
Chapter 30
The Heermann’s 7:54 A.M. torpedo attack was directed at a Tone-class cruiser, “the leading ship in a column of four large ships,” USS Heermann action report, 9. Mori-son asserts that it was the Haguro—see History, vol. 12, 259—but more likely it was the Tone. The USS Heermann action report later states, “We … fired at one heavy cruiser positively identified as the Tone class. Seven torpedoes were fired at this cruiser with unknown results” (17). “It was an odd day—one moment the sun was shining…,” Whitney, “Battle of Samar,” 13. “…illuminated the entire ocean …,” USS Heermann action report, Enclosure B, gunnery officer’s report, 2. Hathaway “wish [he] had a periscope” and “Everything looked rosy …,” USS Heermann action report, 5. “The guns of the leading Jap blazed …,” Whitney, “Battle of Samar,” 13. “My exercise is completed. Over,” CTU 77.4.3 (C.A.F. Sprague) action report, Enclosure G, TBS Log Sheet, 4. “WATCH OUT FOR TORPEDO TRACKS!” Prados, Combined Fleet, 676. “… it felt like a month to me,” Ugaki, Fading Victory, 493. “All small boys go in and launch torpedo attack,” CTU 77.4.3 action report, TBS Log Sheet, 3. “Admiral, someday somebody is going to forget we’re boys …,” Copeland, Spirit, 30. “Captain, may I open fire?” and “God damn it, Mr. Burton…,” Copeland, 41. “We got her!” Copeland, 42. Cox (Battle off Samar) states the Roberts’s victim was the Chokai. The USS Samuel B. Roberts action report indicates an Aoba class cruiser, though no such ships were with Kurita off Samar. “All engines back full,” Ed DiGardi, in Johnston, 86. “Our stern dug deep …,” Bob Deal, in Johnston, 70. “I could have thrown a potato and hit that kid …,” Harold Whitney interview. “We have been straddled for the last half hour…,” CTU 77.4.2 (Stump) action report, 15.
Chapter 31
“The ship felt like it was shaking apart,” Charles Landreth, in Johnston, 120-21. “I was sure the next salvo was coming into the pilothouse,” Neil Dethlefs, in Johnston, 75. “It didn’t appear we would be alive much longer” and “I could tell by looking at him …,” Landreth, 120-21. You heard the whistling whine … Dix, Missing Off Samar, 32. “The men were coming out mortally scalded …,” Robert Prater, in Hoel, 69-70. Cdr. A. F. Beyer, Jr., spotted an American ship taking a terrific beating … a “curtain of flashes,” USS Raymond action report, Enclosure A, 2; Beyer’s sighting occurred between 7:56 and 8:14, as the Hoel was being hit repeatedly. The Dennis spotted a U.S. destroyer being hit at 8:02; USS Dennis, Deck Log, 409. “Lying on the deck, I looked down at myself…,” Bob DeSpain, personal narrative. “He looked up toward the bridge as if to say …,” Dix, 33-34. “They took no life jackets, left rafts and nets …,” Dix, 35. “The force of the explosion was so great…,” Roy Lozano, in Hoel, 42. “Money was fluttering everywhere …,” Myles Barrett interview. “Well, I sure as hell can see that” and “As far as accomplishing anything decisive …,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74.
Chapter 32
Gambier Bay’s plight, USS Gambier Bay action report; contact with Taffy 2 destroyers, E. Don Heric interview; CTU 77.4.2 action report, 15; Naylor, Rangefinder, 172; DesDiv 94, Combined TBS Log, Oct. 25, 1944. “I heard flight leaders from the other CVE group …,” VC-10 air action report No. 2-B. Huxtable narrative. The volume of ordnance flying the ship’s way …, Bill Cuming interview. Lost at sea, age 19 years, Hoyt, 201-2. “I’m ruined, I’m ruined,” “When are we gonna see some real action?” and “Well, buddy, is this enough action for you?” Hoyt, Men of the Gambier Bay, 203. “Small boys on my starboard quarter, intercept …,” CTU 77.4.3 action report, TBS Log Sheet, Enclosure G, 4. “ONLY ONE ENGINE X NO GYRO X NO RADARS,” USS Heermann action report, 9. “As I listened, it became evident…,” Hathaway, “The Battle as I Saw It,” 41. Each time a new salvo landed near, she was doused in a different color, Harold Whitney, “Battle of Samar;” USS Heermann action report, 22. Round after round I take from [Ralph] Sacco …, Urbanski, in Heermann, n.p. “God, let me see my wife and son …,” Robert Rutter letter to the author, June 22, 2003; Whitney, “Battle of Samar,” 14; Hathaway, 116. “Suddenly all thought was lost…” and “Heermann is smashing through the sea …,” Urbanski, in Heermann. “We were so far down by the head …,” Hathaway, 116. Litter of cigarette cartons and toilet paper …, Rutter, letter. “Just put more shoring in there …,” Whitney, 3. The navigator … as if he had been maimed with a shotgun blast, Phillips, God Rode Destroyer ‘X,’ 35. “Continue what you’re doing …,” Whitney, 2. “I’ll take it,” Whitney interview; Whitney, “Battle of Samar,” 14. “The most courageous order I’ve ever heard,” and “Commerce firing on that cruiser, Hagen.” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. “A most amazing thing happened …,” USS Johnston action report, 4. “They were sleek, streamlined …,” Hagen, 74. “More shells! More shells!” and “I’m sure glad there ain’t no Japs from Texas,” Hagen, 74; Clint Carter, in Johnston, 41. “Commander Evans, feeling like the skipper of a battleship …,” Hagen, 74. DesRon 10 had “accomplished the great feat of sinking …,” Ugaki, Fading Victory, 495.
Chapter 33
“Cruiser blows up and sinks,” Field, Japanese, 107. Lieutenant Sanders caught up in the rigging, and “The word was to abandon ship,” Willard Frenn, personal narrative. 2. “They were burned beyond belief!” Richard Santos, in Hoel, 75. “The next thing I knew, I was lying …,” Paul Miranda, in Hoel, 52. “I could see that he was seriously wounded …,” John Oracz, in Hoel, 60; Oracz remembers Lieutenant Streuter’s body going overboard, but Miranda recalls it resting against the portside rail. “The ship was listing severely to port…,” L. E. Walton, in Hoel, 82. When I woke up I was still in the CIC …, Everett Lindorff, in Hoel, 38-39. “The compartment was filled with the smell of burnt gunpowder …,” There were quite a few of us by the gun mount…, and “Somehow I knew they were abandoning the ship …,” Bob Wilson, in Hoel, 88-89. “We lost many of our shipmates to that one salvo …,”Jack Creamer, in Hoel, 15. On that side I had a chance to see so many more of the men dead…, Hugh Coffelt, in Hoel, 7-8. “That was the last we saw of friendly ships,” Dix, Missing off Samar, 33. Hoel’s final minutes …, “one of those disheartening things …” We had to pass her by …, Copeland, Spirit, 44.
Chapter 34
“Look at that little DE committing suicide,” Pierson, “Fighting Fanny Bee.” Whoever was out on the advance flank …, Copeland, Spirit, 45. “I came a little bit left, and when the range was closed …,” Copeland, 43. The account of the Roberts ’s duel with the Chikuma and the exploits of Gun 52 is from Copeland, 43-50. Carr’s squad in Gun 52 popped off 324 rounds, USS Samuel B. Roberts action report; the ship fired a total of 608 rounds during the battle. “We had the Jap cruiser on fire from the start of her bridge …,” Copeland, 45; USS Samuel B. Roberts action report; Burton amplifying report, 2.
Chapter 35
Pyzdrowski wondered whether the Japanese might try to board, Hoyt, Men of the Gambier Bay, 206. “Need a drink?” and “Better get these guys ready to go,” Hoyt, 207. Background on Japanese battleship gunnery and Tone’s firing on Gambier Bay, Haruo Mayuzumi, letter to Henry A. Pyzdrowski.
Chapter 36
“Captain, there’s fourteen-inch splashes …,” Copeland, Spirit, 45. “All engines back full!” “That was the one time …,” and “She just kind of lay down …,” Copeland, 46. Katsur “felt as though I were a bedsheet on a clothesline …” Bill Katsur, untitled narrative, 5. “An absolute flop on the deck force,” Copeland, 48; George Bray and Tom Stevenson interviews. “Mr. Roberts, would you please take the wheel …,” Copeland, 49-50. Destruction of Gun 52, Bray interview; Bray disagrees with Copeland’s account of these events, which the captain did not witness. “I felt sorry for him. He was running …,” Copeland, 56; Bray interview. “It seemed as if the whole ship …,” Copeland, 50. “As far as I could see, the ship was as nice …,” Copeland, 51; Bray interview and correspondence. “Stand by for tor—!” Dudley Moylan interview. I can see her right now. She had taken a terrific beating …, Copeland, 51. “I am sorry to hear about H. P. Inge …,” John LeClercq, letter to his mother, Oct. 9, 1944. “The few things you saw him do and say …,” Mittendorff, letter to Mrs. LeClercq. Tom Stevenson background, Stevenson interview.
Chapter 37
Hoel’s final moments, Myles Barrett, Clarence Hood, Sam Lucas, and Derrill Thompson interviews; Dix, Missing Off Samar. The sound of water lapping at the raft… and Good God, haven’t they done enough to us today? Dix, 38. Hoel’s Emi-rau incident, Hood interview; Dix, 39. And see the men, how tall they seem …, Dix, 39. The Japs are throwing grenades at us, Barrett interview. “My God, look at that thing!” Glenn Parkin, “Historical Account.” “Passing a fairly big dark red slick …,” Ugaki, Fading Victory, 495. Hellcat attacks, Parkin. It made us bitter then to watch that strength, Dix, 41.
Chapter 38
Triangulating from the source material to determine who was shooting at whom at any given point during this battle has been one of the challenges of writing this narrative. Taking the next step and drawing causal links between hits claimed and damage suffered is doubly difficult. In untangling the thicket of evidence concerning the cruisers Chokai and Chikuma, Tully’s analysis in “Solving Some Mysteries of Leyte Gulf” has been helpful. “ENGINE OUT OF COMMISSION,” Tully, citing Haguro action report; Morison, History, vol. 12, 266, 284; Ugaki, Fading Victory, 494-95. The account of the U.S. air attacks is from USS Kitkun Bay action report, Enclosure I (VC-5 action report) and CTU 77.4.2 action report, 15. “There was a burst of flame and simultaneously a column of water …,” CruDiv 7 War Diary, as quoted in Tully, Solving, 249–50. one propeller, speed eighteen knots, unable to STEER,” Prados, Combined Fleet, 675. “Heavy steam and black smoke rose to five hundred feet…,” Kitkun Bay action report, Enclosure I, 3. “DIRECT BOMB HIT IN FORWARD MACHINERY SPACES…,” Tully, “Solving,” 255. “Scratch one CA,” VC-21 action report No. 66. “The cruiser was seen to smoke heavily …,” VC-21 action report No. 66; Tully, “Solving,” 255. Sinking of the Gambier Bay, USS Gambier Bay action report; Vieweg narrative. How many more are going to go? Larry Budnick interview.
Chapter 39
“Merc, straighten my leg out,” Bill Mercer, in Johnston, 129. “The place was full of smoke …,” Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. Kurita’s state of mind and evaluation of circumstances is from Kurita, USSBS interrogation; Field, Japanese, 109, 116, 123-26; Morison, History, vol. 12, 296-300; and Ugaki, Fading Victory, 497. Herman Wouk’s well-researched analysis in his novel War and Remembrance is also of note. “Outfought by pygmies …,” Field, 126. “My situation is critical …” Prados, Combined Fleet, 682. “Anxieties are the test and penalty of greatness …” and Strenuous, unrelaxing pursuit…, Mahan, Mahan on Naval Warfare, 80. Rendezvous, my course north, speed 20, Yamato action report, per Morison, vol. 12, 297. “All ships reassemble” and “Gradually reassemble,” Morison, vol. 12, 297 n. 15.
Chapter 40
Tex Waldrop intercepting torpedoes, Ciolek, “What Did You Do,” 11; USS St. Lo action report, 4. “Goddamn it, boys, they’re getting away!” and “I could not believe my eyes …,” Sprague, “The Japs Had Us on the Ropes,” 116. “I had really done some deep thinking …” and “I don’t expect we’re going to see the sunset…,” Bill Brooks interview. He found a quiet place to pray …, Van Brunt, “A Bird’s-Eye View,” 4.
Chapter 41
“I would advise the captain to abandon ship,” Moore, “A Japanese Admiral’s narrative,” 4. “Abandon ship, men. Well done.” Moore, 5. “Under fire, you’re thinking about your family …,” Tom Stevenson interview. In Spirit Bob Copeland has Stevenson going belowdecks with George Schaffer to carry out the ship destruction bill; Stevenson remembers that it was Charles Natter. “All of a sudden there was another big blast…,” Richard Rohde interview. Sammy’s disappearance is from Copeland, 56, and George Bray interview. “Now, Bob, I want you to go down …,” and “Captain, I’m not leaving until you leave,” Copeland, 53. “It gave me an awfully hurt and crushed feeling …,” Copeland, 53. “It really made me sick at my stomach …” and “We ripped blue chambray shirts …,” Copeland, 53-54. “Captain, do you think I’ll live?” Copeland, 54. “I don’t think there was a whole bone in them,” “The ship had been a very live thing …,” and “That one picture …,” Copeland, 54. “It had taken all the heart out of me,” Copeland, 55. The death of Paul Henry Carr is per Copeland, 55, and George Bray interview.
Chapter 42
“How do you go about getting out of here?” Copeland, Spirit, 57. The rest of the account of the Samuel B. Roberts is from George Bray, Bud Comet, Vince Goodrich, Dudley Moylan, Richard Rohde, Tom Stevenson, and Jack Yusen interviews. “We were the proudest ship in the fleet,” Stevenson interview. “Boys, take off your hats …,” Ray Chambless, letter to Geroge Bray. “As first lieutenant he knew …” and “It seemed as if the bottom had dropped out…,” Copeland, 58. “There was going to have to be rationing …,” Moore, “A Japanese Admiral’s narrative,” 6.
Chapter 43
“Water columns were substantially higher …,” Bob Deal, in Johnston, 70. “It felt like a freight train’s coal box …,” Allen Johnson, in Johnston, 115. “An avalanche of shells,” USS Johnston action report, 4. “When I jumped over, I had two thoughts …,” Dusty Rhodes, in Johnston, 155. I peered out and couldn’t see a living soul…, Hagen, “We Asked for the Jap Fleet,” 74. “I recall Marquard took his comb …,” Bill Mercer, in Johnston, 130. “Mr. Hagen, we got off all ten …,” Hagen, 74. I would watch for belches of fire …, Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 183. “There was a terrible, blinding yellow flash” and “Everyone who was able to abandon ship …,” Bob Sochor, in Johnston, 165. In his essay “Experience” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect that the pith of each man’s genius contracts itself to very few hours.”
Chapter 44
Sprague received a voice message assuring him help was on the way is from Sprague’s marginalia in his copy of Woodward, Battle for Leyte Gulf, 171. See also Morison, History, vol. 12, 294-96. “I told Strick that I was sticking close …” and “Kid, I have never seen anything like this,” Bill Mercer, in Johnston, 130. “As I watched, she started to sink …,” Orin Vadnais, in Johnston, 179. “The skin was hanging from his arms and hands …” and “Boy, I sure am,” Neil Dethlefs, in Johnston, 77. “He was very young and religious” and ‘Take your last look at the Johnston, ’ Bob Sochor, in Johnston, 165. “Seeing my home go down …,” Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 184. “I still remember that helpless feeling …,” Bob Chastain, in Johnston, 48. A giant enema, Clint Carter, in Johnston, 42. “They were watching us …,” Chastain, 48. “It appeared to me that every man on her deck …,” Carter, 42. Japanese saluting, Dethlefs, 77. “As she eased by us …” and “Three years of war and they were still eating …,” Carter, 42. “I thought my body had been blown in half,” Charles Landreth, in Johnston, 122. All ships exceptShigure went down …, Morison, vol. 12, 238.
Chapter 45
“Okay, we’ll try that…,” Van Brunt interview. “Sir, that’s a Jap,” Crawforth interview. Kamikaze hit on St. Lo, McKenna, “Narrative of Events;” USS St. Lo action report; Morison, History, vol. 12, 302; Reynolds et al., “America’s Greatest Naval Battle,” Jan. 27, 1945, 70, 72; and Larry Budnick, Holly Crawforth, John Getas, and Thomas B. Van Brunt interviews.
Part III
Chapter 46
This account of the Roberts survivors in the water is based on Copeland, Spirit, and on George Bray, Bud Comet, Richard Rohde, Tom Stevenson, and Jack Yusen interviews.
Chapter 47
This narrative of the air attack on the departing Center Force is drawn from the action reports of CTU 77.4.2, VC-5 (Enclosures H and I in the USS Kitkun Bay action report), VC-20, VC-21, VC-65, VC-68, and VC-75, as well as from Y’Blood, Little Giants, 237-41, and William Brooks, Joseph Downs, Thomas Lupo, Richard Roby, and Thomas B. Van Brunt interviews. “Oh man, you got her, you got her!” Downs interview.
Chapter 48
“Hey, what’s for chow?” Arnold, “Come On Boys,” 123-24. It seems his mission lasted longer than his memory: Tom Stevenson told me that he met this pilot at a Taffy 3 reunion in Charleston several years ago. The pilot, unable to land on his CVE after the battle, had been diverted to an airfield on Leyte. By the time he landed, he had forgotten the coordinates of the survivors. “I was trying to survive too,” the flier said to Stevenson at the time. Death of Charles Natter: Bob Copeland learned the details of Natter’s demise from John Conway after the war (Copeland, Spirit, 59). Fifty shark fins cutting the surface, and I’ve read a lot of stories …, Copeland, 59. Copeland’s conversation with Bob Roberts is from Copeland, 60.
Chapter 49
“Our thoughts were, 3,000 ships … It won’t be long now,” Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 184. Like “an eighteen-year-old boy going on forty,” Bill Mercer, in Johnston, 131. A Johnston sailor … asked to be put out of his misery …, Milt Pehl interview; see also Pehl, in Johnston, 149, which does not describe a mercy killing but states only that the sailor “succumbed and was finally at peace.” “Why don’t we all sing? … I remember a few people started singing …” Richard Rohde interview.
Chapter 50
God, if you get me out of this …, Tom Stevenson interview. “It seemed very much like an entire week of darkness,” Moore, “A Japanese Admiral’s narrative,” 7. “The interior of Samar must be made a howling wilderness,” “Remembering Balangiga,” in Jim Zwick, ed., Sentanaryo/Centennial: The Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War, www.boondocksnet.com/centennial/balangiga.html. The pulajan insurgency… “the bloody island,” Hurley, Jungle Patrol. “What had been a very noisy group …,” Harold Beresonsky, in Johnston, 9. “My contract with the Navy was to fight the enemy, not sharks,” Ellsworth Welch, in Johnston, 184.
Chapter 51
“On that raft we were just forty-nine very wretched human beings …,” Copeland, Spirit, 61. “Too far away to make it in by night,” Copeland, 62. Requested “permission to go below,” Everett Roberts, autobiographical narrative, 2. “Object ho! … What is it, Cantrell? … I see a big white cottage …,” Copeland, 63. “Fucking captain’s no good …,” William Katsur interview; Katsur narrative, 9; Copeland refers to this incident obliquely (59).
Chapter 52
“I’ll buy you a beer,” Charles Landreth, in Johnston, 123. Other incidents of madness among the Johnston’s crew are from the accounts of Clyde Burnett, Jesse Cochran, John Mostowy, and Don Starks in Johnston. “Skau, take a good look at that ship,” Copeland, Spirit, 63. “Who won the World Series? … St. Louis, God damn it!” Wukovits, Devotion, 186; Levy, “USS PC 623 Crewman,” Yusen interview. “Men, it looks as if we’re going to be picked up by the Japs …,” Moore, 10. “Hilarious happiness,” Moore, 10.
Chapter 53
Rescue mission of PC-623: Levy, “USS PC 623 Crewman,” PC 623 War Diary and Deck Log; Morison, History, vol. 12, 313-16. “I informed the skipper and the helmsman that I had not been properly relieved of the deck and that I would not accept Captain Baxter’s order …,” Levy. “What are you looking for?” “Just a place to lay down,” George Bray interview. “I took about three swipes and fainted,” Copeland, Spirit, 67. “Get the hell out of the way,” Copeland, 67-68. “The place was like the Black Hole of Calcutta” and “My God, that dog has drank a lot of water …,” Copeland, 68.
Chapter 54
This account of Neil Dethlefs swimming ashore is from Dethlefs’s own account in Johnston, 73-82. The ordeal of Bill Shaw and Orin Vadnais is recounted in Vadnais, Johnston, 178-80, and in “Bronx Youth and 3 Rescued After Epic Escape off Samar,” New York World Telegram, Nov. 17, 1944.
Part IV
I want you to know I think you wrote the most glorious page …,” Halsey’s words are from Sprague’s letter to his wife, May 1945, quoted in Reneau, Remembered, 171. In that letter Sprague referred to Halsey as “The gentleman who failed to keep his appointment last October.” He continued: “He [Halsey] then went on and was so flattering it was embarrassing. All I could mumble was ‘I hope your praise is deserved.’” Reneau, 171.
Chapter 55
“This was Trafalgar; it was Tsushima …” Pratt, Fleet Against Japan, 242. “Our defeat at Leyte was tantamount…,” Morison, History, vol. 12, 338. “The vision of Sprague’s three destroyers …,” Wouk, War and Remembrance, 1285. “The history of the United States Navy records …,” Cox, Battle off Samar, 165. “This desperate expedient…,” CTU 77.4.3 action report, Enclosure C, 3. “This was a disgrace, and I blame Kinkaid …,” Sprague, marginalia in his copy of Woodward, Battle for Leyte Gulf, 216. “The kind of man I would have been proud to call my father,” Copeland, Spirit, 69. “I had to admit that I didn’t know the answer …,” Julius Steinberg, Heermann, n.p. “In summation, the failure of the enemy main body …” CTU 77.4.3 action report, Enclosure B, 2. “You are a wonderful crew …,” Hath-away as quoted in Harold Whitney, Jan. 7, 2003 narrative, 3. “I knew there were some big battles going on …,” “It was a sort of homecoming …,” Harriet Copeland interview. “I know things were different when he came home …,” Suzanne Hartley interview. “I said forget it. I can make a living. I don’t need your disability,” Earl Archer interview. “He really rung it out…,” Leonard Moser, letter to Harold Kight, Apr. 25, 1986, 13-16.
Chapter 56
“He had two black eyes …,” Patricia Sprague Reneau interview in “Taffy 3 Remembered” videotape. “The Navy years were over for the Sprague daughters …,” Reneau, Remembered, 221. Most of the escort carriers were decommissioned … and sold as scrap: ships’ histories are from Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, www.hazegray.org/danfs. “I hold no hope that he is alive …,” J. M. Reid, letter to Mrs. LeClercq, Jan. 16, 1945. “Your successful fight against great odds …,” Nimitz’s letter to the survivors is quoted in Ciolek, “What Did You Do.” For distinguishing himself by extraordinary heroism, Reneau, 237. “It never occurred to me that Halsey …” and “What are you trying to do … ?” Wukovits, Devotion, 190. “It can be announced with assurance that the Japanese Navy has been beaten …” and “Though he participated in only portions …,” Wukovits, 189. “I wondered how Kinkaid had let ‘Ziggy’ Sprague get caught like this,” Halsey and Bryan, Admiral, 219. “Our Navy, for reasons that are clear to me …,” Sprague, letter to Fitch, Sept. 26, 1947, quoted in Reneau, 185. “You’ve done well. But don’t dwell on it,” Bud Comet interview. Taffy 3 reunions began in 1946: Thanks to Myles Barrett for a copy of these early “Taffy Three Reunion Notes.” Gambier Bay veterans’ 1977 Philippines pilgrimage, videotape courtesy of Hank Pyzdrowski. “They’re telling us that they know we’re here,” quoted in Old Shipmates, newsletter of the USS Gambier Bay/VC-10 Survivors Association. (First Quarter 1978), 35. “We now commit this capsule to the deep,” Old Shipmates (First Quarter 1978), 36. “Kurita’s role at Leyte …,” Wouk, War and Remembrance, 1280. A “gigantic enemy task force …,” Field, Japanese, 100. I have the honor to write the Men of the Gambier Bay …, Haruo Mayuzumi, letter to Henry A. Pyzdrowski, 10, 11, 14. “Dad, wait till you see what I’ve got…,” Jack Yusen interview. “I think the more of us that get together …,” Gene Saunders, letter to Harold Kight, 1. “Oh man, I like that guy,” Joe Downs interview. “At this time in my life, one of my greatest pleasures …,” Van Brunt, “A Bird’s-Eye View,” Paul Rinn told of FFG-58’s ordeal in a speech at the 2001 joint reunion of the Samuel B. Roberts and Johnston/Hoel survivors associations in Albuquerque. Rinn, now retired from the Navy, is a vice president at Whitney, Bradley and Brown. “I’m still trying to impress my dad…. the way I’ve conducted myself,” Bud Comet interview.