Originally Posted by
salbahis
the jap never made it to australlia but they are able to bomb it... or maybe i was wrong... on my sources... but AFAIK, australia was lucky that we keep the japs stuck on the philippines....
You're right. The Japanese launched airstrikes on Darwin but never landed troops there. The Japanese made it as far south as New Guinea though.
Originally Posted by
salbahis
have you tried Lost Evidence?, it's a nice documentary i have all the episodes before... there was a couple of episodes about the philippines, Battle of Surigao Strait, the biggest naval battle of world, this is where the sister ship of super battleship yamato was kick in the butt .
That must be the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which is composed of four main engagements of which Surigao Strait is one. The others are Battle of Sibuyan Sea, Battle off Cape Engano and Battle off Samar. The
Musashi was sunk in the Sibuyan Sea after a series of attacks by US carrier aircraft.
Probably the most exciting and heroic part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf is the Battle off Samar, where a numerically superior Japanese force spearheaded by the superbattleship
Yamato somehow snuck past Halsey's powerful aircraft carriers, negotiating the San Bernardino Strait and sailing down the eastern coast of Samar undetected. On the morning of October 25, 1944 this powerful flotilla came upon a small US support unit composed of escort carriers, destroyers and destroyer escorts. The unit, nicknamed Taffy 3, was supporting the Leyte landings. Taffy 3 was all that stood between the Japanese warships and the vulnerable US invasion fleet on Leyte Gulf composed of transport ships packed with thousands of infantry soldiers in their holds.
The Americans were not aware of the Japanese presence until the enemy was well within sight and shells started falling around their ships. All the shocked Americans could do was turn around and run for their lives.
In a desperate bid to protect the slow and thin-hulled escort carriers, the destroyers and destroyer escorts reversed course and charged headlong into the Japanese formation. In doing so, their fate was sealed. The thinly armored vessels stood no chance against the mighty guns of the Japanese ships. Yet fight they did. They launched torpedoes and fired their small 5-inch guns. It didn't take long before 2 US destroyers, 1 destroyer escort and 1 escort carrier were sent to the bottom. Several more ships were heavily damaged.
But their gallant sacrifice was not in vain. The suicidal attacks by the US ships coupled with equally suicidal attack runs by US naval aircraft launched from the fleeing escort carriers so frazzled the Japanese admiral (Takeo Kurita) he ordered his ships to retreat. When the Japanese turned around, the incredulous Americans, so close to annihilation, couldn't believe their eyes.
The Japanese force had come within minutes of entering the Leyte Gulf and possibly decimating the landing force.
Read more about the Battle off Samar on wikipedia here:
Battle off Samar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Or read "The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf" by David Sears.
Many heroes were made that day. The Battle off Samar alone resulted in the awarding of one posthumous Medal of Honor, 30 Navy Crosses, 2 Silver Stars and 2 Bronze Stars. Taffy 3 also won the Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism.
, keep it coming ...
Reply With Quote
Posting Permissions
