The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

by James D. Hornfischer

  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 David C. Wright has used the weight of circumstantial evidence to conclude in an as-yet-unpublished study that Jensen was first.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

&n
bsp; 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.