Louisville (CA 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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RECONQUERING the Philippines was the beginning of the in- evitable end. No one knew this bet- ter than the Nips. Goaded by the taunts of 'cldulli' Halsey, confronted with severance of supply lines to South China and the East Indies, losing face and heart with our every strike, they had to fight back. Like cornered rats, a stand had to be made, and the Philippines had to be the spot. We suspected it. We were prepared. lf any of us had any doubts concerning the determination of the faps to wrest Leyte from our hands, he began changing his mind on the 23rd of October when scuttlebutt raced like wildfire through the ship of the approach of large enemy naval forces. Those reports formed the current that set mighty machines in action. Com- municators worked all night decoding dis- patches. By early morning the dope was out. The enemy, in an all-out gamble to smash our hold in the Philippines, was deploying his entire fleet. Three powerful task forces, like giant pincers, were closing in for the kill: one from the north moving south from the Empire, one from the west steaming towards San Bernadino Straits, and the other approaching Leyte Gulf from the Mindanao Sea. Decisions, the kind that win wars or lose them, had to be made. Admiral Halsey, in one of history's boldest, most courageous gambles, ordered his entire l Suri ao attle Third Fleet to intercept and sink the ,lap forces to the north. That order meant that Admiral Kincaid's Seventh Fleet, of which we were part, had to meet the other two forces. On our success hinged the fate of thousands of men ashore and in troop transports in the Gulf. Officers and men worked shoulder to shoulder loading ammunition in a blazing, unmerciful sun that turned the tar of decks into blistered rivulets. Admirals, barges and captains' gigs, skimmed from ship to ship, as hasty conferences were held and hurried, terse briefings made. The laps were no idlers. Their plan of at- tack was a skillfully co-ordinated operation designed to crush with inexorable force our offensive. Mass air attacks greeted us that morning. Relentlessly they pressed their attacks, only to be intercepted and deci- mated with each attempt by our Lightning and Corsair fighter planes based on the airfields at Dulag and Tacloban. As the dogfights raged to the north over Luzon, our plans were formulated. Admiral Kincaid was informed that the ,lap force approaching San Bernadino Straits had re- versed course and was retiring. We were later to discover this report to be in error. Based on this misinformation, Task Group 77.2 under Rear Admiral Oldendorf, consisting of six battleships, four heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and twenty- four destroyers, was ordered to guard the southern entrance of Leyte Gulf, to attack and destroy any enemy forces attempting to enter. The Louisville had reached the pinnacle of her career. With Admiral 147