Tennessee (BB 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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ASKK. battle su rlgclo straits On The nighf of Ocfober 24 25 I944 a maior naval aHle Took place in Surigao STraiT Philippine lslands be Tween The Japanese and The U S Sevenfh Fleef There are few men in eiTher fleeT who have a clear concepfion of whaT acfually happened around Them in The dark and confusion of ThaT nighf fighfing Buf a brief reference af The ouTseT To a series of evenfs leading up To The engage menT will serve To obTain a clear idea of The general course of acTion ATTer supporfing inifial landing of The U S Troops on The easf coasf of LeyTe Island on Ocfober 20 I944 The SevenTh Fleef under Vice Admiral Thomas C Kinkaid USN remained inside LeyTe Gulf To provide The neces sary anfi aircrafT fire over Transporfs and supply ships of The American invasion force and To profecf The beach head from aTTack by sea. On wafch easf of The Philippines was Admiral l'-lalsey's Third Fleef composed of The fasT new balfleships and big carriers. From OcTober 2OTh Through The 24fh There were numerous Japanese air affacks on The shipping in The gulf during which period The Sevenfh Fleef warships manned Their anTi-aircraff guns many Times. Meanwhile, Three powerful Japanese naval forces puT To sea and began To converge on -Leyfe Gulf. Buf The American Naval lnfelligence was on The alerfg if had de- Tecfed major Japanese Fleef unifs in The Soufh China Sea headed Toward The Philippines from Singapore on Oc- Tober 22nd, ln The early morning of The 23rd Two U. S. submarines sighfed ThaT enemy force wesT of Palawan lslands and aTTacked iT. The affack resulfed in The sinking of Two heavy cruisers and The damaging of a Third, forc- ing her To Turn back. LaTer in The affernoon an American submarine again conTacTed The enemy and so severely crippled anofher heavy cruiser Thaf she refired. Affer The submarine aTTack, darkness covered The 'Japanese ships and during The nighT nofhing was seen of The enemy buf very early in The morning of OcTober 24-Th our carrier search planes discovered ThaT The Japanese Fleef had separafed inTo Two forces and were moving easfward Through The Philippine archipelago info The Pacific To bofh norfh and soufh of Leyfe One enemy force was making :Ts way across The Mindanao Sea Toward Surigao STraiT befween Leyfe and Mindanao lslands in The soufh lT consisfed of Two baT'Tle ships Two heavy cruisers four lighf cruisers and Ten de sfroyers The second was moving Through The Sibuyan Sea in The direcfion of San Bernadino STraiT befweeri Luzon and Samar lslands in The norTh This enemy force included five baffleships eighf heavy cruisers Three lighf cruisers and from Thirfeen To fiffeen desfroyers As soon as The presence of These Two Japanese Fleefs inside The archipelago was discovered boTh forces were affacked by U S Th rd Fleef carrier aircraff ln This affack againsf The enemys Mindanao Sea force bomb hifs were scored on boTh baffleships and The cruisers were sfrafed and affacked wifh rockefs buf The enemy con Tinued across The Mindanao Sea and enfered Surigao Sfraif on The nighf of 24 25 Ocfober During The aTTack on The enemys Sibuyan Sea force a lighf cruiser was sunk One baffleship and Two heavy cruisers were severely damaged and Turned back AT dusk The remaining Jap ships had reversed course and reporfs sTaTed ThaT They mighf be refiring. While These carrier sfrikes were in progress againsf The Two enemy fleefs, a Third enemy fleef was Iocafed off norThern Luzon coming from The Formosa area. lT had been spoffed aT 3:40 p.m. by a Navy pafrol plane. This force, essenfially a carrier Task group, consisfed of Two baffleship carriers of The lse class. one large carrier, Three small carriers, plus four cruisers and approximafely Ten desfroyers. IT was plain fhaf a full scale baTTle was in The making. During any operafion There comes a Time when The com- mander musT make a decision upon which resfs The final oufcome of The baffle. From The American sTandpoinT ' FooTnoTe: The plan of aTTack was, of course, Japan's secreT. Ac- cording To some sources. The enemy's carrier force off Luzon was To move soufhward and diverf' The U. S. Third FleeT from The LeyTe area: Thai' The main body of The Japanese Fleef coming across The Sibuyan Sea infended making iTs way Through The San Bernaclino STraiT info The Pacific and on To Leyfe Gulf To overpower The U. S. Sevenfh Fleef or draw if norfhward while The enemy's Mindanao Sea force would slip Through The Surigao STraiT To desTroy The American supply ships and Transporfs in Leyfe Gulf. Ofher sources, however, have if Thaf The enemy plan of acfion was for Their carrier force To supply air supporf for The main body when iT sorfied ouT of San Bernadino STraiT. his 1 . .,........-.......,....a..,. ' - JT. 2 ,E Ll'i f.'Tf I ' 'Tit' QT.: ' 1. .. . . . ..

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4, ,n I ,i, 1 16 :I gauge 111. LE. 15.6. li 1 U ,. 'T -geese... W., I 1 ll ,T I I I I The criTicaI momenT was aT hand in The BaT'TIe Tor LeyTe GuIT. Admiral Halsey decided To Take his Third FIeeT norTh To aTTacIc The enemy carrier Torce aT dawn. In The Tading IighT oT Tuesday nighT, OcTober 24Th, The Third FIeeT leTT iTs covering posiTion easT oT The Philippines, and leaving San Bernadino STraiT unguarded, iT made all speed norTh To meeT The enemy carriers oTT Luzon. Meanwhile, The SevenTh FIeeT prepared To deTend LeyTe Gulf againsT The Japanese Torce which had suc- ceeded in cuTTing across The Mindanao Sea To Surigao STraiT, Trom which They inTended To emerge Tor a pre- dawn aTTaclc on our shipping in The guIT. The sTory oT The BaTTle oT Surigao STraiT commences on The aTTernoon oT The 24Th when Vice Admiral Kinlcaid, commander oT U. S. SevenTh FIeeT, direcTed Rear Ad- miral Jesse B. OldendorT, USN, To prepare To deTend LeyTe Gulf and Tor ThaT purpose assigned To him six old baTTleships, Tour heavy cruisers, Tour IighT cruisers, TwenTy- Tive desTroyers, plus several TIoTillas oT moTor Torpedo boaTs. AT 6:30 ThaT evening Admiral Oldendorf marshalled his six old baTTleships and placed Them on a line across The norTh end oT Surigao STraiT running Trom I-IinaTungan PoinT on easT coasT of LeyTe To DesolaTion PoinT on DinagaT Island. I-Ie sTaTioned Three cruisers up TronT on The righT Tlanlc. Ahead on The IeTT Tlanlc, he placed Tive cruisers. The whole disposiTion Tormed a curved line like The inside oT a crescenT. In The STraiT iTseIT, moTor Torpedo boaTs were dis- posed along iTs ThirTy-Tive mile lengTh, aT Tavorable poinTs To assail any enemy ship which mighT come up The Ten- mile wide sTraiT. Finally, more moTor Torpedo boaTs were placed aT The souThern end oT Surigao STraiT To waTch Tor The Japanese FIeeT in The Mindanao Sea. The LeTT Flanlc Forces commanded by Rear Admiral OIdendorT, who Tlew his Tlag in The LOUISVILLE, consisTed oT The cruisers LOUISVILLE, PORTLAND, MINNEAPO- LIS, COLUMBIA and DENVER, plus nine desTroyers. The RighT Flanlc Forces commanded by Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkley in PT-IOENIX, consisTed oT The cruisers PT-IOENIX, BOISE and I-I.M.A.S. SI-IROPSI-IIRE, plus six desTroyers. The banleship Torce was under Rear Admiral George L. Weyler, who Tlew his Tlag in The MISSISSIPPI. The order oT ba++leships in column on The BaTTIe Line was The WEST VIRGINIA, leading, Tollowed by The MARYLAND, MISSISSIPPI, TENNESSEE, CALIFORNIA and PENNSYL- VANIA. Six desTroyers were sTaTioned close To The baTTIe- ships as a screen. In This array The SevenTh FIeeT sTeamed slowly To and Tro abouT Tive IcnoTs paTienTIy awaiTing To meeT The Jap- anese FIeeT expecTed To come Through Surigao STraiT. The nighT was inTenseIy dark and moonless. There was no wind, and The sea was smooTh. The weaTher was clear. AbouT midnighT The moTor Torpedo boaTs on picIceT oTT The souThern enTrance oT Surigao STraiT deTecTed and reporTed by radio To The Tlagship ThaT an enemy naval Torce was approaching. IT consisTed oT Two baTTIeships, Two heavy cruisers, Tour IighT cruisers, screened by Ten desTroyers. ShorTIy aTTer I:00 a.m. on The 25Th This enemy Torce enTered Surigao STraiT in Two groups, moving aT TwenTy lcnoTs. The TirsT included The Two baTTIeships FUSO and YAMAST-IIRO, and The heavy cruiser MOGAMI in col- umn, screened by Tour desTroyers. The second, Tour miles asTern oT The leading group, was composed oT Tive cruisers and six desTroyers. Then The baTTIe began. As The Japanese Torce ad- vanced up The sTraiT, iT was subiecTed To consecuTive Torpedo aTTacIcs by The moTor Torpedo boaTs, and by desTroyers: and Then The cruisers and baTTIeships joined in The aTTaclc wiTh gunTire. ThaT was The seTTing. Each ship's experience in The acTion ThaT ensued is a compleTe sTory in iTselT. The USS TENNESSEE under CapTain John B. I-TeTTernan, USN, aT Surigao STraiT was Tlying The Tlag oT Rear Admiral T. E. Chandler, as Com- mander oT BaTTIeship Division Two. On The TENNESSEE The alarm Tor General OuarTers sounded aT 2:34 a.m. My baTTle sTaTion was on a plaTTorm aTT ouTside The mainmasT wiTh The gun conTrol sTaTT oT The auTomaTic weapons baTTery. And iT was Trom This small plaTTorm, some 50 or 60 TeeT above The quar'Ter-deck, ThaT I wiTnessed The BaTTIe oT Surigao STraiT. We sTood quieTly in The darkness. All eyes sTrained over The darlc waTers Towards The sTraiT. The piTch-blaclc VIIQIWI was brolcen only by The jagged Tlashes of IighTning in The disTanT mounTains. IT was quieT, very quieT. Then displays OT varied IighT were seen abouT TwenTy- Tive miles To The souThward. AT 3:00 a.m. a spoT on The horizon was iIluminaTed by sTarsheIIs, Tlares and search- IighTsg and aT 3:I5 a.m. Tlashes oT gunfire were visible. APVUPTIY The reporT oT guns became audible. The Jap- anese FleeT had arrived,