Siteadmin, Administrators
989
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Battle of Surigao Strait (view source)
Revision as of 20:53, September 13, 2008
, 20:53, September 13, 2008New page: The '''Battle of Surigao Strait''' was part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the last battle in history to be fought without any input from aircraft. It was fought between the fire ...
The '''Battle of Surigao Strait''' was part of the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]] and the last battle in history to be fought without any input from [[aircraft]]. It was fought between the fire support ships of the [[United States Navy|American]] Seventh Fleet and the entire [[Japan]]ese Southern Force on the night of October 24-25. It was a decisive [[United States|American]] victory.
==Setup==
Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf had in his command six battleships (four Pearl Harbor survivors), five heavy cruisers, and four light cruisers, which he set up across Surigao Strait, the fifteen-mile-wide stretch of water between [[Leyte]] and Hibuson Island. A fleet of thirty-nine PT boats were the "eyes" of the fleet for lack of aircraft.
The Japanese commander, Vice Admiral Nishimura, had in his van two battleships and a heavy cruiser with four destroyers; behind, in his rear, were two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, and four destroyers. Nishimura's goal was to break in to Leyte Gulf and massacre the American transports there.
==Battle==
The radar-equipped ''PT-131'' made contact with the Japanese van four minutes before midnight on October 24, and the patrol of three boats attacked with torpedoes after radioing Oldendorf a report. All the way up the Strait, patrol boat harassed the enemy vessels, but hit none; they, however, kept the American commanders aware of the situation.
At two o'clock in the morning, the Japanese chased the last torpedo boats away, only to meet a [[destroyer]] division half an hour later. The American destroyers began firing [[torpedo]]s at 3 AM, hitting the battleship ''Fuso'' badly and slightly damaging the other (the ''Yamashiro''). One Japanese destroyer was also sunk, and two more were damaged badly. Not a single hit was scored on an American destroyer. Ten minutes later, a second torpedo attack was launched. The ''Yamashiro'' was hit again, though she did not stop, and a damaged destroyer was disabled. Nishimura took no turns or any kind of evasive action.
At 3:51 AM, the American battle line (which had capped the enemy's "T") opened fire on the three remaining Japanese ships: battleship ''Yamashiro'', heavy cruiser ''Mogami'', and destroyer ''Shigure''.
==Setup==
Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf had in his command six battleships (four Pearl Harbor survivors), five heavy cruisers, and four light cruisers, which he set up across Surigao Strait, the fifteen-mile-wide stretch of water between [[Leyte]] and Hibuson Island. A fleet of thirty-nine PT boats were the "eyes" of the fleet for lack of aircraft.
The Japanese commander, Vice Admiral Nishimura, had in his van two battleships and a heavy cruiser with four destroyers; behind, in his rear, were two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, and four destroyers. Nishimura's goal was to break in to Leyte Gulf and massacre the American transports there.
==Battle==
The radar-equipped ''PT-131'' made contact with the Japanese van four minutes before midnight on October 24, and the patrol of three boats attacked with torpedoes after radioing Oldendorf a report. All the way up the Strait, patrol boat harassed the enemy vessels, but hit none; they, however, kept the American commanders aware of the situation.
At two o'clock in the morning, the Japanese chased the last torpedo boats away, only to meet a [[destroyer]] division half an hour later. The American destroyers began firing [[torpedo]]s at 3 AM, hitting the battleship ''Fuso'' badly and slightly damaging the other (the ''Yamashiro''). One Japanese destroyer was also sunk, and two more were damaged badly. Not a single hit was scored on an American destroyer. Ten minutes later, a second torpedo attack was launched. The ''Yamashiro'' was hit again, though she did not stop, and a damaged destroyer was disabled. Nishimura took no turns or any kind of evasive action.
At 3:51 AM, the American battle line (which had capped the enemy's "T") opened fire on the three remaining Japanese ships: battleship ''Yamashiro'', heavy cruiser ''Mogami'', and destroyer ''Shigure''.