It is based in large part on action reports of the american ships that fought in the battle that were recently declassified in 2012. A main selection of the bookofthemonth club and the military book club, the book tells the story of the remarkable twoandahalfhour sea battle fought on october 25, 1944, in which rear admiral clifton a. And neptunes inferno are two very good books on the pacific war, the first about taffy 3 s stand against the japanese center force off samar, and the latter about the naval campaign around guadalcanal. Published 3rd edition with 11 full color illustrations of ships and four new photos. Rear admiral clifton ziggy sprague, usn was the otc of task unit 77. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Us navy task force 3 taffy guarding light carriers off the landing beach at. On the morning of 23 october 1944, american submarines detected and attacked units of the japanese fleet coming in from the south china sea toward the.
See all 3 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. The program consists of former fighter pilots sharing their stories of actual dogfights in which they took part, combined with. If i may ask would you consider showing the dogfight episode on the battle of samar with taffy 3 vs the center force i think it would be fun to react to. Read book red coats grey jackets the battle of chippawa 5 july 1814 full free. Taffy 3 ships taffy 3 models news the battle the uss raymond de341. In addition, it will be the 75th anniversary of the battle.
Im in a bit of a heated debate at the moment with a gentleman who asserts, thus far without providing any proof whatsoever, that the anecdote of taffy 3 avengers and wildcats at the battle off samar taking off primarily armed with what was at handantiground high explosive bombs and depth chargesis a myth. Battle 360 ep9 battle of leyte gulf video dailymotion. So there are now three books in the series, the defenders of taffy 3, the raiders of. I just finished reading the battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf which was written by a nephew of a survivor of the great battle. The complete season one bloody santa cruz play all enterprise vs. On this day, 75 years ago, taffy 3 fought kuritas forces. Some folks criticized the style, but i found it was an exceptional way to recount such a complex event. It was the only major action in the larger battle in which the americans were largely unprepared. The battle off samar was the centermost action of the battle of leyte gulf, one of the. A fifth ship from taffy 3, the escort carrier uss st. Battle 360 episode 9 battle of leyte gulf duration. I have to say this is how a battle book should be written.
For the american forces it is a defensive battle as wave after wave of japanese planes bombard the american carriers and eventually destroy the hornet. There are other excellent books which look at the three separate and quite different sea battles that are often lumped into the generic title battle of leyte gulf. The complete season one hammer of hell play all dday in the pacific. This one on the battle of leyte gulf features the heroic efforts of captain earnest e evans as he took the uss johnston into battle hopelessly over matched as the japanese fleet deceived admiral halsey attacking with empty carriers and other surface ships from the north which enabled the japanese. Taffy 3 was one of the three units of rear admiral thomas l. The battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf perfect paperback january 1, 2010 by robert jon cox author 4. The battle of leyte gulf is the largest naval battle in the pacific, and the. An amazing book, last stand of the tin can sailors, that i can not recommend highly enough. This book probably would have benefited from an editor that would have reigned the author in a bit. Taffy 3 spotted the antiaircraft fire and soon came under attack but the commander of the japanese fleet couldnt find those damned little silhouettes of the escort carriers in the identification book, so he guessed them to be the main carrier fleet and decided to eliminate them first, forming an antiaircraft formation but this forced them. Home fri ceremony fri display sat run jack bacastow veterans history project.
This series chronicles the illustrious battle history of the u. Im not a ww2 naval expert by any means, but lets examine a few key facts about the johnston during that action fletcherclass destroyer with 5inch guns and ten torpedoes goes stampeding ahead of the rest of taffy 3. The battle off samar was the centermost action of the battle of leyte gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the philippine sea off samar island, in the. Though the mogami did not participate in the battle off samar, it is very representative of the japanese fleet and it is an amazing model. Taffy 3s few destroyers and slower destroyer escorts possessed neither the. Battle 360 episode 10 the empires last stand video. Also, the japanese action reports available were translated and contributed greatly to the text. At 0730, three 14 in 360 mm shells from the battleship kongo, at a range of 7.
Battle 360 uses historical information and stateoftheart special effects to recreate what battles between some of historys greatest warships looked like. Taffy 3 which only included six small carriers, three destroyers and four destroyer escorts immediately turned east to confront the overwhelming force. If ever a battle should be turned into a major motion picture the battle of taffy 3 should be at the front of the line. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. The battle off samar the saga of taffy 3 october, 1944. This video documents the dedication of the memorial to the ships and men who participated in the battle off samar. Taffy 3 video history channel battle of leyte gulf battle off samar portion.
Spragues task unit, known as taffy 3 7th fleets task unit 77. The battle of leyte gulf the defenders of taffy 3 youtube. The task force was full of ships that performed very heroically that day, but johnston led the charge immediately begins dropping smoke to cover the escort. Enterprise which played a critical role in world war two and for a time was the only carrier defending the pacific theater from domination by.
After three long years, general douglas macarthur had returned. Can sailorsrear admiralleytelast standuss enterprisehistory channel book. Knowing that the men on shore would be slaughtered if nothing was done, sprague charged at the superior force with his small group and proceeded to sail his way. Third fleet units, including the fast carrier task forces, provided the outer line of defense for the operation. Furthermore, this may be the last reunion ever for taffy 3. Norman friedman discusses this extensively in his book fighting the great. Battle off samar military wiki fandom military wikia.
Sprague s task unit, known as taffy 3 7th fleet s task unit 77. This book tells the story of the naval battle of leyte gulf. Some folks criticized the style, but i found it was exceptional. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the defenders of taffy 3. The battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf by robert. The amazing true story of the battle of leyte gulf. We will be doing last minute repairs, ballasting ships in the float tank, eating pizza and beverages, and commissioning the taffy 3 fleet. A japanese surface force of battleships and cruisers, battered earlier in the larger battle and thought to have been in retreat, instead turned around unobserved and encountered the northernmost of the three groups, task unit 77. Labanan sa look ng leyte is considered to have been the largest naval battle of world war ii and is, by some criteria, a contender for the title largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. United states forces, including most of the third and seventh fleets, arrived in leyte gulf to begin the longawaited invasion of the philippine islands.
Instead theyve got their fourth episode covering the battle of the eastern solomons. Kings of pain knightfall mountain men pawn stars project blue book the strongest man in history swamp people truck night in america vikings. The video was produced duiring dedication ceremonies in san diego, ca in 1996. It is the companion reference to the raiders of taffy 3. The nonfiction book the last stand of the tin can sailors. Watch full episodes of battle 360 and get the latest breaking news, exclusive videos and pictures, episode recaps and much more at. We plan on setting up our models in a secured room at the hotel at 5pm. Battlefield s02e05 the battle of leyte gulf part 3 3. It was fought in waters near the philippine islands of leyte, samar, and luzon, from 2326 october 1944, between combined. The battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf robert jon cox on. Dogfights is a military aviation themed tv series depicting historical reenactments of airtoair combat that took place in world war i, world war ii, the korean war, and the vietnam war, as well as smaller conflicts such as the gulf war and the sixday war.
Labanan sa may samar was the centermost action of the battle of leyte gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the philippine sea off samar island, in the philippines on october 25, 1944. Analysis and retelling of the battle of leyte gulf. The battle of leyte gulf, the largest naval battle of world war ii. The heroics are of such an epic nature that they stand out even now, 70 plus years later. The united states begins a massive invasion of the philippines and the japanese will stop at nothing to destroy it. The program focuses on the world war iiera aircraft carrier uss enterprise. By far the battle off samar in which taffy 3 takes place is one of the more controversial ones as well the most heroic with a destroyer escort taking on heavy cruisers and battleships.
Taffy 3 put up a valiant fight, and aircraft from nearby taffy 1 and. Legendary ww2 battle between an american and japanese ace. The book does honor to all the men who fought in that battle. However, the last reunion, ever for the uss johnstonhoel association, will be a combined taffy 3 reunion which is expected to include all ships of taffy 3. A main selection of the book ofthemonth club and the military book club, the book tells the story of the remarkable twoandahalfhour sea battle fought on october 25, 1944, in which rear admiral clifton a. So the correct chronological order this should be watched in is. View from the bow of the battleship fuso and fearsome japanese guns of 360 mm. Battle 360, also written as battle 360, is an american documentary television series that. This set contains the series original 10 shows, including one that recreates dday in the pacific. Episode 9 of battle 360 dealt with the battle of leyte gulf. The taffy 3 model ship builders are invited to neils house at 3pm on thursday for a taffy 3 buildcommissioning party. George bird grinnell the battle to save the buffalo and the birth of. The 5th edition of my book 2010, the battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf at. How computational poweror its absenceshaped world war.
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