on Battl e 360, the last great carrier
battle ended aster for the Japanese, but the enemy
is still formidable and still has a trick up his sleeve. The imposing Japanese
surface fleet is steaming headlong toward
American forces in Leyte Gulf. USS Enterprise, a
fighting city of steel-- she is the most revered and
decorated ship of World War II. On this 360 degree battlefield,
where threats loom on the seas, in the skies, and
in the ocean depths, the Enterprise's enemies could
be anywhere and everywhere. There's nowhere to run when
the battle's all around you. Battle 360, USS Enterprise,
Battle of Leyte Gulf. [bombs exploding] Daybreak, October 24,
1944, Philippine Sea. 12 scout bombers and
16 Hellcat fighters launch from USS Enterprise. Their mission-- search the
waters southwest of Leyte Gulf. Word has it the
Japanese warships are headed for American forces
landing on Leyte Island. The warships are likely
to include Japan's two super battleships-- Musashi and Yamato-- the
biggest in the world. And Enterprise bombers are
hoping to destroy them. The bomber pilots are also eager
to finally kill the last enemy carrier to take part in
the Pearl Harbor attack. The Zuikaku, sister
ship, Shokaku, recently met her fate at the
Battle of the Philippine Sea. At this point,
Enterprise and Zuikaku have seen more combat than any
other carriers on either side since the opening of the war. Bill Norberg, a 23-year-old
Captain's Yeoman from Massachusetts has been
aboard since those earliest days. We had some kind of a checker
game going on, I would say, between ourselves
and the enemy there. The Shokaku and the
Zuikaku were sister ships. We in The Yorktown and we in
The Hornet were sister ships. And so many times we
met during the war. NARRATOR: Now, at 8:00 AM,
as Enterprise flyers reached the Sulu Sea, they scan the
ocean surface meticulously for enemy vessels. Just over an hour later,
15,000 feet below them, the American search group spots
what it's been looking for-- a Japanese Naval task force. No aircraft carriers or super
battleships are present, but the task force does include
two standard sized battleships and a heavy cruiser. They are picketed by
four small destroyers, and they're burning
north at 15 knots. There can only be one
destination for these ships. They're headed toward
the beaches of Leyte to kill Americans. Time to make some war. The Enterprise
aircraft immediately line up to dive on
the Japanese vessels. SAMUEL K. DOLAN: So the plan
here is for the dive bombers to get into a position where
they can hit these battleships. Japanese battleships
are the main targets. Meanwhile, the
fighter escorts are going to swoop down and strafe
these destroyers and cruisers that are escorting
these battleships. That way, the cruisers
and destroyers will have their fire divided. They won't be able to take
on the attacking bombers quite so well. They'll be distracted
by the fighter flights. NARRATOR: The fighters nose
toward the water first, slamming their
throttles forward. A sheet of murderous flak-- antiaircraft fire--
quickly rises to meet them. These planes encounter
very interesting flak coming up from
the Japanese fleet. Each ship is firing
a different color. So when these flak
bursts go off, you have blues, and yellows,
and whites, and reds. It's a very interesting scene. [flak firing] NARRATOR: The shells
from each enemy ship are marked with a
different color dye so the fire from one ship can
be distinguished from the fire of another. [bombs exploding] Slicing through the
heavy flak, the Hellcats blister the cruiser and
destroyers with 50 caliber machine gun fire
and 5 inch rockets. Seconds behind them, the
Enterprise dive bombers-- Curtiss Helldivers--
scream downward toward the battleships. At 2,000 feet, the Helldivers
released their 500-pound bombs. They pull out of their
dive just above the water and maneuver to avoid the
rainbow colored flak as they make their getaway. Arthur Kropp is a
19-year-old from Michigan. ARTHUR KROPP: We'd go right
down treetop level or low-- as low as we could. Reason for this being,
any aircraft fire would be diminished quickly
because you're out of range quicker. [intense music] NARRATOR: Smoke and fire on the
decks of the battleships point to the bomber's success. SAMUEL K. DOLAN: There
are several near misses, but at least three of the
bombs do make direct hits. So this battle does get
some pretty damaging hits on this Japanese force. NARRATOR: Even so,
neither battleship is out of the action, but the
injuries will slow them down. But for Commander Fred Bakutis,
leader of the Enterprise Hellcats, this has been a
battle-ending encounter. Shortly after the attack, he
radios that he's losing oil and that he's ditching. Bakutis faces almost
certain death. If the impact of the
landing doesn't kill him, he'll be stranded alone in enemy
waters and more than 100 miles from land. His comrades are also
still at great risk. While they think they've struck
a major blow to the enemy attack force, they don't know
that a few hundred miles north, a much larger Japanese force
that includes the world's biggest battleships is steaming
toward the American landing troops at Leyte. And the Japanese have a
trick up their sleeve, a deception to lure USS
Enterprise and the other big US carriers away from the battle
area, and it just might work. [intense music] [bombs exploding] By October, 1944, the American
and Japanese aircraft carrier forces have been slugging
it out for three years. [intense music] [bombs exploding] Midway. Eastern Solomons. [intense music] Santa Cruz. [gunfire] And now, following the recent
clash over the Philippine Sea, in which 400 planes were lost,
the enemy's carrier force is a shadow of its former self. JONATHAN PARSHALL: Their
carriers at this point are empty. They have vessels, but they
don't have planes or pilots to put on those vessels. NARRATOR: Just over 100
planes remain to distribute amongst the surviving carriers. Even so, the Japanese Navy has
another skilled and menacing combat arm. JONATHAN PARSHALL: The remaining
strength of the Japanese Navy at this point is
in its battleships and its heavy cruisers. They still have a very
formidable array of heavy gun warships that they
can bring to bear. NARRATOR: Among the warships are
Japan's two super battleships-- the monsters
Musashi and Yamato-- the biggest
battleships ever built. They were massive battleships,
863 feet long, 172 foot beam, weighing 72,000 tons. The Yamato and the Musashi
both had a main battery of nine 460 millimeter guns. That's 18.1 inches-- the largest
Naval guns used in combat. JONATHAN PARSHALL: They're
extremely heavily armored, yet relatively fast, very
powerful, graceful warships. And they're able to sustain a
label on a level of punishment that was considered
inconceivable even at the beginning of the war. NARRATOR: Japanese admirals must
now rely on these large surface warships to stop the American
advance through the Pacific. They believe the best way
to do it is to disrupt the American beach landings. JONATHAN PARSHALL: It's
recognized at this point in the war that it's important
to hit the American invasion forces. So the point of attack for
the Japanese battleships for the first time is not their
American opposite numbers, but is rather the beachhead
itself, and the transports, and the logistical
apparatus that are supporting this invasion. NARRATOR: On the opposite
side of the equation, the American carrier forces
are holding their own so far. They still have plenty
of carriers and aircraft. US admirals also have
battleships and cruisers at their disposal. They feel they have
enough strength at this point in the war to
finally target the Philippines. Taking the Philippines will
place US forces between Japan and its Navy's oil
supply in Indonesia. But any attempt in
landing in the Philippines will be hotly contested. Japanese occupiers will
defend this crucial ground to the death. [somber music playing] The American strategy for
taking back the Philippines calls first for the capture of
the centrally located island of Leyte. JONATHAN PARSHALL: It
was felt that Leyte needs to be captured so
that we can put airbases into operation. And then we'll extend our air
umbrella over further portions of the Philippines
and go on eventually to the liberation
of Luzon, which contains the capitol of Manila. NARRATOR: The US Navy will
use two separate fleets to accomplish this. The actual landing
force, US Army Troops, will be delivered
by the US 7th Fleet under Vice Admiral
Thomas Kincaid. Kincaid is a tough-minded
New Hampshire man with extensive battleship
command experience. The 7th Fleet's
transports and warships will both land the troops and
provide them with support. Close air support will come from
small aircraft carriers called escort or Jeep carriers. The small carriers will
also keep planes aloft to protect the other vessels
of the invasion fleet. Aging battleships, ones that
were sunk at Pearl Harbor then raised and refurbished,
will bombard the beaches ahead of the landings. [bombs exploding] The other fleet
in this operation is the US 3rd Fleet under the
command of William F. Halsey. Now, Admiral Bull Halsey is
sort of this patron figure with US carriers and
US carrier aviation. It was Halsey that had led
Enterprise's task force into all those early campaigns
in the first months of World War II. NARRATOR: Halsey's 3rd Fleet
includes the now legendary Enterprise, along with 17
other large, fast carriers. Halsey and 3rd Fleet will
remain farther out at sea to provide additional cover and
support for the Leyte landing operation. If the Japanese
fleet shows itself, the famous carrier
admiral will attempt to pummel it before it
gets a chance to disrupt the Philippine landing. But the Japanese have
devised a strategy for countering
Halsey's presence. Executed properly, they
believe their plan will crush the Americans in Leyte Gulf. SAMUEL K. DOLAN: In the
wake of their massive defeat in the Marianas campaign in
the battle known as the Turkey Shoot, the Japanese fleet is-- well, they're spread out. The main carrier fleet
is refurbishing back in the home islands. They need new planes. They have lost hundreds
of Naval aviators and war planes in the
battle that summer. So the carriers,
the fleet carriers, are back in the home islands. And the battleships and
cruisers and the remainder of the surface fleet are
hundreds of miles to the south. JONATHAN PARSHALL: A
number of their warships are at this point sequestered
in places near Singapore because there's oil there,
and they need oil to operate. NARRATOR: The Japanese admirals
plan to use these circumstances to their advantage. While their empty carrier
force can't accomplish much as a fighting entity,
it has great potential as a distraction. The Japanese will use the
carrier force as a decoy. The carriers will
sail south from Japan as though they plan to
threaten the Leyte operation. The hope is that admiral
Halsey, always eager to sink Japanese carriers, will steam
north to intercept them, pulling America's big carriers
out of the primary battle area. Simultaneously, the
enemy's main effort will come from the south. Japan's battleships and cruisers
will steam north toward Leyte today from Singapore . The warships will split
into two groups, one for sailing through the
Sulu sea and Surigao Strait and approaching Leyte
Gulf from the south. The other half, sailing
through the Sibuyan Sea and San Bernardino Strait and coming
down on Leyte from the north. JONATHAN PARSHALL: They have a
southern and a northern pincer composed of battleships and
cruisers that will hopefully meet up off of the
island of Leyte and there crush the
invasion convoys. NARRATOR: When Japanese and
American forces collide, the numbers of ships involved
and the hundreds of miles separating major battle areas
will distinguish the struggle from Leyte Gulf as the largest
Naval battle in the history of mankind. [bombs exploding] [gunfire] of October 24, 1944, g the American landing
on the island of Leyte has been underway for four days. Resistance from Japanese
ground forces on Leyte has been minimal,
due in large part to bombardment by 7th
Fleet battleships. 25-year-old Oregonian, Ken
Peck, is a gunnery officer. Every time there
was a new operation, you'd soften them up for
a while with bombings and then you'd hit them. And they softened that
up for a long time. So when they landed
in Leyte, I don't think it was too much
interference or too much opposition. NARRATOR: Japanese Naval
forces are rushing toward Leyte to stop them. As men and equipment
flow ashore, 60 miles off the eastern coast of Leyte,
William F. Halsey's 3rd Fleet, including USS Enterprise has
been sending out search planes, like the 28 planes sent
toward the Sulu Sea this morning to keep an eye
out for approaching warships. Richard Harte, also
in gunnery officer, hails from West Virginia. We knew the Japanese fleet
had left its anchorage, and we had submarines out who
did a very good job at keeping track of it, giving
its advance warnings. Indeed, 25 hours ago, American
submarines USS Daughter and USS Days launched torpedoes
at the Japanese Center Force. These subs are scouting off
the southern tip of Palawan. And they managed to actually
hit and sink two heavy cruisers. [intense music] [bombs exploding] NARRATOR: Since this
contact, Admiral Halsey has stepped up scouting
flights from Enterprise and her sister carriers. The flight that headed south
of Enterprise this morning, led by commanders Emmett
Riera and Fred Bakutis, discovered the Japanese
Southern Force-- one half of the intended
pincer action against Leyte. The Southern Force is under the
command of Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura. 55-year-old Nishimura ably
commanded the 7th Cruiser Division in the
Guadalcanal campaign, bombarding Henderson Field
and inflicting heavy damage. [intense music] Now, thanks to
Riera's Helldivers, two of the battleships in the
Southern Force are wounded. The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver is
a fearsome attack aircraft. Its impressive top speed
of 294 miles per hour is made possible in part
by its internal bomb bay. Carrying large bombs
internally prevents wind drag. The bomber's armed with
two 20-millimeter wing mounted cannons and two
30-caliber machine guns in the rear cockpit. And while the hits Riera's
Helldivers have scored on the Southern
Force battleships have resulted in fires, the
flames are quickly extinguished and neither warship
is out of the action. The Hellcat fighters
have made rocket hits on the cruiser and
the destroyers, but damage is minimal, and those
vessels also remain on course. [somber music] Commander Fred Bakutis'
Hellcat, on the other hand, has become a casualty. And shortly after radioing
that he's losing oil and that he's ditching, his
plane tears into the water. Bakutis is lucky and
survives the impact. He scrambles out of his aircraft
just as it begins to sink. SAMUEL K. DOLAN: Bakutis is able
to survive his water landing. He's able to deploy
his tiny life raft. More importantly, his
friend, Emmett Riera, who is in command
of the Helldivers is able to get into a position
where he can drop Bakutis a larger life raft. NARRATOR: Commander
Riera carefully plots Bakutis' position before
leading the Enterprise planes back to the mothership. Meanwhile, 300 miles
Northwest in the Sibuyan Sea, the Japanese Center Force is
also steaming toward Leyte. This force comprises
five battleships, seven heavy cruisers,
one light cruiser, and thirteen destroyers. And it's with this attack fleet
that the monster battleships Yamato and Musashi are present. Both vessels pack
18.1 inch guns and are designed to sustain a
staggering level of punishment. These ships represent the heart
of the enemy's main effort. Spotted by scout planes
earlier, now at 10:30 AM, the Center Force comes under
attack from American bombers. They are aircraft from two other
carriers in Admiral Halsey's task force-- USS Intrepid and USS Cabot. [intense music] [gunfire] [bombs exploding] SAMUEL K. DOLAN: Helldivers
and Avenger torpedo planes from USS Intrepid
and USS Cabot swoop in to this Japanese task force. They score hits on a cruiser
and three battleships, including the mega battleships,
Yamato and Musashi. NARRATOR: The monster warships
absorb the hits in stride and maintain speed. [gunfire] But a second wave of planes from
Intrepid along with aircraft from USS Essex and USS Lexington
soon arrives and concentrates its attack on Musashi. The gutsy pilots brave
a sky torn with flak. The American bombers
score 10 additional hits. Musashi feels it this time. [bombs exploding] They get bomb hits and
torpedo hits on the Musashi that weaken it and slow it down. NARRATOR: When the smoke clears,
Musashi is listing to port and struggling to make 15 knots. And the monster war ship's
troubles are far from over. A few hours later in
mid-afternoon, USS Enterprise pilots get a crack at her. A wave of bombers from both
Enterprise and USS Franklin buzzes in determined to put
Musashi beneath the waves. CDR ALAN PIETRUSZEWSKI: As our
dive bomber and torpedo bomber pilots came in, they could see
the fattest target they'd ever seen, and they wanted
to take her down. NARRATOR: The bomber pilots
hold their dives longer than they normally would have. They press in very
close before releasing. [bombs exploding] NARRATOR: The tactic
is successful. 1ST SGT WILLIAM BODETTE: Every
one of their torpedoes hit, all eight of them. 11 out of their 18
bombs hit their mark. [intense music] As most squadrons
turn and pull away, the Musashi is stopped, down
by the head and burning. So the Enterprise
air group participates in the final destruction
of one of the two most powerful battleships
in the entire world. NARRATOR: Musashi will finally
slip beneath the ocean's surface shortly after dark. But she has lived up to the
estimates of her toughness. The Americans were absolutely
astounded at the amount of damage that she took
before she finally rolled over and sank. NARRATOR: The tenacious nations
attacks by American aircraft rattled the Japanese commander,
Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita. And he turns his fleet
around, if only temporarily. He's been so heavily
engaged by wave after wave of
American bombers, he attempts to withdraw beyond
the range of the US carriers. SAMUEL K. DOLAN:
To the Americans, it looks as if that
force has been beaten off and is going to be retreating. It leads Admiral Halsey,
commanding the 3rd US fleet, to the conclusion that Kurita
has disengaged and is leaving the battle area. NARRATOR: Admiral
Halsey believes he is now free to turn the
attention of his carrier force elsewhere. But the admiral's shift
of focus is premature. JONATHAN PARSHALL: During
the later afternoon, Admiral Kurita then brings
his forces about again. And under cover of darkness,
brings those forces through San Bernardino Strait. NARRATOR: But well before the
Center Force reverses course for the second
time, scout planes notify Admiral Halsey, the
Japanese aircraft carriers are approaching from the north. They're headed south
toward the Philippines from mainland Japan. The admiral doesn't know
the enemy carriers represent literally an empty threat. He doesn't know they're acting
as a decoy meant to pull him away from the main fight. Admiral William Halsey,
whose personal motto is, hit hard, hit fast,
hit often, takes the bait. Marine antiaircraft
gunner Jack Maroney is a 20-year-old from Texas. And of course, it was a poorly
kept secret that Halsey would have liked to eliminate every
Japanese carrier he possibly could. And so-- and it
makes sense, but-- he headed north trying to
eliminate the Jap fleet. NARRATOR: 21-year-old fellow
crewman, Pedro Sandoval, also hails from Texas. We made a big
mistake then because we went left the other
ships unprotected. NARRATOR: Halsey's action leaves
the San Bernardino Strait-- the path the Japanese
Center Force will eventually take to Leyte Gulf-- unguarded. It could mean the destruction
of the entire 7th Fleet. But since the admiral believes
the Center Force is retreating and that the carriers
represent the main threat, he's comfortable
with the decision. October 24, 1944, 10:30 PM. The Japanese Southern Force-- the force attacked by Enterprise
planes early this morning-- has now churned its
way out of the Sulu Sea and into Surigao Strait. Surigao Strait empties into
the southern end of Leyte Gulf. But fortunately, for
American landing forces, this avenue of potential
attack is covered. Just beyond the
mouth of the strait, under the steady command of
Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf, are six American battleships
and eight allied cruisers. These battleships
under Oldendorf's command are not necessarily
state of the art. Compared to the new Iowa class
battleships, which are now fighting in the Pacific, these
are battleships that were sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor-- The Maryland, The California. And fittingly, these ships
that the Japanese had tried to put under at Pearl Harbor
are now back to fight at Leyte and return the favor. NARRATOR: The refurbished
warships are here to both provide beach
bombardment for the Leyte landing force, the US 6th Army,
and to protect the landing force against Naval
attack from the south. An attack of the type the
Japanese Southern Force hopes to bring in just
a matter of hours. But they must first get past
Jesse Oldendorf's battleships. And Oldendorf knows
they're coming. The admiral gets an early
warning of the enemy's approach from PT boats he's sent
deep into the strait for this purpose. When word of the oncoming
Japanese vessels reaches him, Oldendorf immediately
deploys his big warships for an epic fight. So Oldendorf arrays his
battleships into a battle line, and he is going to execute a
very classic maneuver called Crossing the T. The
column of enemy ships are going to be intersected
by his warships. This way all of the battleships
under Oldendorf's command will be able to fire
full broadsides, concentrate their fire on
this single column of ships. NARRATOR: It's an ideal
defensive position. At 3:51 AM, radar
controlled guns on the American
battleships open fire. [bombs exploding] Firing from ships on both
sides rages for over an hour, but the Americans prevail. They sink two Japanese
battleships there along with a heavy cruiser and
a number of destroyers. NARRATOR: The Southern Force
commander vice admiral Shoji Nishimura goes down with
his flagship, Yamashiro. So the southern pincer
is destroyed utterly without any real
accomplishments. NARRATOR: It is the last
battle line action in history. Battleships will never
again square off gun to gun. As the glow of
sunlight gradually brightens the horizon, 500
miles north of Surigao strait, USS Enterprise and
the Third Fleet prepare for a
battle of their own. The decoy of empty
Japanese carriers has reached the waters off
Cape Engano, the Northeast tip of the main Philippine
island of Luzon. Ironically, the meaning
of the Spanish word Engano is deceit or delusion. October 25th, 6:00 AM. Admiral William
Halsey's Third Fleet launches scout planes to
search for the enemy's aircraft carriers. Other bombers and
fighters also take to the air to be ready to
attack at a moment's notice. At 7:15 AM, just over
an hour after launch, the scouts report contact. They've spotted the
enemy's Northern Force. At the heart of this fleet
are four aircraft carriers. One full sized flattop
and three light carriers. They have just a
few planes on them, but they were supposed to
be the cheese in the trap. NARRATOR: Escorting the carriers
are two aging battleships, three light cruisers
and nine destroyers. The vessel of most
interest to admiral Halsey is the full size flattop. It's the Zuikaku, the
sole remaining carrier from the Pearl
Harbor strike force. Zuikaku and her
sister ship, Shokaku, were the two carriers that
he most wanted to sink. Shokaku, of course, had been
destroyed a Philippine sea. NARRATOR: The Third Fleet
bombers waste no time commencing the attack. Wave after wave of American
fighters and bombers pour led and explosives into
the Japanese carrier force. Zuikaku comes under attack by
bombers from USS Lexington, Essex, and Langley. They drill seven torpedoes into
the hole in the big carrier and plant nine
bombs on her deck. At the same time,
three miles away and 10,000 feet above
the fight, dive bombers from the USS enterprise
turn their attention to the light carrier, Zuiho. The dive bombers and
the torpedo bombers press so hard and so close to
Zuiho that it was hard for them to even miss their targets. So they dropped their
torpedoes and their bombs, they stopped the Zuiho dead in
his tracks, and it was on fire. NARRATOR: But close by,
the guns a battleship Ise are still blasting
out murderous fire. Battle of Leyte Gulf. Japanese light carrier,
Zuiho is battered, in flames, and no
longer a threat and the battle off Cape Engano. With Zuiho dead in the water,
an avenger torpedo bomber from enterprise is quickly
diverted to another target. The battleship Ise. The Japanese battleship Ise is
actually a hybrid, a battleship aircraft carrier. As a result of heavy
aircraft carrier losses earlier in the war,
the Japanese navy converted Ise into
a half carrier by replacing the rear gun
tourists with a short flight deck. Ise can carry up to 22 aircraft,
but still retains the firepower of her eight 14-inch guns. The avenger redirect toward
Ise is piloted by ensign Mike Krauss. Down below in the
well of the plane is radio man Bombardier
Arthur Kropp. The avenger buzzes
toward the battle shifts to a tremendous volume
of antiaircraft fire. Multicolored flak explodes all
around the American bomber. Despite the danger, Mike Krauss
keeps his eye on the battleship and Arthur Kropp keeps his
nose in the radar scope, calling the range to the target. But one of the explosions is a
little too close for comfort. We took a hit under our tail. The window right by my head
broke out and Mike K recovered, and I thought, well,
I got hit for sure. I felt something trickling
down the back of my neck. I said, uh oh. NARRATOR: Still, the determined
crew keeps their focus on the mission. ARTHUR KROPP: I kept calling
range form so we went on down, made our run, and I watched
their torpedo hit it. It hit good. As the Avenger pulls
away, Arthur Kropp gets a chance to
check his wound. As it turned out, all it was
is some bilge water that was trickling down, do I was OK. Didn't get hit. It must have been a big shell
went under us, whatever it was, and a piece of shrapnel probably
whistled out the window. So I could see. NARRATOR: The Avenger's
route out of the saddle area takes it over the sinking
aircraft carrier, Zuikaku. The carrier's deck is filled
with Japanese sailors. Mike slowed down
almost stall speed. Went right over the top of
that carrier, and the Japanese were shaking their swords at
us and their fists and that, and whatever reason,
I don't know, I just gave them the
finger as I went by. NARRATOR: The Zuikaku
has been responsible for the deaths of
many Americans, and US bomber crews in
the battle off Cape Engano are ecstatic to finally
see it listing minutes away from disappearing
beneath the waves. The original Pearl
Harbor strike force has now been utterly
destroyed, and Pearl Harbor has been avenged. NARRATOR: But the satisfaction
of seeing Zuikaku meet its end is suddenly tempered by
word of a potential calamity back in Leyte Gulf. We were mixing it
up with the carriers and we suddenly heard that the
center group had turned around and come back. NARRATOR: While William Halsey's
Third Fleet has been pummeling the Japanese carriers
off Cape Engano, the American landing
forces in Leyte Gulf have been caught
completely off guard. Vice Admiral, Takeo
Kurita's Center Force, the force Halsey thought
was retreating, in fact, turned around, sailed all night
through the San Bernardino strait, entered
the Philippine sea, and steamed south toward
Leyte Gulf early this morning. With Halsey's Third Fleet
well north sinking carriers, Kurita reached the Gulf
unopposed and is now bearing down on the
American landing forces. There are no
American battleships in this part of the Gulf. The only American
vessels present are several small
escort or Jeep carriers, along with the destroyers
that escort them. Displacing 7,800 tons,
a typical escort carrier is 512 feet in length
and 65 feet in width. With a speed of 19
knots, the vessel can transport up to 28 aircraft. Crew size is typically 860
men, and most escort carriers defend themselves against
air attack with 5-inch guns. When the sun rises, the
American Jeep carriers begin their morning routine of
getting aircraft ready to go for support runs for
the American troops and are surprised
and horrified to see a large force of Japanese
warships appear on the horizon and begin to close
with them rapidly. NARRATOR: 20 miles Northwest,
Avenger pilot Ensign Bill Brooks reports that the enemy
is a mere 10 miles north of the American landing force. Their commander says, there
is no way that they're here, and Ensign Brooks says, oh, yes,
it is, I can see the meatballs on the flags. NARRATOR: Seventh fleet's
battleships are too far south to land immediate aide. And the destroyers
and carriers simply don't have adequate firepower. They are hopelessly outgunned. There's no weapon larger
than a 5-inch gun on any of the American ships in the
area, and on the Japanese side, you have Battleship Yamato,
which is armed with 18.1-inch guns, the largest Naval
rifles ever installed afloat. They have a second
battleship, they have numerous heavy
cruisers, this is a mismatch of mythic proportions. NARRATOR: But the commander
of one of the small destroyers chooses to stand and make
the best showing he can, despite the odds. Lieutenant Commander Ernest E
Evans, commanding the destroyer USS Johnston determines
to charge the enemy. He had two choices. He could flight or fight. What he did is he
turned his ship and he actually went and he
attacked this Japanese armada. Which is an act of
bravery, which almost beggars the imagination. NARRATOR: American
destroyers have 5-inch guns, but they also have torpedoes,
which is the weapon Evans hopes to bring to bear. Unfortunately, the
range of the torpedoes is only 5 miles, perhaps as
far as the Japanese force on the horizon. He had to close a distance. He was at about 10
miles, and he had to get within 5 miles
for his torpedoes to be effective, because they
were only effective at 5 miles. NARRATOR: Evans orders
his little vessel to speed toward the vastly
superior Japanese force. He knows the enemy's guns
will be firing on him, but he plans to weave to try
to avoid the killing rounds, and if he gets close enough he
might just score a lucky hit. Evans' bold charge inspires
other commanders around him, and soon, many destroyers
join the attack. They go after the
Japanese with both gunfire and torpedoes. They're laying
smokescreens to try to stream the escort
carriers as they're trying to dawdle their
way out at 17 or 18 knots. NARRATOR: The escort
carriers are also firing their 5-inch
guns, as they scramble to get dozens of attack
planes into the air and avoid being
hit by the enemy. The escort carrier
planes are Avenger torpedo bombers and wildcats. The wildcat is
the older fighter, but it can still pack a punch. The Americans
very quickly manage to get hundreds
of these airplanes up in the air doing something
in the way of harassing the Japanese fleet. NARRATOR: Out in front of
the American attack vessels, Lieutenant Commander
Evans plows forward trying to get within torpedo range. He was fired his
little 5-inch guns, and they were basically just
bouncing off the sides of these big huge ships that
the Japanese had, but he was aiming
for the bridge, and he was aiming for
the decks, and so forth. NARRATOR: Finally in range,
Evans unleashes a torpedo at the Japanese heavy
cruiser, Kumano. The torpedo courses through
the sea, and minutes later. [bombs exploding] Blew the power right off the
front of the Japanese cruiser. NARRATOR: Soon, the
Japanese cruiser Suzuya stops to assist
the wounded Kumano. He fired another
torpedo and he also hit and assault that ship. NARRATOR: Amid
the heavy gunfire, torpedo attacks and the hundreds
of planes harassing them, admiral Kurita and his
commanders are bewildered. The Japanese are
thrown into confusion. They believe that they're
being attacked by more powerful forces than they are. You start seeing Japanese
cruisers getting knocked out, the Japanese battleships are
taking damage their top sides, it makes it very
difficult for the Japanese to fight a coherent action
against the Americans. They're constantly maneuvering
to avoid air attacks, which in turn, makes it
difficult to direct gunfire against the American
Jeep carriers. NARRATOR: Like a bear under
attack by a swarm of bees, the Japanese Center
Force falters. Where they thought that
they had a mismatch, and they really did in
terms of raw material terms, they are unable to close
with the Americans. They're increasingly harassed
by American air power, and eventually, the
Japanese Admiral decides that he's had
enough and he leaves. RICHARD HARTE:
They said, the hell with this, they turn around, and
they hightail it out of there. They could have sunk
every ship that was there, but the admiral there gave
orders, turned around, they headed for home. Which is a stunning reversal,
and from the Americans perspective, the
sudden deliverance that they had not expected that
they were going to receive. NARRATOR: Unfortunately,
Lieutenant Commander Ernest Evans, the bold instigator
of the American charge, doesn't survive the battle. Before the Center
Force withdraws, Japanese destroyers
close in on Evans' vessel and riddle it with gunfire. The USS Johnston sinks, and
Lieutenant Commander Evans is never seen again. The battle of lay Leyte Gulf
has ended in utter disaster for the Japanese navy. The Japanese losses at Leyte
include four aircraft carriers, three battleships, 10 cruise,
11 destroyers, and nearly 14,000 sailors and air crewmen. American losses, by contrast,
are relatively light. One light aircraft carrier,
two escort carriers, two destroyers, two destroyer
escorts, and 1,500 sailors and air crewmen. This really marks the final
demise of the Japanese navy, and they'll never really
be able to do anything of a concerted nature to repel
any further attacks by the US navy at this point. It really is the end of an era. NARRATOR: The US navy has now
eclipsed the force that started a mode of warfare,
carrier warfare, whose supreme potential no one had
recognized before December 7th, 1941. No one knew how carriers
were supposed to operate. Pearl Harbor really
was the initial battle that announced the beginning
of the carrier age warfare. Leyte is the battle that
announces that there's only one navy in the world that is
really capable of doing that sort of warfare,
and it's the US navy. NARRATOR: The
Battle of Leyte Gulf has another pre-eminent
distinction. It is the largest
Naval confrontation in the history of mankind. A Naval battle beyond
comprehension in terms of its overall scale and size,
and right there in the middle of is the aircraft
carrier USS Enterprise. That ship, which
early in the war was there to hold the
line against the Japanese, the same ship that, for a while,
was the only aircraft carrier we had in the Pacific. NARRATOR: USS Enterprise is
the only American carrier to have engaged all three of
the Japanese attack forces. And for one enterprise
pilot, the struggle at Leyte lasts a few days longer than
it does for his double fliers. Commander Fred Bakutis, the
Enterprise Hellcat pilot shot down in the Sulu sea on
the morning of the 24th remains adrift for six more days. In the middle of the
night, Bakutis is asleep, he wakes up to the
sound of diesel engines. A very chilling experience. Could be the Japanese fleet,
could be an enemy in a picket boat or a Japanese destroyer. In a moment, you can be
taken aboard, taken prisoner. Turns out it's the USS Hardhead,
it's an American submarine, and it's come to his rescue. NARRATOR: USS Hardhead
later transfers Bakutis to another sub headed
for Perth, Australia. From there, Bakutis flies
back to Pearl Harbor and eventually
rejoins his squadron. The navy needs fighter
pilots like Bakutis. The war is drawing to a
close, and with the loss of their carrier
forces, the Japanese must now resort to launching
suicide attacks from land bases. The Kamikaze will present the
gravest threat to the US Navy of the entire war. And for USS Enterprise, the
Kamikaze, the divine wind, will mean catastrophe. [music playing]
