Leyte Gulf - Battle off Samar, USS Johnston Fights to the Death (2/2) - Animated

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series for late 2023 but we will also be able to release videos on sensored topics and videos that have been demonetized on patreon absolutely no presser at all but if you would like to support us it would be amazing please take a look at the link in the description and pinned comment below no problem at all if not we appreciate all of your support since April 2019 by 7:40 a.m. the American carriers are now heading south while the escort Force continues their desperate battle against the Japanese at the same time hul's first Salvo of torpedoes misses the Japanese Cruisers as she staggers back into torpedo range this time she is engaged by Yamato and the fast battleship Haruna the Destroyer is pounded by Japanese fire taking more than 40 direct hits from shells of different calibers from 5in secondaries to Yamato's main 18.1 in guns kinberger realizes it is now or never and gives the order get set to fire lead Cruiser all remaining fish stand by tube 2 train out to Port curve five ahead quick now we're swinging fast already fire her last five Torpedoes leap out of their tubes at 7:50 a.m. and head right towards Yamato 4 minutes later Lookouts on board the massive super Battleship report incoming Torpedoes she makes an emergency turn to Port successfully presenting a smaller profile and avoiding the Torpedoes however this action has also taken her completely out of the battle at a crucial moment in the engagement as the burning pool falls out of formation the Destroyer hman closes to within 9,000 yard of the Japanese Cruisers Captain Amos Hathaway gives the order to fire five Torpedoes but one of the exciting young tube trainers accidentally fires two more the seven Torpedoes track towards the Japanese Heavy Cruiser haguro as hman enters one of the several rain squals drifting across the battlefield she is faced by four Japanese battleships led by Haruna she Chief yman Harold Whitney assumes his ship will be sunk on the spot but Captain Hathaway attacks Haruna anyway American pilots flying above The Fray are treated to the comical sight of the small Destroyer trading salvos with the Japanese battleship which can't seem to hit the elusive hman Haruna takes several direct hits from her 5-in guns causing fires along the superstructure when she is in range for a torpedo attack hman launches her last three fish and turns to get away the Torpedoes will miss but like Yamato Haruna is forced to take evasive maneuvers which lessens her impact on the larger battle unbelievably USS hman has not taken any serious damage despite attacking four battleships by herself despite the actions of the escort vessels the American escort carriers are now well within range of Japanese guns the USS kalinin Bay takes the first of 15 direct hits at 7:50 a.m. when a 14 or 16in armor piercing shell wrecks The Hanger deck after of the forward elevator 10 minutes later she begins an unequal duel with the heavy Cruisers ton and haguro she is struck by three more 8in shells but manages to deal some damage herself at 8:25 a.m. Kalen in Bay scores two direct hits on haguro forcing the ship to temporarily withdraw but the Japanese barrage is merciless and in Bay takes 15 shells from the enemy Cruisers somehow the escort carrier survives the onslaught and endures the punishment from the Japanese without losing speed all of Taffy 3's carriers are now locked in a jewel with the Japanese Cruisers the Japanese vessels continue to close the range but the formation is acting cautiously perhaps believing the escort carriers pack more of a punch than they actually do aboard the USS white planes a Gunnery officer jokingly call out just hold on a little longer boys we're sucking them into 40 mm range with Hull and hman having completed their torpedo attacks it's now time for the Samuel B Roberts to make her own run at the Japanese vessels as the Destroyer Escort Samuel B Roberts only carries three torpedo tubes and Captain Copeland intends to make them count sailing through the swirling smoke and rain showers the tiny vessel makes its way towards the Japanese Cruiser line when closes within 13,000 yard of the leading Cruiser Gunnery officer Bill Burton requests permission to open fire with the two 5in guns Copeland denies the request he wants to get as close as possible without firing to surprise the Japanese nonetheless a nervous Burton repeatedly asks Captain may I open fire until an annoyed Copeland shouts back God damn it Mr Burton I'll let you know when we may open fire with visibility continually compromised by drifting smoke and rain showers the Destroyer escort's small profile is practically invisible to the Japanese Cruisers and she is able to close to within 6,000 yard however just as executive officer Bob Roberts is lining up the torpedo tubes an errand shell smashes into the radio Mast which topples over and jams the tubes in place with no time to fetch repair equipment Roberts does a quick calculation in his head and shouts the targeting settings to the chief torpedoman from just 4,000 yards away Samuel B Roberts fires its spread of three Torpedoes and turns back to rendevu with the rest of Taffy 3 meanwhile hman and Johnston narrowly avoid colliding with each other before forming up in a column at 8:08 a.m. hman is firing starboard broadsides at the Japanese when the Portside Lookout shouts a warning to Chief yman Witney emerging from the smoke is a Japanese Destroyer which closes to within yards of the Herman Whitney later recalled that the other vessel was so close he could throw a potato across the gap between the two ships he urgently recommends they engage the enemy destroyer at Point Blank Range but Captain Hathaway is unfazed responding I can't shoot at then now we're busy with these Cruisers over here the Japanese warship also decides to fire at other targets and for the next 16 minutes the two vessels sail side by side firing at their opposing fleets without attacking each other by 8:10 a.m. the Japanese Heavy Cruiser chuma has begun shelling the escort carrier USS Gambia Bay which is vulnerable and exposed spotting this through the haze Captain Copeland aboard the USS Samuel B Roberts turns to his Gunnery officer and finally relents Mr Burton you may open fire the two 5in guns erupt and a jewel between the Heavy Cruiser and the Samuel B Roberts begins ch um takes several direct hits and is forced to split its fire between the small Destroyer Escort and the carriers for the next 35 minutes the Destroyer Escort Peppers the Japanese Heavy Cruiser super structure with its 5in shells firing so rapidly that she almost exhausts all 600 rounds aboard conversely chuma simply cannot hit the small and Nimble Samuel B Roberts which skillfully avoids its salvos just to the north the USS Johnston is doing its best to catch up when she emerges from a Squall right in front of the battleship Haruna not one to shy away from the fight Commander Evans engages the larger Japanese warship sending 30 shells herway in just 40 seconds just like her heavily armed counterpart Haruna proves incapable of hitting Johnston even though she is steaming at half of her normal speed Gunnery officer Hagen would later write as far as accomplishing anything decisive it was like bouncing paper wads off a steel helmet but we did kill some Japanese and knocked out a few small guns however Commander evans's attention is drawn to a new problem the USS Gambia Bay is being pummeled Johnston breaks off the engagement with Haruna and moves as fast as she can to save the embattled escort carrier when the main bulk of Taffy 3 turned to the South Gambia Bay found herself Exposed on the port side of the formation after taking fire for more than 90 minutes she finally takes a direct hit at 8:20 a.m. which floods the forward engine room her speed drops from 18 knots to 11 knots and she falls behind the rest of the escort carriers while Japanese warships move in for the kill on the bridge signalman Don herck spots three American destroyers to the southeast flashing a recognition signal from their carbon Arc search lights these are from Taffy 2 which are racing northwards to reinforce Taffy 3 her replies using Gambia Bay search light shutters we are under attack please help the three destroyers acknowledge the request but then immediately turn and Retreat to the South Taffy 2's Commander is concerned that his own task unit will soon be overtaken by the Japanese warships and decides to recall his escorts Gambia Bay and tafu 3 will have to fend for themselves at 8:26 a.m. Admiral spra radios his escorts small boys on the starboard quarter intercept enemy Cruiser coming in on my port quarter with Johnston still limping Along on only one engine Hall dead in the water and the Samuel B Roberts dueling with chuma USS Herman and Captain Hathaway answer the call kimman cuts across Taffy 3's formation nearly colliding with f Shaw Bay and Johnston she then clears the burning Gambia Bay and comes face to face with the Japanese Cruiser line led by shikuma Herman's 5-in guns once again open up on the Japanese with immediate results having already taken damage from the Samuel B Roberts chuma is hit more than 50 times by shells from Herman once Salvo strikes The Heavy Cruiser sea plane hanger which sets off a large explosion by 8:35 a.m. the fires aboard the USS Hall have become out of control and the Destroyer is bracketed on three sides the Japanese Fleet hangs up on her pounding the super structure into scrap with a heavy heart Captain kinberger orders the crew to abandon ship with most of the electrical systems destroyed kinberger gathers his staff on the bridge and has them pass the word on in person 20 minutes later Hall sinks taking 253 crewmen with her only 86 men including Captain kinberger Will Survive the sinking while the crew of the USS Hall is abandoning ship hman continues to pound chuma but her improbable luck does not hold forever at 845 a.m. she takes multiple hits from 5 8 in shells the most serious of which directly impacts the pilot house chief yman Whitney rushes in to find everyone inside cut down by shrapnel including Chief quartermaster John Millie who was at the helm with hman heading directly into the teeth of the Japanese Fleet and no one controlling the ship Whitney grabs the wheel and steers her away from danger after a few minutes of chasing shell splashes he feels a tug on his leg Chief calls the master Millie is alive albeit barely conscious and bleeding heavily I'll take it he says before staggering to his feet with no time to argue Whitney allows Millie to resume the helm where he stays for the rest of the battle at the same time Johnston has finally caught up with the Japanese Cruisers firing on the stricken Gambia Bay after closing to within 6,000 yards Commander Evans turns to Gunnery Sergeant Bob Hagen and points at the Japanese Heavy Cruiser haguro commence firing on that Cruiser Hagen draw her fire on us and away from The Gambia Bay Johnston lobs salvos towards haguro and scores several direct hits but the Cruiser's Captain has decided to ignore Johnston and focus on wrecking Gambia Bay the Japanese Gunners have also finally switched from armor piercing to high Explosive Rounds which are far more damaging to the thinly armored escort carrier Johnston tries in vain to attract attention away from Gambia Bay until a new threat materializes to the rear four Japanese destroyers led by the Light Cruiser yahagi are approaching to flank Taffy 3 from the north and cut off the task group's line of retreat the Japanese destroyers have essentially been out of the fight since Admiral karita ordered them to the rear of the formation but now they are lining up for an attack run with their dreaded long Lance Torpedoes seeing he can do little for Gambia Bay now Commander Evans decides to focus on the bigger threat The Battered Destroyer steams as fast as she can right at the enemy as Gunnery officer Hagen once again orders the batteries to open fire for the third time in this battle Johnston engages multiple enemy ships by herself Evans intends to get within 7,000 yards and cross the Japanese tea as they approach the American destroyer and the five Japanese warships exchanged several salvos with each side scoring hits yet unbelievably it is the Japanese who break first after taking 12 direct hits from Johnston the light Cruiser yahagi turns 90° to starboard and launches her Torpedoes at extreme range before beating a hasty Retreat the Destroyer behind her is also immediately hit by a salvo and withdraws as well after launching with this the entire Japanese column falls back out of range of Johnston's guns the mood on her bridge is one of disbelief and amazement Hagen would later recall Commander Evans feeling like the skipper of a battleship was so elated he could hardly talk he strutted across his bridge and charled now I've seen everything although the Japanese long Lance torpedo is a Lethal Weapon it is vulnerable while still on route to its Target and many of the Torpedoes are destroyed by strafing Fighters or anti-aircraft Gunners aboard the American ships none hit their targets and the Japanese Destroyer columns are out of the battle once again however the rest of Admiral kar's Center Force has picked out a new Target the Samuel B Roberts at just before 8:50 a.m. Battleship Congo fires a 14in salvo which explodes just off the Robert Stern realizing he is about to sail right into the next round of shells Captain Copeland shouts into the voice tube to the engine room all engines back full the Destroyer Escort essentially Slams on the brakes while another Salvo of 14in shells hit the water just yards in front where she would have been but this evasive maneuver has left Samuel B Roberts stationary at 8:51 a.m. she takes a direct hit from an 8in shell from one of the Japanese heavy Cruisers the shell damages her boilers reducing her speed from 20 8 knots to 17 the rest of the Japanese Fleet pounces on this much easier Target and soon the Roberts is suffering hits regularly Captain Copeland's crew fights for their lives as their enemy Bears down on them the Japanese heavy Cruisers are under Relentless Air Attack around this time just as Samuel B Roberts takes her first hit at 8:51 a.m. Cruiser chalky is taking a pounding not just from the American escorts but also the lone 5-in gun crew from the USS White planes with the anti-aircraft Crews suffering heavy casualties they failed to spot a lone TBM Avenger approaching the Avenger drops a 500lb bomb which penetrates and explodes in the forward Machinery room Choy is now dead in the water and burning from bow to Stone later in the day she will be scuttled by the Destroyer Fuji armi who picks up survivors but is herself sunk 2 Days Later none of the 773 men aboard chuai will survive the battle of the late Gulf the next blow comes quickly at 8:53 a.m. four torpedo armed Avengers from the USS Manila Bay an escort carrier in tafy 2 approached the Heavy Cruiser chikuma headon they split off into an anvil formation two torpedo aircraft attack from each side which box in the cruiser three of the Torpedoes Miss but one impacts chuma which blows her Stone clean off off her speed drops all the way to 9 knots but more importantly the ship's Rudder is destroyed Captain Sai nor mitsu signals Admiral karita to inform him that chuma is uncontrollable further air strikes later in the day hit her with at least three more Torpedoes and she sinks by 2 p.m. in a cruel coincidence with the fate of shakai the survivors are picked up by the Destroyer noaki which is then sunk on the 26th of October only one of her 874 men survives nonetheless Japanese vengeance is Swift Hall finally sinks at 8:55 a.m. and at 9:00 a.m. a 14in salvo from Congo screams in on the wounded Samuel B Roberts leaving the Destroyer Escort dead in the water and sinking although water is starting to slush around the deck she continues to fight in the after 5 in gun the crew has fired Contin continuously for over an hour now causing the gun barrel to glow red just as they shove the second to last round into the breach the red hot Barrel prematurely detonates the shell machinists mate second class charma Cohen investigates to find a scene of Devastation inside the Turret only one man is still alive Gunners made third class Paul Henry car however car is grievously wounded and Goen can tell he won't live much longer he attempts to move car but the dying man refuses to leave his post begging Goen to help him load the last round still cradled in his arms every time Goen takes the shell from car and sets it aside he crawls over to pick it up eventually Goen is able to get car out of the turret but he soon dies of his wounds Paul Henry car will later be awarded the Silver Star on the bridge Captain copelan knows his ship is finished finished and tells the crew over the intercom Abandoned Ship men Well Done by 10:07 a.m. the Samuel B Robert sinks with the loss of 90 men out of the compliment of 210 by 9 a.m. the heavily damaged escort carrier Gambia Bay has taken such punishment that most Japanese warships have ceased fire content to let her sink at 9:07 a.m. she capsizes and slips beneath the waves for minutes later 147 men are killed while 800 are eventually rescued to this day the USS Gambia Bay is the only American aircraft carrier to be sunk by enemy surface forces in the history of the US Navy meanwhile Johnston continues her Valiant but increasingly doomed battle against the Japanese with Johnston Hall Gambia Bay Samuel B Roberts and hman all either sunk or badly damaged there is now little to stop Center force from destroying Taffy 3 once and for all however a curious thing happens just as Gambia Bay disappears from view the Japanese Fleet begins turning North away from Taffy 3 aboard Yamato rear Admiral karita has lost control of the battle he has received conflicting reports about the strength of enemy units and how many have been sunk his once tight formation is spread out over miles of ocean with some columns heading in completely opposite directions the constant attacks by American aircraft and the unyielding defense of Taffy 3 has also convinced karita that he is facing a more powerful force than he actually is by 9:00 a.m. he has made up his mind to withdraw he believes he has caused enough damage to what he thinks is the main American Carrier force and does not want to risk the destruction of the rest of his Fleet at 9:20 a.m. Admiral karita signals to the rest of his ships All Ships my course North speed 20 with that the threat to the Allied Landing beaches on late is over when informed that the enemy Fleet is retreating Admiral Clifton spray is utterly incredulous the escort carriers are still dodging errant Japanese Torpedoes but his tiny task unit has somehow emerged against a much larger Fleet on the USS fanw Bay Bridge a signalman shouts God damn it boys they're getting away afterwards spra would write I could not get the fact to soak into my blood numbed brain at best I had expected to be Swimming by this time he watches with satisfaction as the rest of Taffy 1 2 and 3's aircraft chased the enemy formation to the north the USS Johnston is paying the ultimate price even with the Japanese formation retreating they continue to fire at the barely floating destroy Destroyer Commander Evans continues running up and down the deck giving orders now completely bare chested after his uniform is blown off his body but at 9:40 a.m. one final Salvo knocks out the last remaining engine leaving her dead in the water 5 minutes later Evans gives the order to abandon ship as the crew leaps into the water the Japanese Destroyer Yuki Kaz passes just off the starboard beam initially the American Sailors believe they are about to be machine gunned but instead the crew of Yuki Kaz stands at attention while their Captain salutes from the bridge One Survivor later said I'm sure of one thing she appreciated a fighting lady 25 minutes later the Destroyer sinks taking 186 men with her among them is Commander Evans who was last seen by a crewman on deck preparing to Abandoned Ship when the crewman looked again he was gone never to be seen again for this leadership of the USS Johnston during the battle commander Ernest E Evans is postumus awarded the Medal of Honor becoming the first Native American in the US Navy to receive his nation's highest award for gallantry the Battle of Samar is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in the history of Naval Warfare as a small and hopelessly outgunned American unit of just 13 ships turned away the most powerful Japanese surface Fleet to ever sail into combat the cost for this likely Victory are high approximately 2,000 US Navy sailors and Airmen are killed or missing with another 300 wounded almost every ship in Taffy 3 suffers battle damage and two destroyers one Destroyer Escort and one escort carrier are sunk by enemy action only an hour and a half after the Japanese withdrawal the escort carrier ST Low is hit by a kamakazi and sunk the first time the enemy has employed their special attack Squadron there will be more to come the Japanese also suffer heavily three heavy Cruisers are badly damaged and three more are sunk including the suzuya which is later attacked and destroyed by American bombers altogether 3,000 Japanese Sailors are killed or wounded in the battle more importantly the Japanese Imperial Navy has just missed its last chance to turn the tide of the war in the Pacific admiral karita has been heavily criticized for retreating just when victory was at hand but many historians such as James Horn Fisher contend that the lack of viable information made the decision defensible nonetheless the fate of the Philippines and that of the Imperial Navy is now sealed far to the North Admiral Hy has received the alarming reports from the battle his staff has been busy intercepting the signals from Admiral King Cade who has been keeping third Fleet AB breast of the action with the US Navy's most powerful Fleet too far away there is little Hy can do to help now he focuses on destroying the last of the Japanese aircraft carriers the battle of the late Gulf is about to enter his final stage apologies for my ill voice viewers a quot the illness were not allowed to mention on YouTube you know the one these videos are possible thanks to our awesome patrons welcome to the patrons who have joined this month and a special thanks to our patron of the week Mark L each week we select our favorite patreon reactions to shout out and our favorite this week is from isaf Ace who says if there is one thing demonstrated again and again in history it's that sailors and soldiers respect a tenacious and stubborn enemy if you'd like to join our Patron and get access to exclusive benefits we would love to have you as part of our community

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 485,943

Keywords: Time-Lapse, History, Second World War, ww2, Documentary, Aircraft Carrier, Pearl Harbour, aircraft, animated, war, the pacific, us navy, battle off samar, battle of leyte gulf, taffy 3, uss johnston, uss samuel b roberts

Id: BQp0BoH_RMk

Length: 27min 53sec (1673 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 16 2023