HISTORY

The American destroyers and escort destroyers laying the smoke screen during the Battle of Samar.

sunk. Though Mogami survived Midway, it was

so severely damaged that they had to remove

its rear turrets and rebuild it as a hybrid cruiser

– a seaplane carrier. Now, after the collision

with Nachi, its fate was sealed. The pursuing

American cruisers inflicted further damage on

Mogami, and in the morning, it was finished off

by bombs from an Avenger bomber.

The wrecks of Yamashiro and Fusō were

discovered by Paul Allen and his ship RV Petrel

on November 25, 2017. Both ships lie upside

down at a depth of around 200 meters. On May

8, 2019, RV Petrel also found the wreck of the

cruiser Mogami, which lies at a depth of 1450

meters.

Battle of Cape Engaño

Although Ozawa’s Northern Force with

aircraft carriers tried to attract the attention of

the Americans, they only discovered it last, in

the evening of October 24, 1944. However, this

turned out to be coincidentally perfect timing for

the Japanese. At the same time, Kurita's Center

Force had turned back in retreat. American

Admiral William Halsey was convinced that

Kurita’s ships were out of action and focused on

Ozawa.

The final battle of the aircraft carriers took

place on October 25, 1944. Early in the morning,

Ozawa launched an attack wave of 75 aircraft.

That was all the Japanese aircraft carriers

could muster, having been decimated in previous

battles. Most of these planes were shot down,

and Ozawa had no more left. Subsequently,

he had to face six waves of American attacks,

which sank all four Japanese aircraft carriers.

The Battle of Samar Island

The Japanese original plan almost

succeeded. While the Japanese aircraft

carriers were being used as a bait and being

massacred, the core of Kurita’s Center Force

appeared near the invasion beaches. Kurita

had feigned a retreat and then turned back to

his original course, sneaking through the San

Bernardino Strait unnoticed during the night.

Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

Battle of Surigao Str ait

In the meantime the Japanese Southern Force

tried to fight its way through Surigao Strait. On

October 24, 1944 the American airplanes barely

caused any damage to Nishimura’s ships but the

American vessels set up a trap for him in the

strait. First he faced the attack of the torpedo

boats and destroyers. Those sank the battleship

Fuso. Six battleships and eight cruisers under

the command of Admiral Oldendorf waited for

the Japanese at the exit from the strait. On

December 7, 1941, five of these battleships were

sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. California,

Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West

Virginia then underwent the extensive repairs

and rebuilds. On the night of October 24-25,

1944, time of their revenge arrived. Their radarcontrolled cannon fire sank Yamashiro and

damaged the cruiser Mogami. It was the last

battleship encounter in the history.

The second part of the Southern Force did

not engage in this battle because it lagged

behind Nishimura. When Shima realized that

the first part had been massacred, he ordered

a retreat. At that moment, Mogami collided

with the heavy cruiser Nachi and was further

damaged. This heavy cruiser met a similar fate

in the Battle of Midway when it collided with

its sister ship, Mikuma. The collision slowed

down both ships, making them vulnerable to

the dive bombers, and Mikuma was eventually

Phto: U.S. Navy

above the light aircraft carrier USS Princeton.

Its bomb exploded in the hangar among fully

fueled Avenger bombers. The result was a fire

which after several hours caused an enormous

explosion of the stored bombs. The ship was

impossible to rescue and she sank with 108 souls

lost. Further 233 American sailors perished

on board of the light cruiser USS Birmingham

which was at the time of Princeton explosion at

her side helping with putting out the fires.

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in April 1944.

August 2023

INFO Eduard

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