Battle of Leyte Gulf, what would you do?

[SuperEtendard]

Hi everyone

I was assigned to patrol the China Sea around the Phillippines, to clean the sea of all IJN warships in preparation for the Allied invasion of the Phillippines. (September 20th, 1944).

In the coast of Luzon, near the Manilla Bay, i sunk 2 big passanger ships converted into troop transports (each one of them was beign escorted by 4 DDs), and some days later I sunk 2 little anti-sub TFs of 2 DD each. I patrolled the area without succes for a couple of weeks. When i was retourning to Brisbane (October 18th), i was in the Sulu Sea, i received the Fox Traffic saying that American and Japanesse fleets were converging at the Phillippines Sea , and all patrolling ships near were ordered to assist the Allied flleet. At 10 knts (full fuel economic) i arrived the San Bernandito Strait (23rd), at midnight. but there was not a single ship there.

I was really angry, thinking that this of the din campaign was bul*****, that i dumped a lot of precious fuel, and now i would have to retourn at 10 ktns trough all Oceania, taking the double of time to reach the nearest refit point. But 1 hour later my radar detected 20+ big contacts heading for the San Bern strait fast. It was Kurita 's Central Force.

My eyes shined, In my mind, only a single sentece repeteaded again and again and again: "It´s my moment"

In a couple of minutes i manuevered to get the perfect attack postion:
90° from the path of the TF, like 1000 mts from the farest ship and 300 mts from the nearest one (estimated course). Depth 100 mts. Speed: 0

The DD s never knew i was there, and when they got away i blowed balast to climb quickly and then level to PD. I observed the ships with the scope: Lots of Cruisers, like 5 BB (Yamato and Mushashi were there !!) and very few DDs. Some DDs ran aground on the strait s coast and were set on fire.

What would you do in such situation? Try to sink the most cruisers you could ? Use all of your torps with the BBs, hoping one or two would sink?

In the end i sunk 6 ships: I spent all torps remaining.

3 Takaos: (2 torps to the first one (Kurita's one, leader of the formation), 1 torp for the 2nd one, and the 3rd was sunk later by 2 "lost" cuties)

1 Mogami: 1 torp (Magn det, 6 mts depth, took a while to sink)

1 Maya: 1 torp

Kongo BB: 4 cuties.

I almost got sunk by the Yamato, haha. I was at pd firing torps and then i decided take a look around for incoming DDs, what i found it was more than i expected. The Yamato was heading for me at fulll speed very very close range. i crash dived, and when i reached 30 METERS, the Yamato hit my submarine (cunning tower), thanks to the unrealistic collision damage of the game she inflicted no damage to me, but the sub almost do a 180° roll because of the impact. I retourned to Brisbane some days later with 0 torps left and more than 100.000 tons of shipping, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, haha. I have to admit i was very lucky of sunking the Cruisers with so few torps hits

[Armistead]

It's a fun battle, I'm assuming you're playing stock, which does have the group coming through the San Bern, although RSRD has it to historical perfection and is surrounded by about 12 DD's. With stock the DD's often do dumb things.

Depending if I can I go for BB's, if I'm not detected I go for the Yamato, if I get detected before, whatever capital ships I can shoot at.

[Hinrich Schwab]

Sounds like a spiffy patrol. Well done.

The thread name implies a question, but there was only one thing to do; jump 'em! That's exactly what you did.

As far as Yamato grazing your boat, you said you were at 30 meters. At 30 meters, the only boats that should be hitting yours are sinking ones you got too close to. If it were 30 feet, I would see Yamato colliding as its draft is around 36 feet or so. At worst, it would have destroyed your periscope shears and both scopes.

Are you running mods? These really alter damage the damage models and may or may not explain the anomaly with the collision.

[MKalafatas]

Great story! Historically, wasn't one submarine presented with your view in the periscope? Musashi was hit prior to entering the San Bernadino Strait --- I think by Halsey's carriers --- but wasn't there a submarine on station that wired the first sighting?

I should look that up....

Edit: Darter and Dace spotted and trailed Kurita from Palawan into the Sibuyan Sea.

[I'm goin' down]

Armistead knows all about Leyete Gulf. Just ask him.

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by MKalafatas

Great story! Historically, wasn't one submarine presented with your view in the periscope? Musashi was hit prior to entering the San Bernadino Strait --- I think by Halsey's carriers --- but wasn't there a submarine on station that wired the first sighting?

I should look that up....

Edit: Darter and Dace spotted and trailed Kurita from Palawan into the Sibuyan Sea.

Darter and Dace spotted the Center Force in the Palawan Passage and I believe attacked on 10/23 in the passage sinking two CA's. They also damaged another CA, but why trying to get in postion to finish it..I think it was Darter that ran aground on some shoals. Darter called Dace and Dace let the CA go and went and saved the crew of Darter, they never followed into the Sibuyan Sea.

Musashi was attacked by carrier planes in the Sibuyan and sunk later. That's one mistake of most mod traffic, both the Y and Mus come together through the Bern, but to rework the group, you would have to despawn it and respawn it in the Sibuyan, which could be done, but would stink if you were attacking it and it vanished before your eyes. RSRD has the nice battle of mass carrier plane attacking the Center Force, fun to watch and a good time to attack it.

I know of no other sub spottings of the Center Force other than Darter and Dace, but gave enough info that the US figured it was coming through the Bern. After it was attacked, Kurita turned back, so we thought the group retreated, but Kurita turned back again to attack, but Halsey had already went north by then. Could have been a major disaster had Kurita stuck with the battle plan, but our DD's gave such a good fight with the planes from the jeep carriers that Kurita got scared, most likely thinking Halsey was in the area....Had he pressed the attack, it would've been a disaster for the US.

[WernherVonTrapp]

The Battle of Leyte Gulf is one of the most exciting engagements in this game, right alongside the Third naval Battle for Guadalcanal. I usually try to get into a position somewhere in the area denoted on the map below. That's where Kurita's Center Force (the largest in this battle) makes it's foray down the Sibuyan Sea and does a complete 360°.
You get two cracks at it here! If you damage a ship and shes dead in the water, she'll be left behind for an easy ambush.

[Dread Knot]

I've always liked the analogy that the battle resembled the final round of a heavyweight prize fight, with both boxers barely able to remain on their feet. The Americans exhausted from weeks of 3rd Fleet support operations. The Japanese exhausted from the beating they took just coming to grips with the US fleet.

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Dread Knot

I've always liked the analogy that the battle resembled the final round of a heavyweight prize fight, with both boxers barely able to remain on their feet...

This also was the largest naval battle in world history and the Battle of Surigao Strait was the last ever, Battleship .vs Battleship engagement in history.

[Dread Knot]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Had he pressed the attack, it would've been a disaster for the US.

Had Kurita continued on he would have faced 450 American aircraft (more than the Japanese used at Pearl Harbor) and 60+ destroyers in the invasion support fleet. While trying to survive that hailstorm he would have had around four hours to defeat the aforementioned destroyers, fight off the 450 aircraft, advance around 30 miles, and then done whatever damage he could (with AP shells that would not even detonate when they hit the ships in the landing force) before Halsey had a couple hundred more aircraft, loaded for bear on him.

The Japanese might have scored a temporary setback on the US timetable, but nothing of the IJN would have made it home. In the actual event the lousy muddy terrain on Leyte for building airfields was probably the bigger impediment in the long run. Most historians feel MacArthur couldn't have picked a worse spot to start liberating the Philippines.

[SuperEtendard]

Originally Posted by Armistead

It's a fun battle, I'm assuming you're playing stock, which does have the group coming through the San Bern, although RSRD has it to historical perfection and is surrounded by about 12 DD's. With stock the DD's often do dumb things.

Depending if I can I go for BB's, if I'm not detected I go for the Yamato, if I get detected before, whatever capital ships I can shoot at.

Yes, i'm playing stock . And im stuck with it until the old pc (mine) gets actualized. i cant download things on this one, it s new and I have "no permission to full it with downloads, when the old one gets actualized, you can do whatever you want with it, but not with this one", superior orders.

I once spotted one Yamato at the Bismarck Sea on Feb 1943, it was in a little TF with some DDs and a Fuso, also a few big merchats maybe. I fired 12 torps at him with my gato, all of them reached the ship, but nothing happened. Then i realized that 1 sub hardly would sink the Yamato, i think you must hit it with 15 or more torps to cause some damage to that mountain of steel. I know that it tooked 17 aerial torp and 19 bombs to sink the Mushashi.

by Hinrich Schwab :
As far as Yamato grazing your boat, you said you were at 30 meters. At 30 meters, the only boats that should be hitting yours are sinking ones you got too close to. If it were 30 feet, I would see Yamato colliding as its draft is around 36 feet or so. At worst, it would have destroyed your periscope shears and both scopes

Yes, it was strange. The indicator says the "keel depth", i dont know what is the full vertcal lenght (from the scopes to the keel) of the balao, the Yamato had a 11 mts draught. The keel was at 30 mts, but the scopes could have been at 10 mts when we crashed.

Do you know the Histoy Channel's program "Dogfigths" ? Mostly it shows aerial battles, but sometimes its about naval battles, one is about the Leyte Gulf Battle, it tells how the DDs and planes could defeat the Central Force BBs. With some vet's testimony. here are some links:

Part 1/5
Part 2/5
Part 3/5
Part 4/5
Part 5/5

[MKalafatas]

The charge of the destroyers and destroyer escorts at the Yamato and company was the American "Charge of the Light Brigade." It was hopeless, and heroic. The commander of the USS Johnson (I think?) won the Medal of Honor for his charge.

So much of war turns on the mental state of the on-scene commander. Kurita was fished out of the sea when his flagship Agato was sunk by Darter. Then he was strafed by American fighters and charged by destroyers.

He concluded that this boldness was justified by a nearby US carrier group --- a not unreasonable conclusion.

I agree with the prior note, saying that Kurita could have achieved more by pressing into the Gulf --- at the cost of his entire force.

But I'll bet the Japanese high command preferred such a result. After all, Yamato was wasted less than a year later, sent on a mission just hoping for the same desperate opportunity that Kurita spurned.

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by Dread Knot

Had Kurita continued on he would have faced 450 American aircraft (more than the Japanese used at Pearl Harbor) and 60+ destroyers in the invasion support fleet. While trying to survive that hailstorm he would have had around four hours to defeat the aforementioned destroyers, fight off the 450 aircraft, advance around 30 miles, and then done whatever damage he could (with AP shells that would not even detonate when they hit the ships in the landing force) before Halsey had a couple hundred more aircraft, loaded for bear on him.

The Japanese might have scored a temporary setback on the US timetable, but nothing of the IJN would have made it home. In the actual event the lousy muddy terrain on Leyte for building airfields was probably the bigger impediment in the long run. Most historians feel MacArthur couldn't have picked a worse spot to start liberating the Philippines.

Not hardly, Of the 450 aircraft, they came from the small jeep carriers, most were fighter Wildcats and Torpedo bombers, many of them not armed. Most of the Pilots were trained in ground support, not fleet engqagement. All the Wildcats could do is make strafing runs and many of the Topedo planes loaded depth charges for lack of Torpedos. I recall reading that only 75 planes actually had torpedos. From one of my books

"THE WILDCAT PILOTS WERE GIVEN A FREE HAND TO STRAFE WITH THE HOPE THAT THEIR STRAFING WOULD KILL PERSONNEL ON THE JAPANESE WARSHIPS, SILENCE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, AND, MOST IMPORTANT, DRAW ATTENTION FROM THE STRUGGLING ESCORT CARRIERS.
SOMETIMES TWO, OR FOUR WILDCATS WOULD JOIN UP FOR A STRAFING RUN. AGAIN, A WILDCAT WOULD JOIN UP AND RUN INTERFERENCE FOR AN AVENGER. THEN, LIKELY AS NOT, IT WOULD TURN OUT THAT THE AVENGER HAD NO TORPEDO OR BOMB AND WAS SIMPLY MAKING A DUMMY RUN. WHEN THEIR AMMUNITION GAVE OUT, THE FIGHTERS MADE DRY RUNS TO TURN THE PURSUERS."THE WILDCAT PILOTS WERE GIVEN A FREE HAND TO STRAFE WITH THE HOPE THAT THEIR STRAFING WOULD KILL PERSONNEL ON THE JAPANESE WARSHIPS, SILENCE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, AND, MOST IMPORTANT, DRAW ATTENTION FROM THE STRUGGLING ESCORT CARRIERS.
SOMETIMES TWO, OR FOUR WILDCATS WOULD JOIN UP FOR A STRAFING RUN. AGAIN, A WILDCAT WOULD JOIN UP AND RUN INTERFERENCE FOR AN AVENGER. THEN, LIKELY AS NOT, IT WOULD TURN OUT THAT THE AVENGER HAD NO TORPEDO OR BOMB AND WAS SIMPLY MAKING A DUMMY RUN. WHEN THEIR AMMUNITION GAVE OUT, THE FIGHTERS MADE DRY RUNS TO TURN THE PURSUERS."

However, what the planes did is cause Kurita to change from Battle formation into AA coverage formation, which put his group in disorder, but he thought he was facing fleet carriers, this gave the US Jeep fleet their time to retreat, luckily into a squall that probably saved them.

Not sure where you're getting 60 DD's, Taffy 3 had maybe 5 DD's and a few DE's that could attack, basically knowing they would die as was the story of the famous US Johnson. They did some damage, slowed them dowsn, but couldn't stop Kurita who eventually caught up and started shelling the rear units of the jeep carrier force sinking one and damaging others, but instead of pressing the attack, he turned North. I believe the Yamato got seperated from the group from dodging DD torps or planes. Even with all the confusion caused by the US, Kurita'a CA'a and DD's had the range, was shelling and doing damage.

"But then, entirely unexpectedly, and although his cruisers and destroyers were now on the verge of annihilating Taffy Three, Kurita at 0911 ordered his ships to break off action."

Kurita then thought, maybe he got a message that their were major fleet units North of him. Some historians saying he feared fleet carriers, retreated, others believe he turned North to fight them.

I think most historians agree that had Kurita pressed the attack, he could've easily wiped the jeep carrier group out . This was an all or nothing battle, the IJN used their carriers north to pull Halsey away, it worked, they were to be sacrificed to get Kurita in, instead of pressing he went off on a ghost hunt North, by then the US was more organized, out of danger and the jeep planes kept attacking, taking more damage he retreated...

He had plenty of time to deal his blow and escape before Halsey could return, in fact as the Battle of the Bern ended Halsey had just started his attack North.

In reality, Kurita faced hard decisions, but he really didn't follow orders, the US fought back hard with little. Both sides made terrible mistakes, the US got lucky that day.

Overall, even if Kurita wiped out Taffy 3, it wouldn't have stopped the invasion for long, if at all, but who knows, if he rid himself of Taffy 3, he certainly had other options of attacking other groups, but he had only a day that he could do damage before Halsey would return. Some historians think he would've continued south, possibly engaged US units in Surigao, but by then many of the landing craft had turned and run, others better protected...With the failure of the Southern Force, not much they could do against the remaining fleet, but think if he would've wiped out 16 escort carriers, over 20,000 men....

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by MKalafatas

The charge of the destroyers and destroyer escorts at the Yamato and company was the American "Charge of the Light Brigade." It was hopeless, and heroic. The commander of the USS Johnson (I think?) won the Medal of Honor for his charge.

So much of war turns on the mental state of the on-scene commander. Kurita was fished out of the sea when his flagship Agato was sunk by Darter. Then he was strafed by American fighters and charged by destroyers.

He concluded that this boldness was justified by a nearby US carrier group --- a not unreasonable conclusion.

I agree with the prior note, saying that Kurita could have achieved more by pressing into the Gulf --- at the cost of his entire force.

But I'll bet the Japanese high command preferred such a result. After all, Yamato was wasted less than a year later, sent on a mission just hoping for the same desperate opportunity that Kurita spurned.

Those few DD's probably saved T3, the story of the US Johnson is a great read whatever the book, Evans knew he would die, told the men and went in....put up a hell of a fight.

Most reports show that Kurita was to press the attack regardless of what happened, once the Philippines fell the Japanese fleet was useless. Still, I don't see him doing much further damage even if he wiped out T3.

[I'm goin' down]

I, in my magficient Barb, went north, just like Admiral Halsey. I found the decoy Japanese carrier force off Cape Engano. That is when I got down on my knees in front of my computer and thanked God that lurker modded RSRDC.