Reddit reviews The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

That battle is goddamned insane. There is absolutely zero reason Taffy 3 should have survived that, and through a combination of insane/heroic actions on the part of the escort destroyers and under-informed decision making on the Japanese side they survived.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Tin-Sailors-Extraordinary-ebook/dp/B001L83PM0

I don't recall if there were pictures of the damage in the book I read (among other things, IIRC the DEs that were hit pretty much all sank, so there's no pictorial evidence from those, just eyewitness accounts), but the survivors described entire gun directors and (AA) gun mounts with their 12+ man crews being ripped right out of the ship and hurled through the air, as well as

> "a hole in the waterline big enough to drive a pair of sedans through, one beside the other".

That quote was regarding the USS Hoel, a Fletcher-class DD, probably hit by a 14-inch shell from the Kongo.

Then there's this one, regarding the DE Samuel B. Roberts, hit by three shells from the Kongo:

> At the waterline, about two-thirds of the way to the stern on the port side, gaped a cavernous hole seven to ten feet height and some fifty feet long. The massive opening would have neatly garaged a semitrailer parked sideways. ... Unlike the armor-piercing rounds that had penetrated earlier without exploding, the high-explosive shells that hit the Roberts now performed exactly as designed.

Note that it's largely conjecture that the IJN switched to HE rounds, but the damage and change in type of hits the ships were taking are very suggestive; the crew certainly believed the enemy had changed round types.

> Most of the planes from Taffy-3 were equipped for anti-sub and ground-support roles and didn't have the torpedoes and dive bombs usually used to attack warships

IIRC some of them were loaded with propaganda they were going to drop on the islands to try to win over the islanders the Japanese were invading.

So the planes would line up like they had torpedoes and bombs, buzzed the ships, and dropped a bunch of paper on them.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is a book about the destroyer escorts that rode with the escort carriers and took on the Japanese navy. It covers every destroyer's crew and most of the escort carriers, explaining who was in charge, their story, and all the reasonings they had for what they did. It's really a great book and I'm kinda tearing up thinking of how great a sacrifice they were making.

Zoup did a pretty cool video about it.

I would highly recommend picking up The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

You certainly have to respect a man that said, "A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can." The entire fight of Taffy 3 was, most certainly, bravery in the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

All mine are WWII books.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors - Story of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, a Destroyer Escort, and a David vs. Goliath battle between a small US fleet and a huge Japanese fleet.

Neptune's Inferno - story of the USN at Guadalcanal.

Ship of Ghosts - Story of the USS Houston

Clash of The Carriers - About the Marianas Turkey Shoot

In Harms Way - The story of the USS Indianapolis, a crusier that delivered the core of the nuclear bombs used on Japan, and the secret sinking and horrible story of her survivors.

Shattered Sword - a new story of the battle of midway.

Then you NEED to read Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors which I think is the definitive book on the battle off Samar