On 25 October 1944 The Japanese center force attacked Task Force 77.4.3(also known as Taffy 3) off the coast of Samar island in the Philippines. The vulnerable CVE's of the task force had only six screening ships, along with aircraft from the carriers, to fend off a huge Japanese naval force they where never intended or trained to fight. One of the ships the Japanese had during the battle(other than the biggest battleship the world has ever seen) was the heavy crusier Suzuya. As the battle raged ten TBF Avenger's attacked Suzuya and a near miss caused the loss of her port propeller and caused her speed to drop off to aproxamitly 20 knots. Around 0830 Suzuya received Vice Admiral Shiraishi from Kumano. It would not be the last time the Admiral transfered his flag that day. At around 1050 after being engaged in what can only be described as a massive mallae, Suzuya was once again attacked by aircraft. This time by about 30. It is well known that many of the brave aircrews made dry runs at the Japanese ships, but as a Japanese captain all aircraft needed to be regarded as a threat. Some of the planes did still have ordanance and a unforseen chain of events would now follow. Suzuya was not hit directly, but another near miss would send her to the bottom. The bomb missed to the starboard side, causeing the type 93 torpedo in her No. 1 tube to cook off. Fires rage about the ship and ten minutes later more torpedoes begin to explode. With a damaged starboard engine room and the no.7 boiler room flooded the order to abondon ship was given. At 1315 Suzuya rolled onto her starboard side and began the final trip to the bottom of the ocean.

I thought this event was interesting because she was sunk not by the enemy but by her own ordanance. I first learned of it while researching the crusiers need for torpedos in general.

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"When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." -General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
"The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."-Karl von Clausewitz

Here is some info on the Mogami class cruisers:

IJN Warships at BOSAMAR.COM

My dad was aboard the USS Fanshaw Bay during the Battle off Samar.

tom

the loss of two of his cruisers heavily influenced kurita to withdraw so this accident had real significance in naval history. what if kurita decided to park his battleships off samar till the very end, even if halsey managed to come back with the iowa?

IJN Chokai suffered a similar fate:

As it was busily pounding Taffy 3, a five incher (best information says was fired from Kalinin Bay) hit amidships and again set off torpedoes. Which took out her engines and rudder. Moments later she was hit with a 500 lb er which was the Coup de Grace.

They say she was scuttled, but if she was sinking anyway....
National pride again, yet nothing more than speeding up the inevitable.

The Germans (could) say this about the Bismarck, the Italians about the Roma, the British about the Hood, the Americans about the Arizona....

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

The Battle off Samar was like a fight in which a big bully got punched in the nuts by a little kid.

tom

Hi Skunk, thanks for that peice of added info. I just like this story because unlike the Chokia, Suzuya's death blow hit the water, not the ship. As far as I've found at least four(possibly six) IJN cruisers where lost after explosions among the torpedo's when the ship would otherwise been saved.

PS. I also agree the it was a shell from Kalinin Bay

__________________
"When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." -General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
"The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."-Karl von Clausewitz

Curious about the Cruiser(s) which were aided in their demise by their own torpedoes ? I'm pretty sure of three...
Chokai
Mikuma
Suzuya

Who are 4, 5 & 6 ?

Please tell us a story of each. I enjoy hearing of the details of their self imposed end.
I've always felt it was a shortcoming of the USN (not to install tubes on their CA's), ever since first reading about the Battle of Savo.
Be this such an (end game) danger, I'll have to re-evaluate my position...again.
I know early U.S. torpedoes were pretty bad, and indeed would've probably been a waste of space/weight.....and.....um.....the danger factor ?

__________________
"Danger Will Robinson!"

Hi Skunk, I had been thinking just the opposite with the Japanese. Did a decint amount of research only to find half of them where caused during Leyte Gulf(2 at Samar and 1 in Surigao Strait).

I said possibly as many as six because while doing the research I came across another person looking into the same thing. He claimed six while I had 5(two I have yet to confirm that the ship could have otherwise been saved). He never replied when I asked him which six so I'm going through the task of tracking it down

Two others I know of are Abukuma and Mogami.

I would be glad to post a story for each of these ships along with some destroyers who met similiar fates

__________________
"When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." -General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
"The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."-Karl von Clausewitz

Hey Mike: Did look into ...
Chokai
Maya
Atago
Mikuma
Mogami
Suzuya
Kumano
Tone
Chickuma
Haguro
Myoko *
Nachi
Ashigara
Takao
many blew up, cause not definate, could've been torpedoes ? Who knows.
If adding CLs, & DDs, I imagine for all Nations the amount might be staggering ?
Just angry about the success of the Japanese at Savo, I guess. All ships involved for the Japanese met a similar (or worse) fate, in the course of time.
from the movie Patton...."All Glory is Fleeting".
Will continue to look up those (from anywhere) who sunk because of their own torpedoes.
Let me know what you find & vice-versa.

__________________
"Danger Will Robinson!"