Today in WWII History

FUSO (October 24-25, 1944)

Japanese battleship (39,154 tons) sunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait, Leyte, by a torpedo from the American destroyer USS Melvin. Badly damaged, she lost speed and fell out of formation only to blow up in a cataclysmic explosion half an hour later at 03.40hrs. The Fuso (Admiral Masami Ban) broke in two parts, the two sections remaining afloat and blazing furiously only a short distance from the northern tip of Kanihaan Island. The bow section was sunk by gunfire from the USS Louisville and the stern section sank half an hour later after having drifted with the current for some distance. Many survivors swimming in the sea refused to be rescued by the US ships. The Japanese destroyer Asagumo may have, or may not have, rescued some of Fuso's survivors but she herself was torpedoed and sunk with all on board some four hours later. Those that survived the sinking of the Fuso and made it to shore, were butchered by Philippine natives out for revenge. The entire crew of the Fuso therefore died, the exact number is not known but estimates put her full complement at just over 1,400 men. (The last Japanese battleship still afloat at war's end was the NAGATO. It was sunk off Bikini Atoll during one of the atomic bomb tests in 1946).

YAMASHIRO (October 24-25, 1944)

Flagship of Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji and sister ship of the Fuso, sunk during the Battle of Surigao Strait. As the formation entered the Strait, the ships were attacked by PT Boats and destroyers of the US Battle Force under the command of Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. One of her escorting destroyers, the Yamagumo, hit by a torpedo, blew up and sank with all hands. The Yamashiro, after being hit by four torpedoes, started to list and when the list reached 45 degrees the order to abandon ship was given. The order came too late, for after two minutes the ship abruptly capsized taking most of her 1,400 crew to the depths. There were only ten survivors who were rescued by the American destroyer USS Claxton.

 

October 25, 1944

First kamikaze attack of the war begins
On this day in 1944, during the Battle of the Leyte Gulf, the Japanese deploy kamikaze ("divine wind") suicide bombers against American warships for the first time. It will prove costly--to both sides.

This decision to employ suicide bombers against the American fleet at Leyte, an island of the Philippines, was based on the failure of conventional naval and aerial engagements to stop the American offensive. Declared Japanese naval Capt. Motoharu Okamura: "I firmly believe that the only way to swing the war in our favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with our planes.... There will be more than enough volunteers for this chance to save our country."

The first kamikaze force was in fact composed of 24 volunteer pilots from Japan's 201st Navy Air Group. The targets were U.S. escort carriers; one, the St. Lo, was struck by a A6M Zero fighter and sunk in less than an hour, killing 100 Americans. More than 5,000 kamikaze pilots died in the gulf battle-taking down 34 ships.

For their kamikaze raids, the Japanese employed both conventional aircraft and specially designed planes, called Ohka ("cherry blossom") by the Japanese, but Baka ("fool") by the Americans, who saw them as acts of desperation. The Baka was a rocket-powered plane that was carried toward its target attached to the belly of a bomber.

All told, more than 1,321 Japanese aircraft crash-dived their planes into Allied warships during the war, desperate efforts to reverse the growing Allied advantage in the Pacific. While approximately 3,000 Americans and Brits died because of these attacks, the damage done did not prevent the Allied capture of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

 

USS SAINT LO (October 25, 1944)

American aircraft carrier sunk in the Battle off Samar by a Japanese Zeke-52 kamikaze aircraft. The plane hit the St Lo at 10:53hrs. Shortly after, a massive explosion of her own magazines caused an enormous mushroom shaped cloud to rise above the doomed vessel. Another six or seven explosions occurred after her commander, Captain F. J. McKenna, gave the order to abandon ship. The St Lo disappeared beneath the sea at 11:25 hrs taking with her 126 members of her crew. Her escort destroyer, USS Dennis, rescued 434 survivors. (During the Battle off Samar the US lost 5 ships and 23 aircraft. Casualties were 1,130 men killed and 913 wounded)

 

TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG FROM CINCPAC ACTION COM THIRD FLEET INFO COMINCH CTF SEVENTY-SEVEN X WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY FOUR RR THE WORLD WONDERS
This is the famous message sent to Adm. Halsey asking if he had left TF-34 to gaurd the San Bernardino Straight. The double constanents should have told the radio operator that the words outside were padding. Halsey became very angry that Nimitz would send such harsh criticizme

 

October 26, 1942

The United States loses the Hornet
On this day in 1942, the last U.S. carrier manufactured before America's entry into World War II, the Hornet, is damaged so extensively by Japanese war planes in the Battle of Santa Cruz that it must be abandoned.

The battle for Guadalcanal was the first American offensive against the Japanese, an attempt to prevent the Axis power from taking yet another island in the Solomon chain and gaining more ground in its race for Australia. On this day, in the vicinity of the Santa Cruz Islands, two American naval task forces had to stop a superior Japanese fleet, which was on its way to Guadalcanal with reinforcements. As was the case in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, the engagement at Santa Cruz was fought exclusively by aircraft taking off from carriers of the respective forces; the ships themselves were not in range to fire at one another.

Japanese aerial fire damaged the USS Enterprise, the battleship South Dakota, and finally the Hornet. In fact, the explosions wrought by the Japanese bombs that rained down on the Hornet were so great that two of the Japanese bombers were themselves crippled by the blasts, and the pilots chose to dive-bomb their planes into the deck of the American carrier, which was finally abandoned and left to burn. The Hornet, which weighed 20,000 tons, had seen battle during the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo (its commander at the time, Marc Mitscher, was promoted to admiral and would be a significant player in the victory over Japan) and the battle of Midway.

While the United States losses at Santa Cruz were heavy, the cost in aircraft to the Japanese was so extensive--more than 100, including 25 of the 27 bombers that attacked the Hornet--that they were unable finally to reinforce their troops at Guadalcanal, paving the way for an American victory.

Footnote: The Hornet lost at Santa Cruz was the CV-8; another Hornet, the CV-12, launched August 30, 1943, led a virtually charmed life, spending 52 days under Japanese attack in many battles in the Pacific, with nary a scratch to show for it. That is, until June 1945, when it was finally damaged--by a typhoon

 

ABUKUMA (October 26, 1944)

Japanese light cruiser of 5,570 tons commissioned in May, 1925 and sunk off Negros Island. Attacked by B-24 Liberators of the US 13th Air Force the cruiser takes a direct hit followed by two more direct hits which starts heavy fires and explodes four 'Long Lance' torpedoes in the torpedo room. The Abukuma sinks by the stern at 11.42 hrs with the loss of 250 of her crew. Her commander, Captain Hanada and 283 officers and men were rescued by the escorting destroyer Ushio.

 

Another good book on the subject is Sea of Thunder:Four Comanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 by Even Thomas. He seems to slam Halsey a bit hard but the bit i liked most was following the USS Johnston throughout the battle, which IMO made everything else worth it. The crew of the Johston also wrote a book on the subject but it seems to be prety rare as I can't find anyone else who have even heard of it.

 

October 27, 1940

De Gaulle sets up the Empire Defense Council
On this day in 1940, French Gen. Charles de Gaulle, speaking for the Free French Forces from his temporary headquarter in equatorial Africa, calls all French men and women everywhere to join the struggle to preserve and defend free French territory and "to attack the enemy wherever it is possible, to mobilize all our military, economic, and moral resources...to make justice reign."

De Gaulle had a long history fighting Germans. He sustained multiple injuries fighting at Verdun in World War I. He escaped German POW camps five times, only to be recaptured each time. (At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, it was hard for de Gaulle to remain inconspicuous.)

At the beginning of World War II, de Gaulle was commander of a tank brigade. He was admired as a courageous leader and made a brigadier general in May 1940. After the German invasion of France, he became undersecretary of state for defense and war in the Reynaud government, but when Reynaud resigned, and Field Marshal Philippe Petain stepped in, a virtual puppet of the German occupiers, de Gaulle left for England. On June 18, de Gaulle took to the radio airwaves to make an appeal to his fellow French not to accept the armistice being sought by Petain, but to continue fighting under his command. "I am France!" he declared. Ten days later, Britain formally acknowledged de Gaulle as the leader of the "Free French Forces," which was at first little more than those French troops stationed in England, volunteers from Frenchmen already living in England, and units of the French navy.

Another Free French movement had begun in Africa, under the direction of Gen. Henri Giraud. De Gaulle eventually relocated to Africa after tension began to build between himself and the British. Initially, de Gaulle agreed to share power with Giraud in the organization and control of the exiled French forces--until Giraud resigned in 1943, unwilling to stand in de Gaulle's shadow or struggle against his deft political maneuvering.

Whatever disagreements the British had had with de Gaulle, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was pleased with the French general's appeal to his countrymen's patriotism and the creation of the Empire Defense Council, which would organize necessary resources for military operations. Churchill believed it would "have a great effect on the minds of Frenchmen on account of its scope and logic. It shows de Gaulle in a light very different from that of an ordinary man."

 

October 28, 1940

Italy invades Greece
On this day in 1940, Mussolini's army, already occupying Albania, invades Greece in what will prove to be a disastrous military campaign for the Duce's forces.

Mussolini surprised everyone with this move against Greece; even his ally, Adolf Hitler, was caught off-guard, especially since the Duce had led Hitler to believe he had no such intention. Hitler denounced the move as a major strategic blunder. According to Hitler, Mussolini should have concentrated on North Africa, continuing the advance into Egypt. Even Mussolini's own chief of army staff found out about the invasion only after the fact. But despite being warned off an invasion of Greece by his own generals, despite the lack of preparedness on the part of his military, despite that it would mean getting bogged down in a mountainous country during the rainy season against an army willing to fight tooth and nail to defend its autonomy, Mussolini moved ahead out of sheer hubris, convinced he could defeat the Greeks in a matter of days. He also knew a secret, that millions of lire had been put aside to bribe Greek politicians and generals not to resist the Italian invasion. Whether the money ever made it past the Italian fascist agents delegated with the responsibility is unclear; if it did, it clearly made no difference whatsoever-the Greeks succeeded in pushing the Italian invaders back into Albania after just one week, and the Axis power spent the next three months fighting for its life in a defensive battle. To make matters worse, virtually half the Italian fleet at Taranto had been crippled by a British carrier-based attack. Mussolini had been humiliated.

 

October 29, 1942

The British protest against the persecution of Jews
On this day in 1942, leading British clergymen and political figures hold a public meeting to register their outrage over the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany.

In a message sent to the meeting, Prime Minister Winston Churchill summed up the sentiments of all present: "The systematic cruelties to which the Jewish people-men, women, and children-have been exposed under the Nazi regime are amongst the most terrible events of history, and place an indelible stain upon all who perpetrate and instigate them. Free men and women," Churchill continued, "denounce these vile crimes, and when this world struggle ends with the enthronement of human rights, racial persecution will be ended."

The very next day, the power of protest over cruelty was made evident elsewhere in Europe. When Gestapo officers in Brussels removed more than 100 Jewish children from a children's home for deportation, staff members refused to leave the sides of their young charges. Both the staff and the children were removed to a deportation camp set up in Malines. Protests rained down on the Germans, who had occupied the nation for more than two years, including one lodged by the Belgian secretary-general of the Ministry of Justice. The children and staff were returned to the home.

 

October 30, 1941

FDR approves Lend-Lease aid to the USSR
On this day in 1941, President Roosevelt, determined to keep the United States out of the war while helping those allies already mired in it, approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease loans to the Soviet Union. The terms: no interest and repayment did not have to start until five years after the war was over.

The Lend-Lease program was devised by President Roosevelt and passed by Congress on March 11, 1941. Originally, it was meant to aid Great Britain in its war effort against the Germans by giving the chief executive the power to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of" any military resources the president deemed ultimately in the interest of the defense of the United States. The reasoning was: If a neighbor was successful in defending his home, the security of your home was enhanced.

Although the Soviet Union had already been the recipient of American military weapons, and now had been promised $1 billion in financial aid, formal approval to extend the Lend-Lease program to the USSR had to be given by Congress. Anticommunist feeling meant much heated debate, but Congress finally gave its approval to the extension on November 7.

By the end of the war, more than $50 billion in funds, weapons, aircraft, and ships had been distributed to 44 countries. After the war, the Lend-Lease program morphed into the Marshall Plan, which allocated funds for the revitalization of "friendly" democratic nations--even if they were former enemies.

 

Chiang Kai-Shek is born
On this day in 1887, in Chekiang province, China, Chiang Kai-Shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China from 1928 to 1949, is born. As a young man training in the Japanese military, Chiang was converted to the ideals of republicanism. Upon returning to China, Chiang fought against the dying Manchu imperial dynasty. He eventually joined forces with Sun Yat-sen's Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang. Both Sun and Chiang became enamored of Soviet communism and even reorganized the Nationalist Party based on a Soviet model.

Upon Sun's death, Chinese communists, who had been admitted into the party, came into conflict with strict republicans. It was at this point that Chiang's political shrewdness came to the fore, as he stemmed the influence of the communists in his party while keeping Moscow as an ally--that is, until Chiang led a coup that expelled the communists, feeling that they were too strong a challenge to his own control of the party. Chiang then lead the Nationalists in a march on Peking, eventually forming a new government under his control. Unifying the country and keeping it from communist control were now most important to Chiang, even more important than his supposedly treasured social reforms or the invasion of Manchuria by Japan, which he did little to resist. But when full-blown war with Japan broke out in 1937, he was compelled to join forces with his communist enemies in order to repel further Japanese encroachments. China fought alone against the Japanese for four years, until the Allies declared war in 1941.

Although the Allies hailed Chiang as the salvation of his nation, depicting him as a David against the Japanese Goliath, he was in fact a shortsighted tyrant who was more interested in maintaining his power base and privileges than fighting Imperial Japan. He resisted the attempts by U.S. Gen. Joseph Stilwell to create a modern Chinese army that would fight under joint Allied-Chinese control. He was more interested in getting hold of Lend-Lease money for his own purposes. Upon the Allied defeat of Japan, Chiang returned to his battle against Mao Tse-tung and the communists. In 1949, he lost his nation to communism. Chiang removed himself to Taiwan, where he set up a relatively benign dictatorship--an alternate China.

 

BREMERHAVEN (October 31, 1944)

German ex-refrigerated cargo ship, converted to a troop transport in 1942 and then to a hospital ship early in 1944, sailed from the Latvian port of Windau at 5:30pm on October 29th, bound for Gotenhaven in the Bay of Danzig. On board were 1,515 wounded soldiers (stretcher cases) 156 walking wounded, 680 refugees, 511 workers from Organization Todt, 200 SS guards, 42 medical staff, 22 anti-aircraft gunners and 45 civilian crew, a total of 3,171 persons. At 9:30am on the 31st, the ship, commanded by Captain Grass, was attacked by five Russian planes when about 60 miles from its destination. Hit by one air-borne torpedo and two bombs, one of which exploded below deck setting the ship on fire. When the fire got out of control, the order to abandon ship was given. Luckily, the Bremerhaven (5355 Tons) stayed afloat long enough for rescue boats, including the tug-boat Danzig, to approach and save 2,795 from the burning vessel. Unfortunately, 410 souls were lost as the still burning vessel rolled over and sank at 7:30pm.

 

USS REUBEN JAMES (DD-245) (October 31, 1941)

American four stack destroyer that was torpedoed and sunk 300 miles south of Iceland. The destroyer, one of five US destroyers escorting the UK bound Convoy HX-156 which had sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, sank after a torpedo fired from the U-562 (Lt. Capt. Eric Topp) struck her port side at 05.25 hrs and ignited ammunition in her forward magazine. The explosion split the ship in two, her forward section plunging beneath the waves taking all hands on that part of the ship with her. The stern then went under and when about 50 feet down her depth charges exploded killing a number of survivors in the water. The USS Reuben James took 115 men to their deaths including all its officers.

There were 44 survivors rescued by the USS Niblack. The Reuben James had joined the convoy escort force in March, 1941, guarding convoy's as far as Iceland where British escorts then took over. The U-562 was sunk on February 19, 1943, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Isis and HMS Hursley. She sank with all hands (49 men).

 

November 1, 1941

FDR puts Coast Guard under control of the Navy
On this day in 1941, President Roosevelt announces that the U.S. Coast Guard will now be under the direction of the U.S. Navy, a transition of authority usually reserved only for wartime.

The Coast Guard was established as the Revenue Marine Service by Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, in 1790. In 1915, the U.S. Lifesaving Service, formed in 1878, and the RMS combined to become the Coast Guard. During peacetime, the Guard was under the direction of the Department of Treasury until 1967, when the Department of Transportation took control. But during war, it was under the control of the U.S. Navy. What made FDR's November 1 announcement significant was that the United States was not yet at war-but more and more American ships were nevertheless becoming casualties of the European war.

The Coast Guard's mission is to enforce all laws applicable to the waters within U.S. territory, including laws and regulations promoting personal safety and protection of property. It provides support and aid to all vessels within U.S. territorial waters. It is charged with inspecting sailing vessels and their equipment for violations of safety regulations, as well as lighthouses, buoys, navigation equipment, and radio beacons. The Guard operates and maintains a network of lifeboat and search-and-rescue stations, which also employs aircraft.

The Guard's wartime duties include escorting ships, providing port security, and inspecting ships for everything from illegal drugs to munitions. They also have powers of interdiction-the right to stop, board, and inspect any vessel suspected of threatening U.S. security. In fact, Coast Guard ranks are analogous to those of the U.S. Navy; even the uniforms are similar. The Guard is headed by an admiral appointed by the president. Women have served in the Guard since 1973

 

November 1, 1941

FDR puts Coast Guard under control of the Navy
On this day in 1941, President Roosevelt announces that the U.S. Coast Guard will now be under the direction of the U.S. Navy, a transition of authority usually reserved only for wartime.

The Coast Guard was established as the Revenue Marine Service by Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, in 1790. In 1915, the U.S. Lifesaving Service, formed in 1878, and the RMS combined to become the Coast Guard. During peacetime, the Guard was under the direction of the Department of Treasury until 1967, when the Department of Transportation took control. But during war, it was under the control of the U.S. Navy. What made FDR's November 1 announcement significant was that the United States was not yet at war-but more and more American ships were nevertheless becoming casualties of the European war.

The Coast Guard's mission is to enforce all laws applicable to the waters within U.S. territory, including laws and regulations promoting personal safety and protection of property. It provides support and aid to all vessels within U.S. territorial waters. It is charged with inspecting sailing vessels and their equipment for violations of safety regulations, as well as lighthouses, buoys, navigation equipment, and radio beacons. The Guard operates and maintains a network of lifeboat and search-and-rescue stations, which also employs aircraft.

The Guard's wartime duties include escorting ships, providing port security, and inspecting ships for everything from illegal drugs to munitions. They also have powers of interdiction-the right to stop, board, and inspect any vessel suspected of threatening U.S. security. In fact, Coast Guard ranks are analogous to those of the U.S. Navy; even the uniforms are similar. The Guard is headed by an admiral appointed by the president. Women have served in the Guard since 1973

 

November 2, 1942

British launch Operation Supercharge
On this day in 1942, General Montgomery breaks through Rommel's defensive line at El Alamein, Egypt, forcing a retreat. It was the beginning of the end of the Axis occupation of North Africa.

In July 1942, having already taken Tobruk, Gen. Erwin Rommel and his mixed German-Italian forces attempted to push through the British defensive line at El Alamein, but failed. The Brits and the Axis had reached a standstill, and both sides took time to regroup before resuming the battle. Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Bernard Montgomery took control of the British 8th Army, and on October 23 launched Operation Lightfoot, a broad offensive initiated by artillery fire. Rommel's forces had dug a five-mile-deep defensive area, replete with minefields and antitank guns. But this did not stop Montgomery, who had three armoured divisions and almost seven infantry divisions. The Axis forces were without their leader, as Rommel had taken ill and was convalescing in Austria. By the time the German general was recalled to Africa by Hitler, two days after the launching of Lightfoot, Monty and his forces had pushed passed his defensive line and were six miles beyond the original stalemate point.

Rommel gave as good as he got, using his antitank weaponry to destroy four times as many British tanks as he lost (but still leaving the Brits with 800 against Rommel's 90). Montgomery's drive northward was stopped-but only temporarily. On November 2, he launched Operation Supercharge, switched the direction of his attack westward, and punched through the German-Italian line. Rommel retreated to Fukah but Hitler insisted that Rommel hold his position at El Alamein. Rommel obeyed, which was a mistake. Instead of making a stand at Fukah, he was forced to waste more time and more of his forces as the British pushed harder, forcing Rommel to retreat even farther as he attempted to escape sweeping British offensives from the south. By mid-January 1943, Rommel had been pushed through Libya into Tunisia. As Churchill would sum up: "Up to Alamein we survived. After Alamein we conquered."

 

SENDAI (November 2, 1943)

Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser of 7,100 tons commissioned on April 29, 1924 at the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Yard in Nagasaki. Sunk at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay off Torokina Point in the Solomons. Torpedoes and shells from US Rear Admiral Aaron Merrill's Task Force 39 set the cruiser on fire. At 0200 hrs the Sendai is abandoned and sinks at 0430 hrs with 184 of her crew. A total of 236 crewmen are rescued. The wreck lies at a depth of 440 metres about 55 kilometres north-east of Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

 

MV ZAANDAM (November 2, 1942)

Dutch cargo-passenger liner(10,909 tons) on the Java-New York route but escaped from the East Indies in March, 1942. The Zaandam was sunk about 334 nautical miles (618 kilometres) north-northeast of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, by torpedoes from the U-174 (Ulrich Thilo) while en route from Capetown, South Africa, to New York. Her cargo included 8,600 tons of Chrome and Copper ore. Also on board were 299 persons including 112 crewmembers and 18 US Naval Armed Guards plus 169 passengers, most of them survivors from five Allied ships previously sunk off Capetown (Coloradan, Chickasaw City, Swiftsure, Examelia and Firethorn)

Ten minutes after the first torpedo hit, another slammed into the port side sinking the Zaandam in less than two minutes. A total of 134 men lost their lives, leaving 165 survivors. The US tanker SS Gulfstate, picked up 106 survivors from two lifeboats on November 7th. A third lifeboat, containing around 60 persons, made landfall near the town of Barreirinhas, Brazil, some days later. Two men from this lifeboat died.