Status - John Skinner - USS Daly:
USS Daly (DD-519) - Seeadler Harbor
October 22nd:. At sea all day supporting operations in Leyte Gulf. Temperatures 70s-80s, light winds.
October 23rd: Again operating in Leyte Gulf. Fueling in afternoon. Temperatures 70s-80s, light winds.
October 24th: In Leyte Gulf. Late evening deployed for battle against approaching Japanese fleet. Temperatures 70s-80s, light winds.
October 25th: Japanese fleet approaching about 2:30 AM. PT boats attack first, followed by destroyers. Daly with 4 other destroyers commenced torpedo attack at about 3:30 AM, then fired on enemy ships. Temperatures 70s-80s, light breezes.
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Daly took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait as part of the destroyer attacks. Three Japanese battleships and three destroyers were sunk during the action. This was part of the larger battle all around the Philippines in which many Japanese ships were sunk, including Musashi (with sister ship Yamato the most powerful battleships in the world), and three Japanese carriers.
A mistake or miscommunication in the fleet left the landing areas uncovered except for a few destroyers, destroyer escorts and small carriers. The Japanese Central Force, thought to have turned back after losing Musashi, reversed course and could have devastated the troops in the landing zone at Leyte. The heroism of this handful of small ships in turning back this large battleship/heavy cruiser fleet is told in the book The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.
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More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 559-565.
- Leyte, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 148-312.
- Events of October, 1944
- Logbooks of the US Navy at the National Archives, USS Daly, DD-519, October 1944
- The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, James D. Hornfischer
NEXT POST: OCTOBER 29TH
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