Status - John Skinner - USS Daly:
USS Daly (DD-519) - Seeadler Harbor
October 26th:. Patrolling in Leyte Gulf all day. Fueling in afternoon. Enemy aircraft attacked in the evening, no damage. Temperatures 70s-80s, light winds.
October 27th: Patrolling in Leyte Gulf all day. Searching for sonar contacts in the morning. Rescued downed pilot in the afternoon. Temperatures 70s-80s, light winds.
October 28th: On patrol all day in Leyte Gulf, fueling in afternoon. Temperatures 70s, moderate breezes.
October 29th: On patrol all day in Leyte Gulf. Temperatures 70s-80s, light breezes changing to gale force winds up to 40 knots late evening with heavy weather and rain squalls.
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The Battle of Leyte Gulf concluded on October 26th. Japanese losses are severe; 4 carriers (including Zuikaku, the last carrier from the Pearl Harbor raid), 3 battleships, 10 cruisers and 9 destroyers. More Japanese ships are damaged and some are sunk in the following days.
US Navy losses are 3 small carriers, 2 destroyers, 1 destroyer escort and 1 PT boat. However, a new and terrifying phenomenon begins as the Japanese send Kamikaze aircraft against US Navy ships, and sink light carrier St. Lo. The danger from these attacks will get much worse and last for the rest of the war.
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More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 565-568.
- 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
NEXT POST: NOVEMBER 2ND
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