A vastly outgunned American escort carrier group repelled a superior Japanese fleet, preventing a catastrophic assault on Allied landing forces at Leyte Gulf.
Key Facts
- Date
- October 25, 1944
- American casualties
- Over 1,000 killed
- Japanese casualties
- Over 2,700
- Taffy 3 composition
- 6 escort carriers, 3 destroyers, 4 destroyer escorts
- Japanese ships sunk
- 3 cruisers sunk by air attack
- American ships lost
- 2 escort carriers, 2 destroyers, 1 destroyer escort
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet was lured northward by a Japanese decoy force, leaving the recently landed 130,000-man Sixth Army on Leyte exposed. Japanese Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's powerful First Mobile Striking Force, believed to be retreating after prior engagements, reversed course overnight and advanced through San Bernardino Strait toward the vulnerable Allied beachhead.
Kurita's fleet of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers encountered Task Unit 77.4.3 (Taffy 3), a small group of escort carriers under Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague. Outgunned and unprepared, Taffy 3 launched torpedo attacks and aircraft sorties. Kamikaze planes sank the escort carrier USS Saint Lo. Kurita, mistaking the escort carriers for fleet carriers and fearing the approach of Halsey's main force, withdrew his fleet without completing his mission.
Taffy 3 suffered severe losses but succeeded in turning back a superior Japanese force, protecting the Leyte beachhead. The action effectively ended Japan's ability to contest Allied naval supremacy in the Philippines. Captain Ernest Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, and Taffy 3 received the Presidential Unit Citation for its defense against overwhelming odds.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, Captain Ernest E. Evans (USS Johnston).
Side B
1 belligerent
Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita.