...Battle of Samar-Leyte Gulf....
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.....here's a few pics of Franks ship-the Kalinin Bay CVE-68 an escort carrier that was part of TaskForce Taffy 3 that beat back the Japanese Navy in Oct of 44.....the Japanese had no idea they could've wiped our guys out...if they'd kept at 'em another hour they would have broken thru...we were outnumbered and outgunned
....above shots are PR stuff before the battle....
.......thats the carrier being straddled by salvos from the Yamato
...listing from the hits
....the battle shots were taken from other ships escorting
.....a shot after it was over-his ship was lucky-only 5 killed,one of which was his buddy...he is the fella on the left tilting the cot sliding the body into the sea- with the arrow pointing,the fella on the right is another buddy of his who passed away a couple years ago...this is a pic of a pic I took off Franks wall-he put the arrows on it
Proprietor-Mario's Road Kill Cafe/Mauser Bar and Grill
LoLo25643
Dragoon
Re: ...Battle of Samar-Leyte Gulf....
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This is great stuff Mario. Thanks for posting.
Your Pard: LoLo
Collector of fine Mauser, Mosin and Swiss rifles.
A square 10
Cold Country
Re: ...Battle of Samar-Leyte Gulf....
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just not too long ago i watched a history channel piece on that battle , thanks for posting these , and pass my thanks to him for his service
gschwertley
saddle soap
Re: ...Battle of Samar-Leyte Gulf....
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The Kalinin Bay was one of many escort carriers built during WW2. The escort carriers were much smaller than fleet or attack carriers and more lightly built, being made on merchant hulls.
At the Battle Off Samar, part of what is sometimes called the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Kalinin Bay was in a task force with five other escort carriers, or CVE's. These other ships were the Fanshaw Bay, the St. Lo, the White Plains, the Kitkin Bay, and the Gambier Bay. There were also some destroyers and destroyer escorts in this group. This group was called "Taffy 3" because of their radio call sign.
I don't remember all the details, but the Battle Off Samar was the result of a big naval SNAFU, where Admiral Halsey sent three carrier battle groups off on a wild goose chase after a major Japanese naval battle group that wasn't where he thought it was. In the meantime, the Japanese had another, smaller battle group out on a diversionary maneuver headed toward Leyte Gulf, where the US had recently landed and had all kinds of shipping anchored. The only blocking force between this Japanese battle group and Leyte Gulf was Taffy 3.
When the Japanese encountered Taffy 3, they contributed to the SNAFU, mistaking the small CVE's for much larger fleet carriers. After mauling Taffy 3, sinking the Gambier Bay (CVE 73), two destroyers and a DE, they broke off the engagement and retired when they could have smashed into Leyte Gulf in the absence of Halsey's three battle groups, who were distracted on their wild goose chase.
An interesting anecdote re. the sinking of the Gambier Bay: The Polish government in exile had concluded an agreement with the US Navy to station some Polish Navy sailors aboard the Gambier Bay for training purposes. When the Gambier Bay went down, she took 35 Polish sailors with her.
Both the Kalinin Bay and the Gambier Bay were built at the Kaiser Shipyard in Vancouver, Washington.
"Sehr schwer, mein Herr"
HerrMario
Herr Fluffy
Re: ...Battle of Samar-Leyte Gulf....
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......an excellent book-very detailed and not in the slightest boring....actually hard to put down,is "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by Hornfischer-recently published and I'd highly recommend reading it-ghastly when you read first hand accounts of what happens on a ship with no place to hide being hit by huge shells from Yamato and the other heavy cruisers -his ship,and the others Gary mentioned have their stories of the battle told by the survivors.....by the way,Frank just got back last week from the latest reunion of Taffy 3 survivors-said he took many pics and will send to me...I'll see if I can get 'em digital somehow and post ....he also sadly mentioned it was probably their last...........
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...tried copying the above-one of my own...the text was a pain to edit out,and the pics didnt come thru,so I hadda re-upload them.....hmmmmmm....there's gotta be an easier way to do this..... 