The Phillipines

[cardboard_killer]

[80 Years ago today] "• The 3rd and 20th Pursuit Squadrons in the Philippines trade their Boeing P-26s for Seversky P-35As. There has been a delay in re-equipping as the USAAC had neglected to ship the Prestone antifreeze required for the P-35A Pratt & Whitney radial engines.

 

Boeing P-26 in the PI 1940

 

P-35As over Manila Bay"

[No105_Swoose]

Some of the P-26s were turned over to the fledgling Philippine Air Corps.  Not unlike Polish PZL 11s against the Luftwaffe in September 1939, they fought a gallant but doomed defense against the invading Japanese, and even managed to destroy a few planes, until they were all destroyed by the end of December 1941.

[cardboard_killer]

No spoilers please

[No105_Swoose]

22 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

No spoilers please

OK, except I have to mention my username - "Swoose" - honors a B-17D originally assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group that was one of the few survivors of the Japanese attack which destroyed most of MacArthur's bombers on the ground at Clark Field, P.I., on 8 December 1941.

[JG1_Vonrd]

On 7/15/2021 at 2:42 PM, cardboard_killer said:

There has been a delay in re-equipping as the USAAC had neglected to ship the Prestone antifreeze required for the P-35A Pratt & Whitney radial engines.

 

 

I think they may have been talking about the P-40s that were being shipped to the Philippines. There is no antifreeze used in P&W radials (or any other operational radials that I know of). As I recall, there may have been some liquid cooled radials at some point but certainly none used in operational service by the USA. Being air cooled and therefore more damage resistant was one of the chief advantages of radials. 

[cardboard_killer]

Yes, the blurb caught my attention as well. See:

 

 

[DD_Arthur]

18 hours ago, JG1_Vonrd said:

There is no antifreeze used in P&W radials (or any other operational radials that I know of). As I recall, there may have been some liquid cooled radials at some point but certainly none used in operational service by the USA. Being air cooled and therefore more damage resistant was one of the chief advantages of radials. 

 

This isn’t anti-freeze in the sense of engine cooling but is essential to prevent carburettor icing which can starve an engine of fuel.

[cardboard_killer]

2 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

This isn’t anti-freeze in the sense of engine cooling but is essential to prevent carburettor icing which can starve an engine of fuel.

 

Do you have a source for this? I understand the concept, but, at least with the F4F/F6F/F4U it seems like carb icing was a problem through the war (less so with the F6F due to the air source for the carb). And modern planes seem to use exhaust heat to keep the problem down, or electric heaters.

[Lusekofte]

2 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

This isn’t anti-freeze in the sense of engine cooling but is essential to prevent carburettor icing which can starve an engine of fuel.

Was that not why they had carburettor heating?

I always believed that was electric heating

[cardboard_killer]

HELLCAT VERSUS CORSAIR
 

The reason the Corsair was faster in the main stage blower was that its engine and carburetor were provided with ram air coming in directly from the forward facing wing duct, whereas the Hellcat had the carburetor air coming in from the accessory compartment of the fuselage just behind the engine, with no ram air effect. Our airplane was getting carburetor air at the same pressure as it would have were it motionless on the ground, and the Corsair was getting carburetor air supercharged by the speed of the airplane giving it more power (speed) in the main stage blower. In both aircraft, however, the designs were similar in that they provided ram air to the low and high blower stages. Our engineering department defended its position because taking the warmer air for the main stage blower would prevent inadvertent carburetor-icing engine failures. Many Wildcats that had ram air in the main stage like the Corsair were lost because pilots failed to take precautions in time to avert this type of disaster. The Hellcat design was reviewed and approved by the Navy. I had had a carburetor-icing accident during final approach on my first flight in a Wildcat a few months previously; it resulted in my first deadstick landing and a vertical ground loop. I therefore heartily agreed with the Navy’s decision.

[JG1_Vonrd]

I could certainly be wrong but I have NEVER heard of anti-freeze being used to warm carb air in order to prevent carb ice. Perhaps in liquid cooled engines but certainly not in air cooled radials. As noted above, the supercharger heats the air from compressing the air. I don't really understand what Carboard_killer posted above. Pretty much all radials used a supercharger (and many had turbosuperchargers in addition... P-47, B-17, etc.) which will always heat the air due to compression... that's why all turbo or supercharged cars use an intercooler / charge air cooler to cool the induction air to get more power... cooler air = denser air = more power.

 

This isn’t anti-freeze in the sense of engine cooling but is essential to prevent carburettor icing which can starve an engine of fuel.

 

Technically, carb ice blocks off the induction air causing an extreme rich fuel / air ratio as well as constricting the air flow... basically closing the throttle. I would love to be proved wrong though. Can you provide reference to using anti-freeze in radial engines to prevent carb ice? 

 

 

Here's the entry from the Pilot's operating manual for the F4F. No anti-freeze noted...  ?

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by JG1_Vonrd

[JG1_Vonrd]

OK... for automotive liquid cooled engines:

In cars, carburetor icing can occasionally be a nuisance. The inlet manifold and parts of the carburetor often have warm water from the cooling system or exhaust gas circulating through them to combat this problem.

 

I was unable to find reference to preventing carb ice in WW2 era liquid cooled aircraft. I think the P-39 and maybe the P-40 might have used circulation of coolant around the induction to prevent ice formation (they did have carb inlet temp gauges and a switch for heat but I'm not sure what the source of the heat was. Makes sense to use the hot coolant though).

 

I still don't think it applies to air cooled radial engines.

 

I'm pretty sure that anti icing fluid was used on some propellers utilizing a slinger ring to flood the blades with fluid... maybe Glycol and / or alcohol.

Edited July 21, 2021 by JG1_Vonrd

[DD_Arthur]

10 hours ago, JG1_Vonrd said:

I'm pretty sure that anti icing fluid was used on some propellers utilizing a slinger ring to flood the blades with fluid... maybe Glycol and / or alcohol.

 

Okay, after some research it appears I’m talking out of my backside - kind of?!

I think Vonrd is correct in that the anti freeze was required for the propeller hub mechanism and the propeller blades themselves.

 I assumed it was used as a supplement to combat persistent carb icing in extreme conditions by injection into the inlet manifold.

This is incorrect.

However; what they did use on post war airliners such as the DC5, 6 and 7 to prevent extreme carb icing was alcohol injection into the inlet manifold.

 

Similar but not the same!

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today]

 

Two USAAF B-18 bombers in the Philippines, 24 July 1941.

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• In response to continuing aggression in China and the occupation or parts of French Indochina, President Franklin Roosevelt issues executive orders to freeze all Japanese and puppet Chinese assets, forbid the export of oil, iron, and rubber to Japan, as well as marking the Panama Canal off-limits to Japanese shipping. UK and the Netherlands will follow suit, though Britain signs an agreement with Thailand to exchange oil for rubber. Some of the oil will make its way to Japan.

• The Philippine Army is Federalized and retired Major General Douglas MacArthur is recalled to the US Army and promoted to Lieutenant General despite several cabinet officials urging President Roosevelt to leave MacArthur on the retired list. US Army Forces Far East is established, and is earmarked to receive 300 heavy bombers in addition to the 40 B-17s already en-route and 150 modern fighters in addition to the 110 P-40s already present or en-route.

 

MacArthur speaking at induction of Philippine Army and Philippine Army air Corps into the US Army
 

 

PAAC Zablan Flight Line 26 July 1941"

 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago] "• The first B-17D bombers arrive at Clark Field to supplement the older B-18s and ancient B-10s. A light bombardment group with A-24 dive bombers (the Army version of the SBD Dauntless) and an additional fighter group with P-40s are ordered to embark for the Philippines. Over the next two months, George Marshall will coordinate the shipment of a million tons of military stores and ammunition to the islands.

 

B-17D and P-35As at Iba Field in the Philippines.

• General George Marshall offers to transfer an additional infantry division to the Philippines. Lt-General MacArthur responds that with additional aircraft no further reinforcements will be necessary.

• At a war planning conference, Emperor Hirohito berates IJA Chief of Staff Hajime Sugiyama for having promised in 1937 that the Japanese invasion of China would be successful after three months, and questions his confidence in a quick victory over the Western powers.

- The attending flag officers and ministers are shocked, as the Emperor normally remains silent during the Imperial conferences and simply ratifies the decisions that are made. "

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Another reinforcement convoy arrives in the Philippines with fifty additional P-40E fighters allocated to the new 24th Pursuit Group. Also arriving is an anti-aircraft regiment for airfield defense plus the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions, equipped with 108 new M3 light tanks and 46 halftracks.

 

P-40 being uncrated at Nichols Field PI

 

M3 tank on Luzon 1941"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Major General Lewis Brereton, a personal friend of Douglas MacArthur, arrives in the Philippines to take over the Far East Air Forces. He is considered pompous even by MacArthur’s staff, and prominently carries a riding crop everywhere. MacArthur assures him that the Japanese will not attempt an invasion earlier than April, 1942. Around this time, Admiral Thomas Hart, commanding the Asiatic Fleet, writes in his diary: “MacArthur is so persuasive that after speaking with him, I believe, against my better judgement, that he really can defend the Philippines.” The FEAF is still in transition to modern P-40s and B-17s.

 

Seversky P-35s off Manila 1941

 

Martin B-10 in Manila 1937"

[No105_Swoose]

REALLY enjoying these timeline pictures and updates leading up to the tragic events of 8 December 1941 at Clark Field and the eventual Fall of the Philippines.  Look forward to more.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, commander of the British Eastern Fleet flies to Cavite to meet with Admiral Hart and General MacArthur. He requests two divisions of American destroyers to operate out of Singapore. Hart only has three divisions but orders the 57th at Balikpapan to proceed to Singapore and attach itself to Force Z. He points out that all of his destroyers are old enough to vote.

 

- The four destroyers will arrive to find that Force Z has already sailed.

 

Plaque for DesRon 29 at the Pacific War Museum

 

• The Yangtze Patrol is officially dissolved with the arrival from China of gunboats Luzon and Oahu, submarine rescue vessel Pigeon, and minesweeper Finch at Manila.

 

• Radar tracks unidentified aircraft approaching Manila. A flight of P-40s intercepts a flight of Zeroes which stay at least fifty miles from the coast.

P-40s of the 20th Pursuit Squadron over the Philippines

 

• Schooner Lanikai is commissioned into the US Navy at Cavite for use as a dispatch vessel."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "0206: General Marshall in Washington dispatches warning message to General MacArthur on the Pearl Harbor attack.

 

0310: Admiral Hart transmits to all Asiatic Fleet units: “JAPAN STARTED HOSTILITIES STOP GOVERN YOURSEL[V]ES ACCORDINGLY END HART”

 

0315: MacArthur given the message from General Marshall.

 

0330: After receiving Hart’s message, the skipper of seaplane tender USS Preston (a converted flush deck destroyer at Davao) launches one of her PBYs on patrol on the skipper’s initiative.

PBYs at the seaplane ramp on Cavite, PI

 

- Preston then shifts anchorage away from her other two PBYs to lessen the chance of one bomb taking out all three targets.

 

0345: Admiral Hart orders unrestricted air and submarine warfare against Japan by his units.

 

0400: Chief of the War Plans Division Brigadier General Leonard Gerow in Washington calls MacArthur and fills him in on some details of Pearl Harbor, warning, “I wouldn't be surprised if you get an attack there in the near future.”

 

0500: Far East Air Forces commander Lewis Brereton attempts to see MacArthur but is told by chief of staff Major General Richard Sutherland that the General is too busy. MacArthur is spending most of his time dealing with the civilian authorities and issuing orders to ground units. On his own initiative Brereton orders fighters up, expecting a dawn raid. He is unaware that fog over Formosa has delayed the Japanese strike by six hours. He begs Sutherland to urge MacArthur to authorize a strike against Formosa with B-17 and B-18 bombers in accordance with the Rainbow-5 warplan.

 

0615: USS Preston at Davao is attacked by A5M fighters and B5N bombers from the Japanese carrier Ryūjō. Both remaining PBYs are sunk on the water though the ship is not badly damaged.

 

USS Preston is at bottom, burning PBYs are close to shore. One A5M 'Claude' has to ditch due to anti-aircraft fire but the pilot is rescued. Ryūjō will make a second strike against fuel storage tanks on Davao, losing a second A5M to AA fire.

 

0620: Japanese aircraft strafe the radio station at Aparri on northern Luzon.

 

0710: USAAF Commander Major General Hap Arnold calls Brereton via transoceanic telephone with a description of Pearl Harbor and urges him to ensure the safety of his aircraft so that what happened in Hawaii is not repeated.

 

0715: Brereton informs Sutherland about the attacks on Aparri and the USS Preston and again requests permission to attack the Formosa airfields. MacArthur is again too busy to see his air commander but Sutherland tells him that Japan must commit the first overt act, so an attack on Formosa is denied. Brereton is told to wait in his office for orders.

 

0800: Radar picks up airborne contacts approaching Manila. Brereton sends thirty-six P-40s to intercept but the target veers away before interception.

 

Brereton also orders the idle B-17s up so they don’t get caught on the ground.

 

0910: Japanese army bombers attack Baguio and Tueguegarao in northern Luzon. President Quezon is currently in Baguio, which is the summer capital of the Commonwealth. The Japanese bombers will report not having sighted any American aircraft.

 

0925: Brereton again calls Sutherland with news of the above attacks. Permission to retaliate is again denied.

 

1000: Brereton renews his request to take offensive action, informing Sutherland that if Clark Field is attacked successfully he will be unable to operate offensively with the bombers. Again the request is denied.

 

1004: MacArthur receives a directive from General George Marshall in Washington to immediately implement the war plan (word of MacArthur's inaction probably got to Marshall from Brereton via Hap Arnold).

 

1010: A Japanese plane mistakenly reports B-17s approaching Formosa and the Japanese began passing out gas masks.

 

1014: MacArthur orders Brereton to send an immediate recon mission over Formosa and to prepare bombers for an attack. B-17s are to return to Clark Field for refueling and arming. B-18s are to be reserved for maritime reconnaissance missions.

 

 

Douglas B-18s returning to Nichols Field from a maritime patrol/training mission

 

1015: With the fog finally clearing, Japanese Navy aircraft from the 11th Air Fleet are dispatched from Formosa, targeting Clark, Iba, Nichols, and Del Carmen airfields.

 

1100: Sutherland calls Brereton and tells him to hold the raid until results of the recon mission over Formosa are received.

 

1127: The radar station at Iba detects two incoming raids, the closest 130 miles out.  By this time most of the fighters are on the ground refueling while B-17s are being armed and fueled.

 

- MacArthur orders Brereton to task three squadrons of P-40s to defend Manila and ground troops on Bataan. These are not being targeted in the initial attacks and the P-40s will miss the Japanese strikes on the undefended airfields. A fourth Squadron of P-40s is not authorized to launch as MacArthur wants it in reserve. These pilots begin launching on their own initiative when Japanese aircraft are spotted but most are destroyed while taxiing.

 

- The American airields are hit by over a hundred G3M and G4M bombers. Escorting A6M fighters are surprised to not encounter airborne opposition and strafe the airfields for thirty minutes. The Japanese are amazed that more than ten hours after Pearl Harbor, they have achieved surprise over the Philippines.

 

Clark Field shortly after the attack

 

- Only the 34th Pursuit Squadron is able to launch in any sort of formation and engage the Japanese over Clark Field towards the end of the raid. Outclassed and outnumbered, the P-35As are unable to get at the bombers but they shoot down two Zeroes without loss, though many of the Severskys are damaged.

 

- Of the modern combat aircraft, only 17 of the original 35 B-17s remain. Fifty-three P-40s and three P-35s had been destroyed, and an additional 25 or 30 miscellaneous aircraft (B-10s, B-18s, and observation planes) are gone.

 

- The total cost to the Japanese is 7 fighters

 

- The Far East Air Force loses fully half of its aircraft on the first day of the war. The operation had been well planned and executed. The first flights of bombers had concentrated on the hangars, barracks, and warehouses of the airbases. The B-17s Brereton had earlier sent to Del Monte Field on Mindanao are untouched. MacArthur will later blame Brereton for the debacle. MacArthur will also report:

 

"Enemy bombers were guided in by sympathizers or espionage agents located near military objectives. Complete reports on American airfields and troop dispositions, procured by an extensive espionage net just prior to hostilities, enabled the Japanese to concentrate their attacks accurately on the most important objectives."

 

• Later in the day, the Manila submarines are given brief operational orders. They are told to be cautious as this is the first day of a long war. Submarine division commander Stuart Shadrick "Sunshine" Murray, who will command USS Missouri at the end of the war, tells his skippers:

 

“The submarines are all we have left. Your crews are more valuable than anything else. Bring them back.”

 

- Fourteen submarines head out. S-36 is already on patrol in Lingayen Gulf.

Subtender Canopus with S-boats"

• Later in the day, the Manila submarines are given brief operational orders. They are told to be cautious as this is the first day of a long war. Submarine division commander Stuart Shadrick "Sunshine" Murray, who will command USS Missouri at the end of the war, tells his skippers:

 

“The submarines are all we have left. Your crews are more valuable than anything else. Bring them back.”

 

- Fourteen submarines head out. S-36 is already on patrol in Lingayen Gulf.

[DD_Arthur]

Isn’t it time to post a forum caveat now?

Something along the lines; “Caution! If you have a thing for Douglas MacArthur be prepared to be upset”??

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Japanese troops are landed at Vigan and Gonzaga on northwestern Luzon. Minesweeper W-10 is strafed by P-35 fighters and blows up, possibly by detonation of depth charges. Its explosion damages two transports and tears the wing off Captain Samuel Marrett’s P-35 which crashes. One other P-35 is shot down while light cruiser Naka and destroyer Murasame are damaged.

 

Seversky P-35As over Manila

 

• More Japanese troops are landed at Aparri on northern Luzon. They will capture the airfield and begin transferring aircraft there within two days. An air raid by B-17 bombers on the transport fleet near-misses light cruiser Natori and the badly damages minesweeper W-19 which has to be beached to avoid sinking. Major General Wainwright correctly interprets these landings as diversions for the main Japanese attack (expected in Lingayen Gulf) and refuses to commit his forces.

 

IJN Minesweeper of the W-7 class.

 

- General MacArthur reports to Washington that a B-17C flown by Captain Colin Kelly has sunk a Japanese battleship. The bomber was shot down and Kelly killed. He will be awarded the DSC and MacArthur is hailed in the press for inflicting the first heavy loss upon Japan.

 

• Japanese fighters strafe Zablan Airfield at Quezon City and Maniquis Airfield at Cabanatuan.

 

• A PBY flying west of Manila shoots down an A6M2 Zero and evades two others in cloud cover to return safely to base. Pilot Lt Harmon Utter will later coordinate the air strikes on battleship Yamato.

 

• Far East Air Force combat strength has been reduced to twelve operable B-17s, five B-18s, twenty-two P-40s, and eighteen P-35s. The PAAC has seven working P-26s.

 

• Admiral Hart orders submarine tender Holland and depot ship Otus to the Dutch submarine base at Surabaya.

 

• Japanese aircraft target Cavite Naval Base, which has no fighter cover despite repeated requests. Submarines Sealion and Seadragon had been undergoing overhaul and frantic preparations for sea are not complete, Two bombs, one directly on the engine room hatch, destroy Sealion pierside. A barge carrying 48 torpedoes is sunk and the torpedo repair shop is wrecked. Minesweeper USS Bittern is alongside the submarines and burning. Submarine rescue vessel Pidgeon noses up to the pier, passes a line, and drags Seadragon clear. She will be patched up by subtender Canopus and limp to Surabaya on one engine. The Asiatic Fleet’s torpedo stores have been reduced from 383 to 150.

 

Cavite burning - bow of USS Sealion at extreme right

 

 

Wreck of USS Sealion in 1959

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by cardboard_killer

[No105_Swoose]

4 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

 

- General MacArthur reports to Washington that a B-17C flown by Captain Colin Kelly has sunk a Japanese battleship. The bomber was shot down and Kelly killed. He will be awarded the DSC and MacArthur is hailed in the press for inflicting the first heavy loss upon Japan.

 

Colin Kelly was certainly brave, and gave America a badly needed hero in the dark days immediately following Pearl Harbor, but he did not sink a Japanese warship.  https://www.historynet.com/b-17-pilot-colin-kelly-remembering-a-fallen-american-wwii-hero.htm?fbclid=IwAR1_St8UoVKUVmuAiHqlWch2ucWzrDgmKoH1tPU7xD4gjgElm6Y1yePGRT4

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Mitsubishi G3M (or G4M, sources vary) bombers escorted by A6Ms attack Batangas Airfield south of Manila. Six Filipino Boeing P-26 fighters of the 6th Pursuit Squadron led by Captain Jesús Villamor intercept and shoot down one G3M bomber and two A6M fighters for the loss of three P-26s.

 

PAAC P-26s. On the recommendation of General Brereton, General MacArthur will award Villamor the DSC. The Filipinos will continue to fly sorties until their last aircraft is destroyed on Christmas Eve. After independence, the Philippine government will rename Nichols Field to Villamor Air Force Base.

 

• 2,500 Japanese of the 16th Division land at Legazpi on southern Luzon. General MacArthur is surprised by this unexpected landing south of his expected defense lines, and will deny General Wainwright the reserve Philippine Division he had been counting on in Northern Luzon. An air attack from B-18 bombers on the transports does only light damage and the only defenders, a battalion of Filipino Scouts, will withdraw northward.

 

- The Japanese seize control of the local airfield by the end of the day."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Three B-17s from Mindanao make the last raid on a Japanese beach-head. One returns and crash lands with over a thousand holes in it. Tomorrow, the remaining B-17s in the Philippines will be withdrawn to Australia.

 

• With operations untenable in the face of Japanese air superiority, Admiral Hart orders the tenders and PBYs of Patrol Wing 10 to the Netherlands East Indies.

 

• US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, who had not seen the Philippine Islands since he was a first lieutenant in Manila in 1915, summons Brigadier General Dwight Eisenhower, who had been on MacArthur’s staff from 1932 to 1939, to assess the situation. Eisenhower tells Marshall, essentially, to abandon the archipelago for the time being:

 

“General, it will be a long time before major reinforcements can go to the Philippines, longer than the garrison can hold out with any direct assistance, if the enemy commits major forces to their reduction. Our base must be in Australia, and we must start at once to expand it and to secure our communications to it.”

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A large Japanese joint Army/Navy raid hits Corregidor Island for the first time. Known as “America’s Gibraltar”, Corregidor and tiny Caballo island a quarter mile south boast thirty-one naval rifles (two 14”, eight 12”, two 10”, seven 6”, twelve 3”) plus sixteen 12” mortars, twenty-one mobile 155mm artillery pieces, and twenty 3” anti-aircraft guns plus forty .50 cal machine guns. Unfortunately, most of the naval guns and all of the mortars are exposed from the air, having been emplaced years earlier when enemy airpower was not a concern. Forty army and seventy navy bombers attack from altitude while eighteen army dive bombers and Ki-27 fighters suppress the anti-aircraft defenses.

 

- Submarine tender Canopus is badly damaged and only saved by a gunner’s mate who crawls through a buckled watertight door into the burning after magazine dragging a firehose. Most of the open gun emplacements are damaged but casualties are light due to the extensive tunnel systems in the island. The island’s rail system is knocked out, never to be repaired.

 

- Japanese losses are light despite more than twelve hundred 3” AA rounds expended.

 

Corregidor under attack"

[cardboard_killer]

[Yesterday] I went to the local flea market and spotted this. Not sure what the asking price was.

[cardboard_killer]

On 12/8/2021 at 1:10 PM, DD_Arthur said:

“Caution! If you have a thing for Douglas MacArthur be prepared to be upset”?

 

[I have tried to keep the anti-MacArthur news to a minimum, and there's been some whoppers in the last weeks, but here's one that's typical of the disinformation coming out of Corregidor. 80 years ago today] "• General MacArthur issues the following communiqué:

 

“Under cover of darkness, I broke contact with the enemy and without the loss of a man or ounce of material I am now firmly established on my main battle position. The execution of this movement would have done credit to the best troops in the world.”

 

- In reality, some 1,300 men were killed, captured, or deserted while two 155 and eight 75mm artillery pieces, thirteen 75mm howitzers, scores of machine guns and thousands of rifles had been abandoned along with vehicles and other supplies.

 

- The Anti-FDR press (at the time these include Frank Gannet (numerous papers), William Randolph Hearst (numerous papers), Roy Howard (Scripps-Howard newspaper chain), Rob McCormick (Chicago Tribune), Henry Luce (Time and Life magazines), Joseph Hirsch (Christian Science Monitor), Joseph Patterson (NY Daily News), Cissy Patterson (Washington Times-Herald)) continues to trumpet MacArthur’s communiqués, labeling him “Destiny’s Child”."

 

Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bombers over Bataan"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Philippine President Manuel Quezon sounds out President Roosevelt on the granting of immediate independence to the Philippines with the goal of disbanding the Philippine Army and the safe internment of American forces provided Japanese forces are withdrawn and the Philippines remain neutral for the remainder of the war. Douglas MacArthur forwards a supportive statement.

 

- Roosevelt emphatically rejects this and MacArthur will later explain that his statement was misunderstood as he would never accept internment but would fight to destruction.

 

• Around this time, conservative press outlets are attacking FDR for abandoning MacArthur in order to pursue his “social revolution”. They call for bringing MacArthur home as “commander of all the armed forces”.

 

• General Masaharu Homma orders his outnumbered forces to suspend attacks on the Orion-Bagac line, pending reinforcements. Two isolated pockets of troops that had penetrated the line will be eliminated.

 

• With General Wainwright having requested naval support to eradicate the remnants of the Japanese 20th Regiment at the base of Quinauan Point, sub tender USS Canopus sends two of her motor launches. Referred to as “Mickey Mouse battleships”, they have been fitted with steel plate by Canopus’ machinists to proof them against small arms and machine gun fire, and given four machine guns along the sides. In the bow is an elderly 37mm infantry gun. They arrive off the point and begin firing 37mm rounds into the caves, clearly marked by white sheets hung over them from the cliff tops by the Filipino troops trying to get at them. Any Japanese spotted are engaged with the machine guns. An estimated thirty-three Japanese are killed during the sortie which ends when four Ki-30 light bombers arrive overhead.

 

- They dive and drop 60 kg bombs, sinking one launch outright and damaging the other. The “Anns” then return to strafe while the remaining launch picks up crew and heads to beach itself away from the caves. Three Americans are killed and fifteen wounded. The Japanese, without food or water, will be eliminated by the 12th.

Mitsubishi Ki-30

 

USS Canopus motor launch pre-war"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today--sorry I missed the whole Battle of Leyte Gulf, which is actually one of my interests, but I've been sick]

"• PT-320 is sunk by kamikaze aircraft off Leyte.

Wreckage of PT-320. There is one survivor from the crew.

 

• TF 38 arrives off the Philippines in response to General MacArthur’s request for renewed carrier support. Towards the end of the day a suicide aircraft hits USS Lexington.

 

 

Mitsubishi A6M2 diving on USS Lexington 05 Nov 44

 

• Vice Admiral John McCain begins two days of airstrikes, hitting numerous shore targets as well as coastal shipping. Naval aircraft catch heavy cruiser Nachi between Cavite and Corregidor. She escapes attacks by planes from Essex and Langley but a second strike by Lexington and Ticonderoga aircraft puts five bombs and two torpedoes into her, leaving her dead in the water.

 

- A return raid by Lexington aircraft hits her with five torpedoes and multiple bombs and rockets, breaking her into three pieces. Lexington’s raid coordinator notes in his after action report:

 

“We circled down to 20 feet to make sure there were absolutely no survivors. Fifteen or twenty oily figures were served with .50-caliber just to make sure.”

 

- Of Nachi’s crew, 807 are lost, including Naval Colonel Enpei Kanoka, while 220 survive. Nachi’s pieces are at depths ranging from 108 to only 12 feet depth. Divers from USS Chanticleer will explore the wreck and salvage equipment including radar, maps of Luzon fortifications, other secret documents, and some two million yen.

 

Nachi under attack 05 Nov 44

 

Nachi sinking

 

• Several TF 38 aircraft prepare to attack a passenger vessel, and one F6F starts strafing when hospital ship markings are recognized and the aircraft break off. Unknown to the Americans, the Tachibana Maru is loaded with ammunition and other military supplies in violation of hospital ship status.

 

SB2C over Tachibana Maru 05 Nov 44"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• American submarines Atule and Pomfret attack Japanese convoy MATA-34 in Luzon Strait, sinking two cargo ships and patrol boat No.38 (ex-destroyer Yomogi).

 

• USS Hardhead torpedoes and sinks kaibōkan CD-38 west of Manila.

 

• Task Force 38 returns to the Philippines for the third time, launching airstrikes against shipping around Luzon. Heavy cruiser Kumano, which has received emergency repairs from being torpedoed by destroyer Johnston off Samar and by submarine Ray in early November, is working her way out for permanent repairs. She is struck by five torpedoes and four bombs from Ticonderoga aircraft, rolling over and sinking.

 

- North of Manila Japanese ocean defense escort Yasoshima is escorting three small transports when they come under attack by TBF Avengers from carriers Essex, Ticonderoga and Langley. Yasoshima and two of the transports are torpedoed and sunk.

 

- Yasoshima was the former Chinese 2,400 ton light cruiser Ping Hai.

 

- Planes from carrier Intrepid attack Balancan Harbor, sinking fast transports T-6 and T-10, and damaging fast T-9 and escort destroyer Take.

 

- Japanese aircraft launch retaliatory strikes including kamikazes.

 

 

- Despite fueled aircraft erupting on Essex’ flight deck, only fifteen crewmen are killed. Following quick repairs at Ulithi, she will be back launching strikes in mid-December.

 

- USS Cabot is damaged by two kamikazes with 36 killed, but is able to continue flight operations.

 

- USS Intrepid is struck by two kamikazes with 65 killed, and must return to San Francisco for repairs.

 

View from USS New Jersey as USS Intrepid is attacked by kamikaze 25 Nov 44

 

Kamikaze exploding at it hits USS Intrepid 25 Nov 44"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Submarines Segundo, Trepang, and Razorback attack a Japanese convoy of ten cargo vessels and four escorts en route from Takao to Manila. They sink cargo ships Shinto Maru, Kanjo Maru, transport Fukuyo Maru, and damage four more merchant vessels.

 

• The Japanese launch Operation Te-Go against San Pablo and Buri airfields on Leyte. Elements of the IJA 16th Division have infiltrated behind American lines but only about 150 are able to conduct the assault on Buri. They are able to clear part of the airfield, destroy aircraft on the ground, and capture some supplies. The Americans have only engineer, artillery, and support troops available but they quickly create a viable perimeter.

 

- At the same time, 409 troopers of the IJA 3rd Parachute Regiment arrive in Ki-49 and Ki-57 transports from Clark Field on Luzon, making a combat jump directly onto San Pablo airfield. Casualties are heavy but they likewise destroy aircraft and facilities and dig in.

 

- This Japanese newsreel shows preparations for and take-off for the airborne attack.

 

 

- Artillerymen of the US 11th Airborne Division are ordered to leave their guns and retake the airfield.

 

Japanese troop carriers taxiing for take-off

 

IJA Paratroopers on a training run prior to the Leyte drop"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• USS Trepang torpedoes and sinks 750 ton Banshu Maru No.31 north of Luzon.

 

• TG 78.3 lands elements of the US 77th Infantry Division at Albuera, Leyte, in Ormoc Bay with bombardment by destroyers and rocket armed LCIs. Within three hours, Japanese air attacks begin.

 

 

- Kamikazes sink LSM-318, destroyer Mahan, and APD (destroyer/transport) Ward in Ormoc Bay. Destroyer Lamson, APD Liddle, LST-737, LSM-18, and LSM-19 are damaged.

 

USS Ward burning in Ormoc Bay

 

- USS Ward is scuttled by USS O’Brien, which is commanded by William Outerbridge, who had commanded Ward at Pearl Harbor and sunk a Japanese midget sub off the harbor entrance.

 

• Japanese convoy TA-8 is unloading elements of the IJA 68th Independent Mixed Brigade at San Isidro, Leyte, when it comes under attack by US Army and Marine Corps aircraft. All five transports are sunk while two kaibōkan and two Matsu class escort destroyers are damaged.

 

Kaibōkan strafed by B-25s in Ormoc Bay"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Japanese planes attack resupply convoy of 13 LSMs and LCIs, bound for Ormoc Bay with destroyer Reid sunk and destroyer Caldwell damaged by kamikazes.

 

USS Reid sinking with 103 crewmen lost.

 

• The ninth and final TA operation carries 4,000 soldiers of the Takahashi Detachment (5th Infantry Regiment) plus food and ammunition to Ormoc Bay, Leyte.

 

- TA-9 is attacked by forty Army fighter-bombers early in the day, but no hits are made. Three squadrons of Marine F4Us later make mast-head attacks, sinking cargo ships Mino Maru and Tasmania Maru.

 

- The remaining cargo ships begin unloading at Palompon while the fast transports proceed to Ormoc which is now on the front lines. They land troops and amphibious tanks. American destroyer Coghlan is escorting several LSMs to the same spot. The LSMs retreat while the destroyer sinks Japanese fast transport T-159, then withdraws in the face of torpedo attack from destroyers Yuzuki and Kiri. Both Japanese and American artillery are firing on the ships just off shore resulting in the Japanese also withdrawing. Yuzuki tows damaged T-140 to Palompon.

 

- As TA-9 returns to Manila it is attacked by American PT boats at night. PT-490 and PT-492 sink destroyer Uzuki with 170 killed. The following morning both Yuzuki and Kiri will be sunk by 46 American aircraft.

 

- With Ormoc falling to the Americans, General Yamashita advises General Suzuki that he can expect no more reinforcements from Luzon.

 

- Total Japanese ship losses on the Manila-Ormoc run, TA Nos. 1 through 9, came to sixteen merchantmen of 73,600 tons, three T-1-type naval transports, nine landing ships, one light cruiser, eight destroyers, three subchasers, and one each kaibōkan, minesweeper and patrol boat.

 

- Despite these losses, the TA convoys managed to land an estimated 45,000 men and 10,000 tons of provisions in the face of the powerful American air and naval forces arrayed against them. While these reinforcements ultimately proved insufficient to enable the Japanese to hold Leyte, they did manage to deny the island to the Americans far longer than either side had expected.

Japanese TA transport under attack in Ormoc Bay"

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• US Fifth Air Force fighters conduct strikes over a wide array of targets in the Philippines and north Borneo. One result is that no fighter cover is put over the “Uncle Plus 13” convoy which is bound for Mindoro.

 

- “Uncle Plus 13” aka TG 77.11, consists of 22 LSTs, 23 LCIs, 30 PT boats, three Liberty Ships, a gasoline tanker, PT boat tender Orestes, two aircraft tenders, five Army cargo ships, and three smaller boats. It is carrying supplies, support personnel, and the 21st Regimental Combat Team, screened by nine destroyers.

 

- Over the day at least twenty kamikaze aircraft from Cebu attack the convoy. LST-750 is sunk while freighter William Sharon is damaged. An Aichi D3A dives into Liberty Ship John Burke which is loaded with ammunition:

 

 

- All 68 crewmen and gunners aboard the Liberty ship are lost. Several ships nearby are damaged by the force of the blast and flying fragments. The shock wave rocks the entire convoy, and several ships report that they have been torpedoed.

 

• On Leyte, elements of 1st Cavalry Division reach the west coast at Tibur, while elements of 24th Infantry Division take San Isidro against light resistance. 2nd Battalion of the 305th Infantry Regiment moves by LCM with LSI support from Ormoc to Palompon, landing behind the thin Japanese line holding back the rest of the regiment.

 

 

LSI firing rockets in support of Leyte operations

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Japanese suicide plane attacks intensify against Lingayen Gulf invasion force:

 

- Heavy cruisers HMAS Australia and USS Louisville are both hit by their second kamikazes in two days. Among the 43 men killed on the latter is Rear Admiral Theodore Chandler, commander of CruDiv 4:

 

 

- The minesweeping group already in Lingayen Gulf is particularly exposed. Flush deck destroyer-minesweeper USS Long is crashed by a kamikaze and sunk. Sistership USS Hovey is approached by a torpedo bomber that drops its load then smashes into the side of the ship. The torpedo then impacts and sinks her. High speed minesweeper USS Southard is damaged, as is escorting fleet destroyer Allen M. Sumner.

 

- Kamikazes damage battleships California and New Mexico, light cruiser Columbia, destroyers Richard P. Leary, Walke, O’Brien, and Newcomb, and high speed transport Brooks. Destroyer Lowry is damaged by friendly AA fire.

 

- Aboard USS New Mexico are British Lieutenant General Herbert Lumsden, Churchill’s military representative to MacArthur, and Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, who is observing American fleet operations while his Pacific Fleet is assembling at Sydney. Lumsden is killed while Fraser is knocked to the deck but otherwise unharmed.

 

- As a consequence of the kamikaze attacks, TF 38 shifts its focus from Formosa to begin operations against Japanese airfields and shipping in Luzon area.

 

IJA Ki-51 diving on USS Columbia

 

Ki-51 hits USS Columbia 06 Jan 45."