Friends of Padre Steve’s World
Another day on the road, and another re-run. 70 years ago today one of the two mightiest battleships ever to sail the seas, and her gallant crew met their end, not at the hands of another battleship, but at the hands of the aircraft of the U.S. Navy Fast Carrier Task Forces during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The INJ Ship Musashi resisted heroically taking massive amounts of damage from aircraft launched torpedoes and bombs. As I mentioned yesterday, as a Navy man I feel a certain camaraderie with sailors, even those of other navies who at one time or another were are enemies. Personally having served at sea I cannot imaging the kind of massive air assault that the sailors of the doomed Musashi endured that day.
So until tomorrow,
Peace
Pasre Steve+
IJNS Musashi
This is the second in a series of articles about the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The first article in the series is liked here and is entitled
The Battle of Leyte Gulf: Introduction and the Battle of Palawan Passage
Following the loss of Atago, Maya and Takao Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita’s Center Force had an uneventful rest of the day on the 23rd as his ships kept a watchful eye and ear for more US Navy submarines. At about 0800 on 24 October the Center Force was spotted by 3 B-24 Liberator bombers which promptly reported them.
TBF Avenger dropping its “fish” 19 would hit Musashi
One of the ships in the Center Force was the IJNS Musashi, sister ship of the mighty Yamato which was also in the force. The two battlewagons were the largest battleships ever built. With a full load displacement of 72,800 tons…
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The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 