Leyte Gulf - USS Natoma Bay CVE-62

Admiral William F. Halsey's Third Fleet was engaging the
imperial carrier task force northeast of Luzon Island.
However, shortly after the naval observers noted that the
situation was ominous, grim, these things happened in quick
sequence:
"The Japanese forces split and turned away. . .
"Our torpedo planes stopped the Japanese. At least one
Japanese cruiser has been torpedoed and sunk. . . Other
cruisers and battleships had been hit."
All morning, the CVE pilots bombed and torpedoed the
Japanese, returned to their carriers, armed, gassed, gulped
sandwiches and were launched again and again for further
attacks on the Japanese. Many of the pilots were engaging in
their first combat.
The naval observer's final entry in his diary: "The
Japanese forces have been whipped by our planes. Japanese
ships lie crippled in their pools of oil . . . Surviving
ships are running for their lives, leaving the wounded
behind. The battle has turned and we no longer are pursued
but are now the pursuers . . . A Jap battleship, a cruiser
and a destroyer are ignored by our pursuing planes as they
lie crippled in the sea. We are harrying them (the moving
enemy ships) in their retreat."
At 4:30 in the afternoon, the Japanese sent more than 40
land-based planes against the CVE's, but they were turned
back after 16 had been destroyed. Meantime, carriers Admiral
Halsey had detached from his Third Fleet had come south and
joined in sinking or damaging every one of the fleeing
Japanese ships.
Today, Admiral T. L. Sprague sent this message to all
ships which had participated in the CVE action:
"These ships not only met and defeated enemy
attacks in the air but they have turned back a
large enemy fleet composed of his most modern
ships. . . . Never have fighting men performed
their duty with greater determination and
distinction. . . . Against such teamwork the
enemy could not prevail. . . .
10 Leyte Gulf