Rear
Admiral Clifton "Ziggy" Sprague,
USN was the OTC of Task Unit 77.4.3, radio call sign "Taffy III".
As a result of his leadership off Samar his six escort carriers,
three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts saved the day at Leyte
Gulf. Taffy III was one of three task units assigned to
Task Group 77.4.
Vice
Admiral Takeo Kurita, IJN was the commander of the
IJN Centre Force at Samar.
His force was comprised of four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two
light cruisers, and eleven destroyers.
If
reading about the battle in detail is your passion then go directly
to my online eBook, "The
Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf".
This eBook is unique in that the entire action is depicted in
time-line order with commentary by the author.
The
Combat Action Photo section is a great place to get a feel for
the battle. There are currently 35 photographs of the surface
action that occurred on the morning of 25 October 1944 between
Admiral Ziggy Sprague's Taffy III and Admiral Kurita's IJN Centre
Force.
Less
then two hours after the surface action concluded the surviving
warships of Taffy III were set upon by Kamikaze aircraft. The
Kamikaze Strike Photograph section contains 22 photographs of
this action.
Aircraft
from the embarked composite squadrons played a major role in
repulsing the IJN Centre Force at Samar. The
Composite Squadron section details
the aircraft which fought in the Battle Off Samar.
Several
fine monuments have been constructed to pay tribute to the men of
Taffy III. The Monuments
sections contains photographs and information on these perpetual
memorials dedicated to the men who fought and died for our freedom.
The
IJN Warship section
contains photographs and warship characteristics included in the
back of my book. All warships of the IJN Centre Force are in
this section.
There
are many historical photographs relating to Taffy III located in the
Archive Photo Section. These photos are dated before and
after the Battle Off Samar. This section also contains
photographs of the CVEs from the other Taffy units.
A
wide variety of articles, reports, and documents can be found in the
Articles, Reports & Documents
section. Many are official Navy records and some are personal
obtained from family members.
The
men who fought in the Battle Off Samar earned a plethora of awards.
Find out who was awarded the Medal of Honor and other awards in the
Task Unit 77.4.3 Awards
section.
The
Special Features section
contains an assortment of interesting finds. A 1/48 scale
model of GAMBIER BAY, a You-Tube video of the battle, paintings, a
Leyte Gulf board game, and audio files from "Treasury Salutes" CDR
Ernest Evans.
This
web site and my book are dedicated to the memory of my great-uncle:
Virgil Cox 1922-1995
Seaman
First Class, USNR Plankowner, crewmember, and survivor of the sinking of USS GAMBIER BAY (CVE 73)
PLEASE
CONTRIBUTE CONTENT
If you
have newspaper or magazine articles, reports, documents, photographs, or
links you would like to share please contact the
webmaster. I am always looking for new content to add to the
website.
GUESTBOOK
& POLL
Please
take a few minutes to
sign the guestbook. If you are looking for old
shipmates you may be able to find them by
viewing the guestbook. The first entry goes back to August 1999.
Please be advised that when you sign my guestbook your entry will not appear until I have
personally reviewed it. This process
is due to the tremendous amount of spam I receive in the guestbook.
If your entry is legitimate it will be posted within 3 days (usually
within 24 hours).
All spam is deleted and
never posted.
Another
place where you can leave a trace of your visit is the Poll. The
NEW question is,
Who is responsible
for the American victory off Samar?
It's possible to leave a comment there too. Past poll results are
also included.
FOURTH EDITION OF MY BOOK
Purchase
the
Fourth Edition of my book, "The
Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf" at
Lulu.com.
My book is now available
in two versions
Soft cover:
198 pages, 8.5" x 11.0", perfect binding, 60# white interior paper,
black and white interior ink , 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior
ink. $15.45 plus S&H.
Hardcover:
198 pages, 8.25" x 10.75", casewrap, 50# white interior paper, black and
white interior ink , 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior ink.
$27.95 plus S&H.
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