strategic force. The Japanese commander in the Philippines,
General Tomoyuki Yamashita, he began to reinforce and resupply the garrisons
on Leyte; over the course of the battle the Japanese ran nine convoys to the island, landing around 34,000
troops from the 1st, 8th, 26th, 30th, and 102nd divisions. Ormoc City at the head of Ormoc Bay on the west
side of Leyte was the main port on the island and the main destination of the convoys.
Decryption of messages sent using the PURPLE cipher alerted the Allies to the concentration of Japanese
shipping around Leyte, but they initially interpreted this as an evacuation. However, by the first week
of November the picture was clear, and the Allies began to interdict the convoys.
Operations--
TA-3 and TA-4 (Japanese) --
On 8–9 November, the Japanese dispatched two convoys from Manila to Ormoc Bay. The convoys were
spaced one day apart so that the destroyers escorting the first convoy could double back and escort
the second. However, the convoys were spotted on November 9 and attacked by land-based aircraft of the
Fifth Air Force. On 10 November the 38th Bomb Group, based on Morotai, sent 32 B-25 Mitchells escorted
by 37 P-47 Thunderbolts to attack TA-4 near Ponson Island. Reaching the convoy just before noon, the B-25s
attacked at minimum altitude in pairs, sinking the two largest transports, disabling a third, and sinking
two of the patrol craft escorts, at a cost of seven bombers, for which the group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.
On 11 November, U.S. 3rd Fleet commander Admiral William F. Halsey ordered an attack by 350 planes of
Task Force 38 on the combined convoys.
Four destroyers — Shimakaze, Wakatsuki, Hamanami and Naganami — and three transports were sunk. Rear
Admiral Mikio Hayakawa went down with Shimakaze.
TA-5 (Japanese) --
Convoy TA-5 left Manila on 23 November for Port Cataingan and Port Balancan. Of the six transports,
five were sunk by air attack.
U.S. destroyer sweeps --
Bad weather in late November made air interdiction less effective, and the U.S. Navy began to send
destroyers into Ormoc Bay. Canigao Channel was swept for mines by the minesweepers Pursuit and Revenge,
and the four destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 22 (DesRon 22) under the command of Captain Robert Smith
(Waller, Pringle, Renshaw and Saufley) entered the bay on 27 Nov., where they shelled the docks at Ormoc City.
An Allied patrol plane radioed a message to the division noting that a surfaced Japanese
submarine (I-46) was south of Pacijan Island and heading for Ormoc Bay. The division headed
south to intercept; and, at 01:27 on 28 November, Waller's radar picked up the target just off
the northeast coast of Ponson Island.[4]:177 Waller disabled I-46 with her first shots and,
unable to submerge, she could only return fire with her deck guns until she sank at 01:45.
TA-6 (Japanese) --
Two transports escorted by three patrol vessels left Manila on 27 November. They were attacked
by American PT boats in Ormoc Bay on the night of 28 November and by air attack as the survivors
left the area. All five ships were sunk.
Another U.S. destroyer sweep on the night of 29–30 November in search of a reported convoy
resulted only in the destruction of a few barges.
TA-7 (Japanese) --
A convoy of three transports departed Manila on 1 December, escorted by destroyers Take and
Kuwa under the command of Lieutenant Commander Masamichi Yamashita. Two groups of transport
submarines also took part in the operation.
The convoy was docked at Ormoc City when it was engaged at 00:09 on 3 December by three ships
of U.S. Destroyer Division 120 (DesDiv 120) under the command of Commander John C. Zahm (Allen
M. Sumner, Cooper and Moale).
The U.S. ships sank the transports as they were unloading but came under heavy attack from
Yokosuka P1Y "Frances" bombers, shore batteries, submarines that were known to be in the harbor,
and the Japanese destroyers. Kuwa was sunk and Commander Yamashita was killed. Take attacked Cooper with
torpedoes and escaped, though with some damage. Cooper sank at about 00:15 with the loss of 191 lives (168
sailors were rescued from the water on 4 December by Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats). At 00:33,
the two surviving U.S. destroyers were ordered to leave the bay, and the victorious Japanese successfully
resupplied Ormoc Bay once more. This phase of the Battle of Ormoc Bay has gone down in history as the only
naval engagement during the war in which the enemy brought to bear every type of weapon: naval gunnery,
naval torpedoes, air attack, submarine attack, shore gunnery, and mines.
Ormoc Bay U.S. troop landings --
On 7 December, the 77th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Andrew D. Bruce, made an
amphibious landing at Albuera, 3.5 mi (5.6 km) south of Ormoc City. The 77th Division's 305th, 306th,
and 307th Infantry Regiments came ashore unopposed, but naval shipping was subjected to kamikaze
attacks, resulting in the loss of destroyers Ward and Mahan.
Other operations
All five transports of convoy TA-8 were sunk on 7 December by air attack, and the escorting destroyers
Ume and Sugi were damaged.
Convoy TA-9 entered the bay on 11 December and landed troops, but two escorting destroyers, Yuzuki
(by air attacks) and Uzuki (by PT boats), were sunk and the third, Kiri, was damaged.
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