The Battle off Samar | 1 Month Animation Project

[@SwankySpitfire]

(Update: Alright, so it looks like the most requested battle is the Hunt for the Bismarck, followed by the battle of Jutland and then the battle of Guadalcanal. I'll begin work on them in that order, thank you all so much for your input, I appreciate it! You can expect the Hunt for the Bismarck video to go live in late July/early August. I'll post minor updates on progress either in small short videos or in the comment section here!) Alright, so first I’d like to thank you all for watching! This has shot up to become my highest viewed video in less than 5 days time. Thank you so much! Now, onto the important question: what battle should I animate next? I don’t have the ability to create polls or community posts so I’ll ask the comment section here. Here are some of the options, but they are not limited to them. If you have your own idea please comment it! Whichever is the most commented battle will become my next project. So far I’ve received requests to cover the pursuit of the legendary Bismarck. I’ve also considered the battle of river plate. The battle of cape matapan. Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Got a different idea? Let me know in the comments, whichever is the most common will become my next project!

[@TacticalAlphaCharlie]

You should do a video on the Battle Of Denmark straight.

[@DosJof5118]

A little-known and the only battle that was fought on American soil during WW2. The Battle of Attu. A part of the Aleutian Islands chain in Alaska.

[@MiguelGomez-jg1yl]

Have you thought about doing the battle of Jutland? Maybe it takes too much time due to the sheer number of ships involved, but I think it could look great.

[@SwankySpitfire]

@@MiguelGomez-jg1yl I did consider doing one on Jutland, however, with the number of ships involved and the sheer scale of the battle would require a lot of models to be made entirely from scratch. Which would turn that project into a several month’s Lon endeavour. WW1 models are surprisingly scarce in comparison to WW2 models. So I would probably have to model only lead ships of classes and ignore small indivise changes between ships. Jutland would be fun, but it would definitely, hands down be, the single biggest project I have ever worked on.

[@texgranger8650]

@@SwankySpitfire Make any battle you want the work is awesome, i would say the sinking of yamato would be an interesting one, safe travels!

[@NotTheRookie]

Johnston's wreck was discovered last year, the deepest known shipwreck at the time, only beaten out in the last few days by her compatriot Samuel B Roberts at a depth of over 4.25 miles underwater.

[@evilwookiee7655]

They just found the Samuel B. Roberts over the weekend.

[@NotTheRookie]

@@evilwookiee7655 yes, that was addressed in the second half of my comment ☺

[@KaoretheHalfDemon]

Still looking for Hoel and Gambier bay. Then Taffy 3 will, if just symbolically, be together again.

[@kennethdeanmiller7324]

Yeah, the wrecks of the Johnston & the Roberts were both pulled into the deepest depths by the sheer weight of the balls of the crewmen that died fighting that day. The major tragedy that occurred was that after the action was over no one was allowed to look for survivors for over 24 hours! And a lot of the men that fought with such bravery and tenacity would die from the combination of their battle wounds, shark attacks & exposure before any help arrived. IDK, they said that they were worried that Japanese ships could still be lurking & didn't want another ship to fall as prey. HOWEVER, the survivors of those ships put everything on the line to protect the carriers & the forces that had landed on Leyte. For the US Navy to follow up such an incredible act of bravery & selflessness with, in my opinion, an act of cowardice, by not going in & immediately getting those sailors out of the water, was a major insult to the memory of the men that died. And I hope whomever gave that order paid dearly for making such a decision.

[@jaketorralba4521]

@@kennethdeanmiller7324 The reason why they didn't stop to help the survivors is because their ships would become a stationary target by the Japanese submarines and Taffy 3 group was a support group and they needed those ships to support the landing force and to complete the amphibious assault in Leyte gulf. That's the reason why they did not help the survivors right away. It's really hard to serve in Military, Navy and Airforce because to sacrifice everything just to fulfill your duty.

[@DosJof5118]

My father was a Navy Corpsman who went ashore with MacArthur's Army forces during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Due to the bravery of navel forces like Taffy 3, I am here today and served 26 years in the US Air Force. My son served in the US Army completing two tours in Iraq and my youngest daughter takes care of our Veterans working for the US Veteran's Administration. Thank you for your well-produced and accurate accounting of the Battle of Samar.

[@kevinpunzalan7681]

Commander Evans, for his actions in leading Taffy 3 against overwhelming odds against his opponent, already deserves whole-hearted respect. What is even more remarkable was that a little more than 2 years earlier, Evans was serving on the USS Alden, an American destroyer homebased at Cavite City, as it fought a desperate but hopeless battle against Japanese forces engaging them in the Java Sea. On the night of 27 February 1942, he was aboard the Alden as his ship and 3 others disengaged from Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman's force, leaving the latter to fight to the death with Dutch, British, and Australian ships alone. As the American destroyers had run out of torpedoes, they withdrew from the battle where Doorman met his fate. Evans was reportedly so disgusted at this refusal to offer battle that he swore than when he was offered his own command, his ship would never turn away from confronting the enemy. The rest is history.

[@johnnydeville5701]

I'm so proud of our sailors, and Taffy 3's heroes shall never be forgotten. I'm so glad that more people are learning about Taffy 3's legends!

[@advanceromance2656]

Big Chief Evans is an absolute LEGEND!!🐐

[@longrider188]

Wow. You actually animated the gun director on top of the bridge to rotate with the gun turrets. This is the first time I've seen this level of detail. Outstanding.

[@johna1160]

I have listened to, watched, and read a number of recountings of this battle. Until now, I hadn't been made aware of a most impressive fact which drives home the immense disparity between the belligerents. That the tonnage displacement of the Yamato was greater than that of the entire Taffy 3 task force.

[@SwankySpitfire]

I couldn’t believe it myself at first, so I double checked the math. Using standard displacement, the combined tonnage of TAFFY 3 came to about 50,000 tons… Yamato weighed 72,000 tons.

[@serwombles8816]

@@SwankySpitfire Did that include the carriers?

[@SwankySpitfire]

@@serwombles8816 yes, that did include the aircraft carriers. Again, only if you take the standard displacement of the escort carriers, and compare it to a full displacement Yamato.

[@ELCADAROSA]

Very nice! One item that you didn't mention was the effort & effect that the aircraft from Taffy 3, as well as Taffy 1 & Taffy 2, had on the Japanese fleet. They harassed the Japanese so much so that Kurita was certain he was fighting a much larger fleet. That contributed to his decision to turn back. You referenced both John D. Hornfischer and Drachinifel. Two of my favorite naval historians. And, as I'm sure others have mentioned, both the USS Johnston and the USS Samuel B. Roberts have been located and positively identified. The lost crews of both are on eternal patrol.

[@timber_wulf5775]

You conflict lost submarines and lost ships

[@dylandarnell3657]

@@timber_wulf5775 Well, they're underwater in any event.

[@joevicmeneses8918]

As a operations officer of Adm.Kurita said, " the attack was almost incessant but the number of planes at any given time was few. The bombers & torpedo planes were very aggressive & skillful, the coordination was impressive ; even in comparison with the great experience of American attack that we had already had, this was the most skillful work of your planes."

[@manilajohn0182]

@@joevicmeneses8918 That was the case with Yamato. Without taking anything away from the courage of our surface ship sailors, the Japanese vessels sunk off Samar were sunk primarily as a result of air attack.

[@sfperalta]

There were plenty of heroic actions during WW2, but the history of this battle never fails to choke me up with pride and amazement. What a crazy bunch of SOBs!

[@galvestonnavalmuseum4817]

They were far from crazy. They knew exactly what they were doing and the sacrifice they needed to make to protect the troops on the ground.

[@yankees29]

Those kids on Johnston shot almost every shell on board. They went down shooting.

[@advanceromance2656]

CDR (Big Chief) Evans is a legend. His fingers were blown off his left hand on that bridge strike yet he continued relentlessly with his amazing Naval actions. No retreat. Native American badass. R.I.P. to all our hero sailors.

[@yankees29]

Not only that his clothing was blown off his body! He was barking orders down the rear hatch in his birthday suit!!

[@advanceromance2656]

@@yankees29 🐐

[@yankees29]

@@advanceromance2656 I bought one of the Johnston paintings. It’s proudly displayed in my den as a reminder.

[@lgd1974]

Legend has it, the ships USS Samuel B. Roberts, Johnston, Hoel,and Heermann were the slowest in the fleet. On account the massive steel balls of their crews. It was as if a dozen small dogs like Yorkies, Dachshunds, and Chihuahuas took on two dozen large dogs like Pitbulls, German Shepherds, and Rottweilers. And the little dogs attacking with overwhelming ferocity. When Kumano was taken out, it was like a Chihuahua ripping out the throat of the Pitbull. It's not always the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog.

[@raymondstrehl3679]

Battles won by true underdogs are truly inspiring to behold

[@Bayrunner87]

The Book “Last stand of the tin can sailors” depicts this battle in great detail and is worth the read

[@j_mack1996]

They really should turn that into a movie.

[@FrenchieQc]

@@j_mack1996 What these absolute men did would be far too unbelievable if they made a movie out of it.

[@gregorylumpkin2128]

Nice work. This could be expanded somewhat with some commentary on USS Heerman, USS Hoel, USS Dennis, the sinking of USS Gambier Bay, the gunfire from the escort carriers, and their air attacks that helped to sink IJN Suzuya, Chikuma, and Chokai, and damaged others.

[@twotone3471]

The 5 inch gun on the Jeep Carriers really get underplayed in most retelling of this story, that the Japanese were aiming at the "Fleet Carriers" while the DD's and DE's were more or less ingored, and since the Japanese had mis-identified all of Taffy 3, their Rangefinders were amiss as well for most of the battle as the ships were much smaller, so were thought to be bigger ships, but further away thanks to the lack of radar. Also, that Taffy 3 was the only ships engaged by center force, but the other Taffy Units were launching their aircraft as well, with whatever thay had onboard. Even if Kurita had correctly guessed what force was in front of him, the depth of the Escort Carriers, and the Advancing Battleships from the south meant it was always going to be a loss for Japan.

[@kennethdeanmiller7324]

Yes, very true. You said you wanted to do another battle. But maybe you should FINISH this one first. There are a lot of stuff that happened that you left out. AND I DO MEAN A LOT.

[@infoscholar5221]

Well done, sir. My father fought on Guadalcanal. He told of witnessing a night battle at sea. All they could see was the light from the ship's guns, and of course, they heard the impacts. There was no way for the grunts to know who was "winning," but they were told over Spam and mashed potatoes we had won, but we had to keep fighting.

[@TheMelbournelad]

Taffy 3. The definition of “full send”

[@FrenchieQc]

"I DIDN'T HEAR NO BELL!"

[@kiwifruit27]

Great stuff and excellent timing with the recent discovery of the Sammy B

[@Brian-nw2bn]

This was a brilliant retelling of the Battle off Samar, I couldn’t believe to have found this channel with so little subs! I’m pumped to be apart of your journey from your beginning man, the quality is unreal and you’re only getting started. I’m really lookin forward to all the content that’s to come from you, I’m subscribed and sharing! God speed brother !

[@usnchief1339]

These types of battles are why I was infatuated with the Navy as a kid. Tested and did all the paperwork at 16. At 17 I brought the recruiter home to have my parents sign the paperwork. Right after HS graduation, my journey began and ended 24 years later. Not as exciting as the video and other WWII battles...lol. No regrets here.

[@ELCADAROSA]

Well done, Chief! What was your rate? GSE1 Newhall here. Six years Active, nearly thirty years Reservist. My only "regret" ... that I didn't complete a full twenty years of active duty. But, then, I wouldn't have gotten to know all the great friends/shipmates I now have from the Reserves.

[@usnchief1339]

@@ELCADAROSA And a well done to you sir! I was an Aviation Support Equipment Technician (AS). Many of our guys, turbine NECs, transitioned over to the GS rating back in the late 80s for the better advancement opportunities. I can only imagine that they flooded the GS rate and advancement eventually slowed down for GSs. Cool rate, but too much sea time for my taste :).

[@ELCADAROSA]

@@usnchief1339, yes, the GS rating was ramping up quickly when I enlisted in ‘82. Made First Class in less than six years, but with the disestablishment of the reserve fleet during the late ’80s into the’90s, I was unable to advance; no billets available.

[@yankees29]

Thank you for your service sir!! 🫡

[@usnchief1339]

@@ELCADAROSA ASC (AW/SW) We had lots of our guys convert to GSE & GSM in the late 80s. Thank you for your service shipmate!

[@aml1ma]

You did a great job in honoring the memory of these remarkable men. Thank you!

[@deliriousdavies7552]

Really nicely animated. CDR Evans received the medal of honor for his actions that day. When I visit Memorial Hall at the US Naval Academy, I take special care to find his name.

[@JB17521or]

Just came across this video, and boy oh boy, I do like it. Thanks for the great animations and calm narration, I also really appreciate the fact that you took the time to explain things like AP shells. Keep on the great work!!

[@dutchman7216]

Wonderful little documentary thank you for making it and thank you for sharing it.

[@SwankySpitfire]

Well, thank you for your comment and thank you for watching it!

[@Crunchin_time]

This is really just like battle 360, hugely nostalgic!

[@giuliettachicago]

This was BRILLIANT. I just read "Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers" by James Hornfischer and this gave me a fantastic visual sense. THANK YOU and beautiful work, truly.

[@billharm6006]

The only things missing is an account of the aerial heroics and the sinking of the Gambier Bay. I read in one book (I've read several accounts of the battle) that the Japanese thought that the spirited American defense meant that a major USN force was expected to arrive soon. The threat of a full battleship force coupled with current losses led to the Japanese withdrawal.

[@chrismaverick9828]

Drachinifel had a great video on this battle and represented the air forces well. The carriers, both escort and the oncoming reinforcements were landing, rearming, and re-launching ANY plane, regardless of their squadron. This constant harassing of angry hornets was no doubt a huge factor in why the Japanese thought they were dealing with something a lot larger. Their own doctrine would not have allowed for this kind of fast cycling of planes, instead holding them for wave attacks.

[@yankees29]

Gambier Bay took a pounding

[@paulsteaven]

Many videos like this often left out one of the areas which the IJN lacks before and during the battle begins; morale, unlike the books. Imagine being ambushed by submarines while you're on your way to one of the most important battles to stop the Americans from reaching your country. They didn't just sunk 2 heavy cruisers but including your task force's flagship (Atago) plus her sister ship (Maya) but also damaging another 2 heavy cruisers (Takao and Myoko). Later in the day, one of your biggest ship, newest, and most capable battleship (Musashi) was sunk by overwhelming firepower brought by US carrier aircrafts that forced your task group to retreat and delay the battle by a day. Then what if they also heard the almost complete annihilation of Nishumura's 'Southern Force' aside from Shigure? I'm sure that they will weap and lost their spirit even before they reached San Bernardino Strait. But it's a good thing that the IJN used strict radio silence so that they were unaware of Ozawa's success up north in luring Halsey together with his fleet carriers and fast battleships. No doubt on Taffy 3 tho, they got huge balls to charge in knowingly that they will die in the process. Definitely, it's the US Navy's finest moment.

[@mick20227]

This is by far the best video of this battle I have ever seen! Very well done to you and what a hugely heroic and successful fight by those brave and skilled men! Lest we forget!

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you for the kind words! I believe history of all kinds is important, and if I can get others interested in history by making these animations then I consider it a success. I appreciate you watching! Take care!

[@craiglilly3657]

Great animation. Taffy 3 has special significance for me. A chemistry teacher at my high school had been in the Navy in WWII. I later learned he had been on Johnston in this action (LTJg Welch). He told a lot of sea stories to his class. They were all heroes in my book.

[@zachminer6769]

This was really well done, and I can definitely see the inspiration from Dogfights (one of my favorite shows ever)

[@billholder1330]

My favorite order quote from this battle, after the Johnston started her run, ordering the rest in: "Small Boys ATTACK!"

[@billkallas1762]

The Johnston was discovered a year ago, and the Roberts was discovered a week ago, 7 km deep

[@j_mack1996]

Now we need to find the Gambier Bay.

[@sof5858]

Nice narration and production. Rwalky enjoyed that. Subbed. I will watch the rest your videos 👍🏻

[@davidakridge2831]

If you haven't, I urge you to read the book..."The Last of the Tin Can Sailors". An amazing, detailed account of this battle. We owe so much to these brave men. Great Video!!

[@phil20_20]

Scared the piss out of them, they did. One Japanese cruiser came alongside the floating U.S. crew members and saluted them. They knew they had fought a courageous enemy that day.

[@benjaminrobicheaux2675]

New Sub. Just found your channel. Awesome job with this video! Great job showing the size discrepancy between the destroyers and the larger Cruisers and Battleships.

[@rogerehinger6694]

I noticed no mention of the aircraft launched by the carriers of Taffy 3 and others that contributed to the damage done to the Center Force. Even Halsey got planes into the air, late but the effort was made.

[@SwankySpitfire]

You’re absolutely correct, during my initial scripting I essentially created a 30 minute lecture about the battle. I had intended to include the aircraft stories about fighter pilots armed with .50 caliber machine guns, and sometimes nothing at all threw their aircraft at the enemy ships in a desperate attempt to discourage and intimidate the Japanese vessels. It’s why I mentioned during the laying of the smokescreen “the commander of taffy three orders the carriers to retreat to the east and launch all available aircraft”. Unfortunately, with only two weeks to animate this a lot of things had to be cut out including all of the plane scenes. A whole bunch of ship stuff and finer details were omitted for the sake of storytelling. Trying to strike a balance is hard, I could go into every single minute detail and controversies about the battle, but then it wouldn’t be a story, it would be a lecture. Instead I elected to leave out stuff that did any of the following: - anything I didn’t have any footage for - confused a general audience member who is not a history fan - subtracted from the flow of the story and made it difficult to follow - required too much explaining for relatively little addition to the story Examples of planned material that was cut for the reasons above include: - the courageous acts of the American pilots flying ill-equipped aircraft against a massive enemy force - there’s debate over whether or not the torpedoes launched by the Japanese towards Johnston missed or if they were running too low. I’ve heard two sources claim two different things. I left this out because torpedo running depth would be confusing to an average joe and it’s simpler to say “the torpedoes miss their mark” while still remaining truthful. - I had a comparison between the Johnston and the Kumamo, as well as Roberts and Chickuma. However, the comparisons interrupted a really good flow, and so I decided to cut them. They added little and subtracted from the momentum building up to those points. Therefore I cut them. - due to the lack of gunnery radar the Japanese used dye in their shells to see the fall of shot, with the exception of Yamato. An interesting fact, but it takes a while to explain and doesn’t matter too much story wise. Therefore I cut it as well. This bit in particular hurt my heart to cut. The story about how Roberts commander ordered all safety mechanisms on the engine overridden, and drove Roberts from a top speed of 24 knots (designed) to 29 knots in reality. A super interesting fact but again, to an average joe 24kts vs 29kts doesn’t mean a thing. So I cut it out because it takes a while to explain, adds very little to final product and would significantly hurt the flow of the video. Anyways, that’s the reason a lot of fine details are missing, and why I left out the pilots of Taffy 3. I didn’t have enough time, and I was mainly focussing on the surface vessels in this project.

[@thomasb1889]

While the planes definitely rattled the Japanese the end result of their bravery was more like a riot than a military action.

[@bkjeong4302]

@@SwankySpitfire Cutting out the American air attacks really can’t be excused. THEY WERE THE REASON THE AMERICANS WON THIS BATTLE.

[@manilajohn0182]

@@SwankySpitfire The Japanese used radar- assisted gunnery off Samar. Yamato's first- salvo hit on Gambier Bay at just under 22,000 yards was aimed soley by the ship's Type 22 radar because Yamato lacked a visual to Gambier Bay until approximately one minute after opening fire.

[@pvt.potato1943]

The Sammy B's wreck was discovered a few days ago. Incedentally I watched a video about it just a few days before

[@thomasb1889]

Well done and if you didn't get a good grade from this that teacher needs to be slapped into last week. You could also get a good grade in a history class with this.

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you! Your kind words flatter me! I did get a decent mark on my final for this 96/100, and it was only that low because I forgot to submit a self evaluation during the chaos of this project. I slept for 15 straight hours after finishing this project lol. Certainly was one of the most stressful timelines I’ve ever experienced.

[@armanhadi777]

Yamato is still one of the best looking ships till date. It's not just the size but the entire signature of the vessel.

[@Brooksie997]

Nice History Channel music add-on. Good touch.

[@zachboyd4749]

Using the Dogfights soundtrack, very nice touch

[@weisshxc]

This was sick. Thank you for making this.

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you for watching!

[@weisshxc]

@@SwankySpitfire You definitely earned my sub, I'll be waiting for the Hunt for the Bismarck ;)

[@SwankySpitfire]

@@weisshxc thank you! Part 1 should be coming out soon!

[@ME-mf2xe]

Excellent work sir! Superb graphics. Keep up the good work.

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you! I plan to with my next project on the Hunt For the Bismarck

[@lloydryan7716]

You left out the major roll our aircraft played and the loss of a carrier. The TBMs and F4Fs used all of their ammo and bombs and then made dry runs to draw fire away from the destroyers and destroyer escorts. Give credit where credit is due!

[@timber_wulf5775]

He missed a number of things tbh. Good animation but he missed a good portion

[@christopherjones8448]

a LOT is missing from this, which isn't surprising honestly given that it's 10 minutes long.

[@manilajohn0182]

Our aircraft- and not our surface ships- were the primary cause of the loss of all of the Japanese warships sunk off Samar.

[@ExUSSailor]

The U.S. Navy won the day through pure courage, grit, and, unmatched fighting spirit!

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

First off Congratulations on using the Correct Name of the Battle ... The story and animation was very good. This was just part of a much larger battle but I can understand if you didn't want to animate all that.

[@Bayrunner87]

Why the USN does not have a ship named after Capt Evans is a mystery. He deserves that far more than the politicians that have ships named after them.

[@JoelSanchezz]

Is it just me or has anyone else wondered how the USS Johnston stayed afloat with the weight of Capt. Evan's massive balls? One of those mysteries that can never be solved.

[@khangkt1721]

I never thought seeing a Fletcher-class destroyer with QF 2-pounder AA gun mounts looked so blurse

[@dec_the]

Honestly that was a really good story about the battle of Samar, one critique I’d give would be for when the ships superstructure are burning, don’t have that much fire as it looks unrealistic

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you for the advice! There are a lot of things about this project that I would change if I could. Namely, my audio isn't great in places, and the oceans glitch occasionally. With the way this project went, I had one full week to work on these animations plus one full day to edit it all together. The month kind of broke down like this: - First three days of scripting, research, and storyboarding - The following week was spent building the model of Samuel B Roberts from scratch. I looked for a 3D model of the ship and came up empty so I had to build it myself. - 8 days to create the scenes and render them - 1 day to edit the final documentary together, this took me 13 hours to edit together REEEEEE! The TTLP is an inside joke with my animation teacher standing for "Took Too Long Productions" this project was no exception lol.

[@dec_the]

@@SwankySpitfire the fact it only took you a week to make all those animations is astonishing, one of my friends did a titanic real time sinking just using blender and it took him about 9 months to render the full 2 hours

[@SwankySpitfire]

@@dec_the [Blink] [Blink] Nope. That's a hell nah from me. I don't think I'd have the resolve to create something like that. I'd probably give up after a few days. That, or I'd set the render time to like 15 seconds a frame and just brute force the thing through. But man, 2 hours that's still a super long time. Assuming your friend rendered it out in the standard 24fps then that's 2h = 7200s 7200s x 24fps = 172,800 frames Lets assume that your friend spent 5 minutes per frame 172,800 x 5min = 864,000 minutes/frame 864,000 minutes = 14,400 hours = 600 days = 19.7 months. If you cut that down to say a minute per frame then the number comes down to 120 days of rendering. Yikes, I think the longest shot in this entire series was the Johnston opening fire. I set a 5 minute time limit on that shot and that took 2 straight days of rendering to complete 300 frames.

[@dec_the]

@@SwankySpitfire I mean the shot paid off in the end so the 2 days was worth it and is much better than what a 5 minute shot would’ve looked like

[@SwankySpitfire]

@@dec_the thanks! Spending two days rendering out a single shot when you only have 8 days total to complete the project isn’t advisable but I definitely got my use out of it.

[@spacepickshovel]

Well made, keep up the good work!

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank so much! You were a huge inspiration for me to take up 3D animation!

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

It's important to contextualize Kurita's decision making in this battle and retreat. Center Force had already suffered heavy losses the previous day with two heavy cruisers sunk, one heavily damaged and sent back to port by submarine attack as well as the Super Battleship Musashi sunk by constant air attack with the rest of Center Force taking some damage as well. Kurita himself had to swim from his sinking flagship in the first attack to transfer his flag to Yamato. The Admiral and crews hadn't had time to rest, having been on high alert and station from the first attack until coming upon Taffy 3. On top of the shell shock and fatigue, Kurita was utterly in the dark on the status of the Northern and Southern Forces, whether or not the Sho Plan was even still in effect or had worked in any capacity. So when he saw the silhouette of carriers and destroyers on the horizon, he made the logical assumption that this was the main enemy fleet that had savaged him the previous day with air strikes. He ordered a general attack to try and seize the initiative since he felt he would not have time to form a battle line, but in doing so dispersed his firepower and lost effective command control of the fleet. Taffy 3 was well rested, its air groups while not equipped to deal significant damage to heavy surface ships, could still act like they could and repeatedly caused the already disorganized, demoralized and exhausted Japanese to make emergency evasive maneuvers from mock torpedo attacks. All of this coupled with the admirable bravery and exceptional seamanship of the sailors of Taffy 3 led to Kurita's retreat as he simply felt he'd taken too much damage and that what he might be able to do entering Leyte would not justify the complete annihilation of his force. He made the best decision he could with the information he had and the mental state he was in at the time, which was to save his remaining ships and men. Even if Kurita had pushed through to Leyte, the transports had offloaded and the Americans had established positions on land with Halsey's fleet returning at full steam from the North and Oldendorf from the South would have trapped and annihilated the remnants of Kurita's Center Force with overwhelming numbers. All Kurita would achieve in exchange for his sacrifice would be the destruction of mostly empty transports, a single escort force and some minor damage at best to 7th Fleet. While the loss of supplies would certainly hurt the American invasion of the Philippines, it would in no way stop it as the ship losses could be made up in very short order. Leyte Gulf realistically was unwinnable for the Japanese from even before its execution. Any hopes of the IJN being able to hold its own died in the Marianas earlier in the war. Lacking air cover and with its neglect of anti submarine warfare, the IJN sailed into certain destruction at Leyte.

[@manilajohn0182]

Very well said. Far too many youtube videos portray the action off Samar as one of Japanese bumbling in the face of U.S. surface ship attacks.

[@ivanlaracuente6234]

Well done! My father was in the Navy, I was an Army officer.

[@NareshSinghOctagon]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this,but the use of Dogfights' animation and music is pretty good,even if the video itself is full of certain flaws and a lot of reused footage of the same attack animations.

[@Barri2410]

I love how this is made with the style of _Dogfights_ Nice work 👍

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thanks man! I greatly appreciate it! It was that show that got me into naval history in the first place with their hunt for the Bismarck special.

[@MrJibjab01]

Best line in this is that a single hit on the Johnston would destroy her. On her wreck they found that not only was she hit by 3 of them but that she kept fighting for another hour until she finally sank

[@austinblack7991]

You forgot about the escort carrier uss st lo was the first ship sunk by a kamikaze

[@tommcglone2867]

How Taffy 3 managed to repel Centre Force here was damn right heroic. The CO of the Johnston Commander Ernest Edwin Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal Of Honor, Commander. Robert Copeland of the Samuel B. Roberts was awarded the Navy Cross and maybe could have also been awarded the Medal Of Honor as well but maybe they thought handing out 2 of those would be too much? And Commander Evans was the first Native American to win the Medal Of Honor

[@jamesrussell7760]

If you have the capability to model the British Swordfish torpedo bomber, my vote is for the sinking of the Bismarck. One suggestion I have, reduce the volume of the background music when you are narrating the action.

[@gatling216]

Amusing story from this battle: the escort carriers launched all available aircraft to target the Japanese fleet. Many of them were only lightly armed, or not armed at all. When they ran out of bombs, they made strafing runs with their machineguns. When they ran out of ammunition, they made dry runs, with many of the pilots hurling trash and debris from the cockpits at the bewildered sailors below. One enterprising pilot drew his service revolver and emptied it into a battleship. It's doubtful he actually hit anything important, but imagine being the poor bastard who gets taken out in an aerial drive-by shooting.

[@rossgage9730]

Halsey got away with a court-martial there.

[@KotobKotob]

The destroyesr counter attack at massive japaness fleet just give me a goosbump

[@samtheeaglescout1490]

This battle is why I enlisted in the Navy

[@joshuanichols7772]

Noticed the Dogfights soundtrack. Nice!

[@bamnguyen7903]

Would have been cool if u could have animated the air portion of that battle. It was super cool as well

[@cyberus1438]

The USS Johnston is a credit to the US Navy. Mostly because that ship was taken with the spirit of the infantry, just on water. I openly invite both naval and army forces alike to debate this, it’s this competition between us that keeps us the best

[@drewpooters62]

WHY isn't this story a major movie? "Greyhound" was great, but this could be better!

[@FrenchieQc]

These sailors pulled off such an absolute miracle on that day, that anyone not familiar with the events who would watch that movie would find it far too unbelievable.

[@Shogun459]

"I fear we have Awakened a sleeping Giant and filled he with a Terrible Resolve." Only Yamamoto knew what a mistake pushing the Americans would be. He lost when they didn't sink the Carriers with the Arizona and the rest of Battleship Row. But hindsight is 20/20. I still think Yamamoto knew right Then, when the Carriers and their escorts weren't at Pearl, he knew it might cost them the war. He as much as said so. THIS is what "Terrible Resolve" can do. The Mice that ROARED!

[@ambush_akula5261]

Can we all appreciate that he’s using the soundtrack from dogfights?

[@charliedelena7235]

USS Johnston and USS Samuel Roberts crew have the biggest balls in navy history.

[@thatguyfromvermont7843]

“It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding - a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish - for freedom, tolerance and justice.” Douglas MacArthur

[@Matty95rufc]

Man this is good animation. Well done

[@tHEHEAd1138]

❤ 👍👍 BRAVO!! This was fan-bloody-tastic! More like this please! 🤓

[@SwankySpitfire]

Will do! I have a few requests for the battle of the Denmark Strait, so it looks like I’m doing the hunt for the Bismarck next!

[@manilajohn0182]

At 3:08 U.S.S. Johnston was hit by three first- salvo 18" rounds (at just over 20,000 yards) from Yamato without being destroyed- although the ship took very heavy damage.

[@stevenreddy6842]

DDG-141, a Flight III Arleigh Burke class destroyer will be named USS Ernest E. Evans, the second ship of the US Navy to bear his name.

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

Ship models: World of Warships. Background music: Battle 360 ....

[@TrickiVicBB71]

Great narration. Narrator sounds like the guy from Battle 360 & Dogfights

[@scott3002]

The actions of the escorts was a historic moment for the US navy. Bravery of astounting example. However, during all of there action, the Japanese fleet was under relentless attack by hundreds of CVE aircraft from the three taffy fleets in the area. The Japanese ships were forced to manuever out of formation regularly slowing there advance and throwing off the targeting solutions for big guns. It was the schwarming aircraft that ground down and finally turned the decision. The Japanese also suffered many losses following this encounter during the withdrawal from the engagement.

[@TheInforment519]

How does this only have 28k views?

[@bobcoughlan929]

Well done

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[@pedrofernandes3305]

Magnifique, une belle homage a ces marins

[@jeffadams9807]

NEVER Underestimate The RESOLVE Of The U.S Military, We Have ALWAY'S Been Tested Time & Time Agin & We ALWAY'S Come Out On Top, Time & Time Agin...

[@jeffjriddell]

Well done.

[@RockTuner]

New sub earned. I love naval shit!

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you so much! I have quite few requests to cover the Hunt For the Bismarck so it appears like that will be my next project. Hoping to put that video out around end of July, early August! Would you like to see small clips of progress during this time?

[@reaperking2121]

Best vid so far. Here is your comment for the algorithm.

[@SwankySpitfire]

Much obliged commander!

[@jamescameron2490]

Minor technical error in the depiction of the Samuel B. Roberts. The 20mm guns shown on the main deck just behind the forward 5" mount should be a hedgehog launcher.

[@melwinge9154]

Not to take away from an excellent video, but what about the other DDs and DEs of TAFFY 3? Dennis, Heerman, Hole, etc. Hole was also lost, as was the CVE Gambier Bay. As well, during the battle the pilots of Taffy 3, later joined by pilots from TAFFYs 1 and 2, flew into the face of murderous AA fire, often without so much as a single round from their empty guns, to fight back with. The planes on the early morning scout and patrol missions were armed with depth charges, items of little use against a surface target, but they went in and released those. On a ship if you see something falling from a plane, under those conditions, you will think it is a bomb and try to evade. A number of pilots were lost making those runs, defending their ships and the sailors with - nothing. So, next video, spread the credit where it's due, okay?

[@brianmorgan7703]

Omitted for brevity I'd hazard to guess. The entire battle was complex and to give time to each aspect would have pushed the production time beyond what the creator wanted. Again, just guessing.

[@bagoquarks]

It's not clear to me why an active volcano is depicted at 0:25 and then buzzed by a warplane shortly thereafter. Although vulcanism is an established fact in this part of the world, I am not aware of any account of this famous battle citing an active eruption nearby. I would edit it out. --- Nonetheless, I commend you for releasing this concurrently with the archeological discovery of the "Sammy B" in deep water, preceded by the location of the Johnston just a year ago. Long may their great torpedo work, their feisty 5" gunnery, and their sacrifice be an example in the US Navy.

[@DaveSCameron]

New sub, best wishes to you with it all here 👍 ☘️

[@billholder1330]

Tenacious. Sometimes you don't need to "win", you just need to convince the opponent that it's just not worth it. Like a bunch of bears stumbling on a thicket full of badgers, weasels, and hornets - just too much of a pain in the @$$ to deal with! Taffy 3 is like the "Honey Badger" of WWII! "Taffy 3 Don't Care". hehe

[@jaiclary8423]

Good work, particularly on the animations, which presumably was the main point. The voice quality was off in some parts, hopefully you can get a fix for that.

[@lelanderickson1045]

If you're feeling ambitious, Jutland. If less so, Dogger Bank, or the Battle of Coronel/the voyage of the Imperial German Navy's Pacific Squadron from start to finish.

[@turcenoarthurjamil4364]

USS Samuel Roberts wreck was found off the coast of Samar here in the Philippines just few weeks ago

[@gearz2570]

ive always wanted to do this nice work

[@Firefly-dy5zc]

Nice work!

[@SwankySpitfire]

Thank you! I greatly appreciate it!

[@FamiliarAnomaly]

Fire control - the difference between victory or defeat

[@marshallbrowne5371]

Why no mention of the aircraft involved from the escort carriers??????

[@derekonxbox]

Ngl, this seems awfully similar to the History Channels Dogfight episode about the Battle off Samar, even the music seems oddly similar, especially at 4:48 ...

[@SwankySpitfire]

That would be because it was based off the documentary. I cut down and revised a lot of the dialogue, made the animations completely from scratch and used the soundtrack from the show. In combination with fitting world of warships theme songs and music from Mark Petrie and Terry Davine-King. This final project was for animation, as such, most of my focus was on the animation.

[@derekonxbox]

@@SwankySpitfire Fair enough. The animation was definitely well done.

[@TacticalAlphaCharlie]

I was thinking the same thing lol

[@kristelvidhi5038]

Man, i feel sorry for Yamato. She was build to devastate her enemy, yet she was denied her only chance to go down in History, as the super battleship that wiped out an entire enemy Task Force. Kurita was the worst Japanese Admiral.

[@liberalsockpuppet4772]

Nice job guys