The Wreck of USS Laffey - Went Down Fighting Impossible Odds

Рет қаралды 39,696

5 ай бұрын

I'm not quite sure why the recording sounds different. Probably the new computer set up. I'll probably need to experiment with that.
Anyway: USS Laffey, the first USS Laffey, is often overlooked in comparison to her far more famous successor. It says something about the fame of the second Laffey, really, considering her predecessor was no slouch. Much like the Battle off Samar, Laffey went down fighting impossible odds.
First, a close encounter with Hiei. Then a group of Japanese destroyers. Laffey fought like a lion, but in the end, it wasn't enough. She went down fighting.
Her wreck was eventually discovered, many years later, in 1992. This initial discovery was by Robert Ballard, of Titanic fame. Pictures from this expedition are scarce, so the images in here from from a later expedition by RV Petrel.
Laffey Video:
• USS Laffey (DD-459) - ...
Ballard Expedition:
• National Geographic: T...
Petrel Video:
• Wreckage of the USS La...

Пікірлер: 51

@luked7525 4 ай бұрын

That shot of Laffey’s builder’s plate is amazing.

@Broadshore 5 ай бұрын

Laffy went down like a baller. She fought like a hard charger. Taking on larger ship with no f***s givin.

@IamJunius 5 ай бұрын

Mount 52's gun has no elevation dialed in. A clear indication they were shooting at point blank range. It also appears the torpedo tubes are empty. If the Torp ws in place, you would be able to see part of the war head sticking out underneath the half cover (right side of picture). It was also standard practice to return the launcher to the center line after firing.

@daniellucas1494 5 ай бұрын

Rest well Laffey - your service shall NEVER be forgotten among those you refuse to change the past! I have had the honor of being on the second Laffey many times and always stand in awe has I think about the horrors she survived off Okinawa.

@robertf3479 5 ай бұрын

According to the entry for LAFFEY (DD-459) in DANFS, the destroyer launched her torpedoes at "the enemy battleship" (Hiei I assume.) Due to damage sustained during the barroom brawl sea fight, Hiei managed to crawl away from the scene before being found the next day by planes from USS Enterprise and suffered further attacks. Battleship Hiei was determined to be too badly damaged to be salvaged and was scuttled 13 November 1942.

@Kw1161 5 ай бұрын

I remember our ship tying up to the pier next to the Laffey in the Charleston weapons station before the Laffey was waiting to be turned into a museum ship. It was in bad condition and I’m glad they saved it for the Laffey’s service. Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉!

@Normandy1944 5 ай бұрын

Don't know if you been to her since, but she's in wonderful condition now with great displays and sitting next to the Yorktown. You can travel through almost every inch of her. She had her beltline redone about 6 years ago.

@Kw1161 5 ай бұрын

@@Normandy1944 Thanks as I had not been to Charleston SC in about 40 years. I used to go to the Yorktown regularly when we were in the shipyard for a year back in 1980-81. They had just opened submarine diesel boat , and pulled in the nuclear merchant ship but it wasn’t open to the public then. Happy New Year 🎊🎈!

@RetiredSailor60 5 ай бұрын

I was stationed on USS Semmes DDG 18 1983-84 in Charleston SC. Visited the museum ships in July 1983.

@Kw1161 5 ай бұрын

@@RetiredSailor60 I was on the USS Dale CG (ex DLG)-19 normally out of Mayport, FL , but we’re in the on Charleston Naval Shipyard back in 1980-81. I do remember seeing the Semmes at Mayport in the early eighties . Happy New Year.🎊

@RetiredSailor60 5 ай бұрын

@@Kw1161 Happy New Year shipmate. I also served on USS Cape Cod AD 43, USS Kinkaid DD 965, USS Whidbey Island LSD 41, and USS Wasp LHD 1

@JesseJames-wj8ft 5 ай бұрын

Good job, there was some wild melee fighting in the Solomons, unprecedented as a matter of fact. The premiere US naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison described these battles as bar room brawls. USS Houston was lost even earlier in the war in a similar wild melee, running a gauntlet of Japanese heavy ships through the Sumatra straights until overcome and sunk through sheer volume of fire - A man was reputed to be firing a machine gun on the mast as it went under. Unfortunately, I believe that proud wreck is a victim of scrappers since it went down in relatively shallow waters.

@user-df8ep6ie6k 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for making a video on her nice way to end the year

@lunaball2112 5 ай бұрын

The Barroom Brawl off Guadalcanal. Great Video! Cheers!

@franksposato6072 5 ай бұрын

There has been a very recent update to this battle done by Robert Lundgren. Its more likely that Laffey was the victim of friendly fire by one or two torpedoes from the Sterett sailing behind her and shooting at Hiei. Half her torpedoes hit both ships. There are even a few more incredible pictures available to see in the article he wrote called "The Naval Battle for Henderson Airfield, Night One."

@colinmartin9797 5 ай бұрын

If laffey 2 was literally too angry to die. Laffey 1 was just literally too angry. getting into a knife fight with a battleship. Didn't she fuck up the Japanese admiral with a head injury and kill his entire staff in her brawl? That would have done a lot to influence the battle

@FLJBeliever1776 5 ай бұрын

She did. Admiral Abe was wounded, but his Chief of Staff was KIA.

@colinmartin9797 5 ай бұрын

@FLJBeliever1776 and if I recall (having done no archival research so I may be completely wrong) Abe didn't remember basically anything from the battle afterwards, so it's possible laffey's mauling might have had a huge impact on the battle

@rekunta 5 ай бұрын

Could you imagine how brutal the ship to ship combat was? These machines were literally blasting car sized rounds at each other. These ships must’ve been painted crimson. Blood and guts everywhere. I can only imagine how horrific it must have been.

@gotanon9659 5 ай бұрын

Aside from the huge german rail cannono the most common calibre was 16 inch and there barely car sized there lenght in human size was probably equal to a 6'0"guy and width in human size reaches your knee and that the battleship main gun. And destroyers fire shell as big as 2 1.5 litre coke battle on top of each other

@PhantomP63 3 ай бұрын

16” shells are sometimes compared in weight to the original VW Beetle. OP’s comment stands

@samkornrumph8545 5 ай бұрын

I think I have Ballard’s Guadalcanal book in storage somewhere. It’s an oversized reference book with a picture of a sunken cruiser on the front (probably USS Quincy).

@albertkinney8021 5 ай бұрын

We have both ships of the same name as 2 other ships uss laffey uss York Town in Charleston SC.

@ph89787 5 ай бұрын

USS Sleepy Bunny.

@johnalexander178 5 ай бұрын

The future name of a carrier named after biden

@ikke12345 5 ай бұрын

@@johnalexander178better than the USS the orange one😂

@rogerwolstenholme2710 5 ай бұрын

@@ikke12345 TDS

@JesseJames-wj8ft 5 ай бұрын

@@johnalexander178 That would be "USS Kiddy Sniffer"

@boholde2757 5 ай бұрын

Only a MAGAT would turn a serious video of a heroic warship into a political cheap shot. How patriotic of you.

@3DLoft 5 ай бұрын

Ballard's book could be found online by someone who searches well

@nattybumpo7156 5 ай бұрын

Our cruisers amounted to al.ost nothing in the pacific in terms of surface combat. US destroyers did most of the heavy lifting.

@oso9809 5 ай бұрын

And the aircraft carriers.

@nattybumpo7156 5 ай бұрын

@@oso9809 Different type of combat. Except for Taffy 3, of course.

@aquateenchris 5 ай бұрын

I'd argue that Boise, San Fran, and Sandy Eggo had some pretty notable careers

@nattybumpo7156 5 ай бұрын

@@aquateenchris San Fran shot the crap out of another US cruiser and killed a lot of people. Second only to the shame Mogami incurred.

@Ben-gu2qz 4 ай бұрын

Patriots point museum i went aboard the laffy there in 1989 along with the uss Yorktown and the submarine uss clamamore

@timdake 4 ай бұрын

Charleston guy checking in. Sadly, the Clamagore was towed to Norfolk, last fall, for scrapping. She was partially scrapped, prior to departure. Was on her, many times, even during the initial dismantling steps. It’s a tragedy to let these historical artifacts, disappear.