HOLT, CLIFFORD DALE, Radarman Third Class, Service no. 8784417, USS Johnston (DD-557), US Navy Reserve, †25/10/1944

Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leon Albert and Violet Post Holt, 12016 Bradfield St., Lynwood, Calif.

MIA during Battle of Samar, October 25, 1944

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USS Johnston (DD-557) and Engagement of Taffy 3

On the morning of 23 October 1944, American submarines detected and attacked units of the Japanese fleet coming in from the South China Sea toward the Leyte beachhead. The battleship-cruiser-destroyer Southern Force was attacked as it attempted to enter Leyte Gulf via Surigao Strait the night of 24–25 October. The more powerful battleship-cruiser-destroyer Center Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita had been attacked by Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's carrier planes and presumably turned back from San Bernardino Strait. Admiral Halsey then sailed north with his carriers and battleships to engage a decoy Japanese carrier–battleship task force off Cape Engaño. This left Johnston and her small escort carrier task unit alone in north Leyte Gulf, east of Samar and off San Bernardino Strait.

As the Japanese fleet left the Battle of Surigao Strait at daybreak of 25 October, the powerful Japanese Center Force slipped through San Bernardino Strait and into the Philippine Sea heading toward Leyte Gulf. It steamed along the coast of Samar directly for Johnston's little task unit and the American invasion beachhead at Leyte, hoping to destroy amphibious shipping and American troops onshore.

One of the pilots flying patrol after dawn alert that morning reported the approach of the Japanese Center Force. Steaming straight for "Taffy 3" were four battleships (including Yamato), eight cruisers (two light and six heavy), and eleven destroyers. Lieutenant Robert C. Hagen, Johnston's gunnery officer, later reported, "We felt like little David without a slingshot." In less than a minute, Johnston was zigzagging between the six escort carriers and the Japanese fleet and putting out a smoke screen over a 2,500-yard front to conceal the carriers from the enemy gunners: "Even as we began laying smoke, the Japanese started lobbing shells at us and Johnston had to zigzag between the splashes.... We were the first destroyer to make smoke, the first to start firing, the first to launch a torpedo attack...."

For the first 20 minutes, Johnston could not return fire as the enemy cruisers and battleships' heavy guns outranged Johnston's 5-inch guns. Not waiting for orders, Commander Evans broke formation and went on the offensive by ordering Johnston to speed directly toward the enemy—first a line of seven destroyers, next one light and three heavy cruisers, then the four battleships. To the east appeared three other cruisers and several destroyers.

As soon as range closed to ten miles, Johnston fired on the heavy cruiser Kumano—the nearest ship—and scored several hits. During her five-minute sprint into torpedo range, Johnston fired over 200 rounds at the enemy, then under the direction of torpedo officer Lieutenant Jack K. Bechdel, made her torpedo attack. She fired all 10 of her torpedoes and turned to retire behind a smoke screen. When she came out of the smoke a minute later, the Kumano could be seen burning from a torpedo hit. Her bow had been blown off, and she was forced to withdraw. Around this time, Johnston took three 14-inch shell hits from Kongō, followed by three 6-inch shells, either from a light cruiser or Yamato, which hit the bridge. The shells caused the loss of all power to the steering engine and all power to the three 5-inch guns in the aft of the ship, and rendered the gyrocompass useless. A low-lying squall came up, and Johnston "ducked into it" for a few minutes of rapid repairs and salvage work. The bridge was abandoned and Commander Evans, who had lost two fingers on his left hand, went to the aft steering column to conn the ship.

At 07:50, Admiral Sprague ordered destroyers to make a torpedo attack: "small boys attack". Johnston, unable to keep position with her damaged engine, and with her torpedoes expended, moved to provide fire support for the other destroyers. As she emerged from a smoke screen, she nearly collided with the destroyer Heermann. At 08:20, Johnston sighted a Kongō-class battleship only 7,000 yards away, emerging through the smoke. The destroyer opened fire, scoring hits on the superstructure of the larger ship. The return fire from the battleship missed.

Johnston observed Gambier Bay under fire from an enemy cruiser, and engaged the cruiser in an effort to draw her fire away from the carrier. Johnston scored four hits on the heavy cruiser, then broke off as the Japanese destroyer squadron was seen closing rapidly on the American escort carriers. Johnston engaged the lead ship until it withdrew, then the second until the remaining enemy units broke off the attack to get out of effective gun range before launching torpedoes, all of which missed.

Then, Johnston's luck ran out; she came under fire from multiple enemy ships and her remaining engine failed, leaving her dead in the water.

Some time into the battle, Japanese battleship Kongō fired two rounds from her main guns. One round pierced the thin side armor of Johnston and cut a hole through the engine room. Her speed was cut in half. The enemy ships closed in for an easy kill, pouring fire into the crippled destroyer.

Johnston took a hit that knocked out one forward gun and damaged another, and her bridge was rendered unusable by fires and explosions caused by a hit in her 40 mm ready ammunition locker. Evans, who had shifted his command to Johnston's fantail, was yelling orders through an open hatch to men turning her rudder by hand and at 9:45 he ordered "Abandon Ship". At 10:10 Johnston rolled over and began to sink. The Japanese destroyer Yukikaze came up to 1,000 yards and fired a final shot into her to make sure she went down.

Of Johnston's complement of 327 officers and men, 141 were saved. Of the 186 men lost, about 50 were killed by enemy action, 45 died later on rafts from wounds, and 92 men, including Cmdr. Evans, escaped the ship before she sank but were never seen again.

Aftermath

Hoel and Samuel B. Roberts also sacrificed themselves to save the escort carriers and to protect the landings at Leyte. The escort carrier Gambier Bay was also sunk. Two of four Japanese heavy cruisers were sunk by combined surface and air attacks, and Admiral Sprague was soon amazed by the sight of the retirement of Kurita's entire fleet. By this time, planes of "Taffy 2" and "Taffy 1" and every available unit of the Fleet were headed to assist "Taffy 3". But Johnston and her little escort carrier task unit had stopped Admiral Kurita's powerful Center Force in the Battle off Samar, inflicting greater losses than they suffered.

Source: Wikipedia