It's Taffy Day · 1:36pm Oct 25th, 2021
Today marks the 77th anniversary of the last stand of Task Unit 77.4.3, AKA Taffy 3.
6 escort carriers, 3 destroyers, 4 destroyer escorts, and 400 aircraft were faced with a near-impossible task: Repel the 2nd Fleet of the Japanese Center Force from an attack on Samar that would have potentially crippled the US forces. Not an easy task when faced with the battleships Nagato, Kongou, and Haruna, the heavy cruisers Choukai, Haguro, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, and Tone, the light cruisers Yahagi and Noshiro, and 11 destroyers from the Kagerou, Yugumo, and Shimakaze classes. Add the Yamato, who had greater displacement than Taffy 3 all by herself, and you've got a battle that seems impossible.
But in reality, Taffy 3 had three advantages. Their fire control systems were better than what the Japanese had, their radar was vastly superior to what the Japanese had, and their damage control abilities were greater.
In the end, Taffy 3 lost the destroyers Johnston, Samuel B. Roberts, and Hoel and the carriers Gambier Bay and St. Lo. In exchange, they crippled Choukai and sank Chikuma, Nowaki, and Suzuya, and managed to convince the Japanese commanders that they were facing too great a force to defeat. In the end, Taffy 3 forced the Japanese forces to withdraw their remaining ships for repairs.
This battle is considered one of the greatest last stands in naval history, and with good reason.
