Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Battle Off Samar is THE single most iconic battle in the history of the destroyer. Three American destroyers and four destroyer escorts made suicidal charges against an overwhelming Japanese force of four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and eleven destroyers. At the end of the day, the Japanese were in retreat and the American landings on Leyte were safe and still underway. Two destroyers, one destroyer escort, and one escort carrier lay on the bottom while eleven hundred survivors in the water waited for rescue over the next two to three days.
On the 80th anniversary of this legendary battle, learn why this David vs Goliath contest took place, what was at stake, and why failure to turn the Japanese Imperial Fleet was not an option. Experience the horror of combat through the accounts of the men who survived a trauma that stayed with them to their graves. Join the efforts of underwater explorers to rediscover the shattered remnants of one of the combatants in one of the deepest shipwreck dives ever made. Know why the success of the defenders of Taffy 3 was "nothing short of special dispensation from the Lord Almighty."
00:00 Introduction
04:19 The Battle
19:34 In the Water
41:16 The Aftermath
54:42 Shipwreck Discovery
Parks Stephenson — Executive Producer
Aaron Gaponoff — Director/Producer, Motion Design
Molly Bahlinger — Videographer & Editor
Alcides A. Ortiz-Ferrari III @alciortiziii — Editor
Tim NesSmith — Videographer
Special thanks to: Sam Cox
@Drachinifel
Rob Hagen
David Hornfischer and the Hornfischer estateStephen LewisWarren Stirling
Omar @oakwashceramics
Ryan Szimanski with @BattleshipNewJersey
Victor Vescovo
And the Johnston-Hoel Survivors Association
National Museum of the Pacific War
USS Slater Museum
Interviews have been edited for time and clarity
The Battle Off Samar is THE single most iconic battle in the history of the destroyer. Three American destroyers and four destroyer escorts made suicidal charges against an overwhelming Japanese force of four battleships, six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and eleven destroyers. At the end of the day, the Japanese were in retreat and the American landings on Leyte were safe and still underway. Two destroyers, one destroyer escort, and one escort carrier lay on the bottom while eleven hundred survivors in the water waited for rescue over the next two to three days.
On the 80th anniversary of this legendary battle, learn why this David vs Goliath contest took place, what was at stake, and why failure to turn the Japanese Imperial Fleet was not an option. Experience the horror of combat through the accounts of the men who survived a trauma that stayed with them to their graves. Join the efforts of underwater explorers to rediscover the shattered remnants of one of the combatants in one of the deepest shipwreck dives ever made. Know why the success of the defenders of Taffy 3 was "nothing short of special dispensation from the Lord Almighty."
00:00 Introduction
04:19 The Battle
19:34 In the Water
41:16 The Aftermath
54:42 Shipwreck Discovery
Parks Stephenson — Executive Producer
Aaron Gaponoff — Director/Producer, Motion Design
Molly Bahlinger — Videographer & Editor
Alcides A. Ortiz-Ferrari III @alciortiziii — Editor
Tim NesSmith — Videographer
Special thanks to: Sam Cox
@Drachinifel
Rob Hagen
David Hornfischer and the Hornfischer estateStephen LewisWarren Stirling
Omar @oakwashceramics
Ryan Szimanski with @BattleshipNewJersey
Victor Vescovo
And the Johnston-Hoel Survivors Association
National Museum of the Pacific War
USS Slater Museum
Interviews have been edited for time and clarity
