Lingayen Gulf - History

History

During World War II, the Lingayen Gulf proved a strategically important theatre of war between American and Japanese forces. On 22 December 1941, the Japanese 14th Army under Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma landed on the Eastern part of the gulf at Agoo, Caba, Santiago and Bauang, where they engaged in a number of relatively minor skirmishes with the defenders, which consisted of a poorly-equipped contingent of predominantly Filipino and American troops, and managed to successfully invade and occupy the gulf. Following the defeat, the next day General MacArthur issued the order to retreat from Luzon and withdraw to Bataan. For the next three years, the gulf remained under Japanese occupation prior to the Lingayen Gulf Landings.

At 09:30 on 9 January 1945, the U.S. 6th Army conducted an amphibious landing on the gulf, following a devastating naval bombardment, with 68,000 troops landing on the first day alone and a total of 203,608 in subsequent landings along a 20 mi (32 km) beachhead, stretching from Sual, Lingayen and Dagupan (XIV Corps) to the west, and San Fabian (I Corps) in to the east. The total number of troops under the command of MacArthur was reported to have even exceeded the number that Eisenhower controlled in Europe.

Despite their success in driving out the Japanese army stationed there, they suffered relatively heavy losses, particularly to their convoys due to kamikaze suicide attacks. From 4–12 January, a total of 24 ships were sunk and 67 damaged by kamikaze planes, including the battleships USS Mississippi and Colorado (accidentally hit by friendly fire), light cruiser USS Columbia, and minesweepers USS Long and Hovey. Following the landings, the Lingayen Gulf was turned into a vast supply depot for the rest of the war to support the American and Filipino assault on Manila.