USS Willoughby (AGP-9) - The Philippines Campaign - The Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf

Meanwhile, major Japanese naval forces were approaching the Philippines from three directions. The Japanese southern force was heading through the Sulu Sea in the direction of Surigao Strait, their central force was crossing the Sibuyan Sea toward the San Bernardino Strait, and a northern force of Japanese aircraft carriers was north of Luzon, hoping to lure the American Fast Carrier Task Force away from Leyte Gulf.

For the first time since the 1942 fighting off Guadalcanal, the opposing sides arrayed battleships against one another. Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf deployed his forces across the northern end of Surigao Strait. Thirty-nine of the 45 PT boats that had come from Mios Woendi and made the long voyage via the Palaus deployed in sections of three boats each, strung out through the straits and along the coasts of Mindanao, Leyte, and Bohol, into the Mindanao Sea, to detect and report on the enemy's approach.

In the Battle of Surigao Strait that followed, the PT boats played a significant role. "The skill, determination, and courage displayed by the personnel of these small boats is worthy of the highest praise," reported Admiral Chester W. Nimitz subsequently. "Their contact reports," he continued, "as well as the firing and illumination they drew from the enemy, gave ample warning to our own main body; and, while the issue of the later main engagement was never in doubt, the PT's action very probably threw the Japanese command off balance and contributed to the completeness of their subsequent defeat."

All boats attached to Willoughby participated in that important encounter, while the tender herself remained at San Pedro Bay. The battle was just one part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf of 23 October 1944-26 October 1944, in which the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered a crushing defeat.