Philippines Campaign
During the Battle for Leyte Gulf, 23 to 26 October, Morrison operated off Luzon. On the 24th, she came to the aid of Princeton (CVL-23), badly damaged by a Japanese bomb, and picked up approximately 400 survivors in an hour and a half. The destroyer then pulled alongside Princeton to assist in fighting fire; she had just reached her position when the small aircraft carrier, drifting and rolling, wedged Morrison's mast and forward stack between her uptakes. Morrison managed to get clear and Birmingham (CL-62) took her place. Ten minutes later the after third of Princeton blew off. Not only did Birmingham suffer topside damage and heavy casualties, but Princeton was then so badly damaged she had to be sunk by torpedoes.
Morrison debarked the Princeton survivors at Ulithi 27 October and got underway for the West Coast, via Pearl Harbor, in company with Irwin (DD-794) and Birmingham, arriving San Francisco, California, 17 November. On 9 February 1945 the destroyer steamed back to the South Pacific, stopping at Pearl Harbor on the 15th.
Read more about this topic: USS Morrison (DD-560)
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