TUESDAY, 24 OCTOBER 1944
AMERICAN ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): On Paramushiru, three B-24s
bomb Kashiwabara and Kurabu Cape; 4 B-25s weather-abort a photo mission. Two others on a shipping sweep off Kurabu hit a freighter, which is observed
listing and smoking, and strafe 2 subchasers.
(CBI) : The CBI Theater is split
into two theaters: China and India-Burma. The India-Burma Theater (IBT) and China Theater (CT), to be headed respectively by Lt Gen Daniel I. Sultan and Maj Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer. Gen Chennault is temporarily in charge of China Theater, pending assumption of command by Gen Wedemeyer.
CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): About 80 P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s on armed
reconnaissance over SE China, SW China, and E Burma hit runways, storage facilities,
town areas, troops, horses, gun positions, and other targets of opportunity
around Amoy, Lohochai, Tanchuk, Sinthe, Menghsu, Pingnam, Mangshih and Chefang,
and Lashio, Burma. HQ Fourteenth AF is reassigned from US Army Forces, CBI Theater
to US Forces, China Theater.
INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma from 24 Oct through 27 Oct,
fighter-bombers and B-25s steadily support Allied troops on the N Burma front,
pounding road and rail communications, troop concentrations and supply dumps,
and sweeping airfields; the strikes include close support of British troops
advancing on the right flank of the front known as the "Rail Corridor," and
of Chinese forces pushing down the left flank along the Myitkyina-Bhamo road.
PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA) AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): B-24s from Guam bomb Yap while P-47s from Saipan hit Pagan.
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s bomb Buayoan
Airfield on Mindanao while
B-25s on armed reconnaissance hit small shipping and troops. B-24s, B-25s,
and fighter-bombers hit the Sandakan on Borneo. USAAF aircraft sink army cargo ship Taimei Maru off Sandakan, Borneo, 05°50'N, 118°07'E. Lost is B-24J Liberator 44-40947 (MIA). P-38s bomb Amboina reservoir
areas. A-20s and fighter-bombers again pound Babo, Moemi, Sagan, Manokwari, Otawiri, and other Vogelkop Peninsula area targets.
The following units move from New Guinea to Leyte : HQ 85th Fighter Wing
from Hollandia; Headquarters Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, 7th Fighter Squadron and 9th Fighter Squadron from Biak to Tacloban with
P-38s. The 72d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 5th Bombardment Group (Heavy),
moves from Noemfoor to Morotai (Pitu) with
B-24s.
U.S. Army: U.S. Sixth Army: In X Corps area, 1st Sq of 7th Cav, 1st Cav Div, moves by water to Babatngon and sets up defense perimeter, from which patrols move along N coast. Tr C, reinf, of 8th Cav, after delay because of Japanese air attack on shipping off Tacloban in San Pedro Bay which causes minor damage, sails to La Paz, Samar; establishes beachhead and blocks road to Basey; after nightfall repels enemy thrust against the block. Main body of 1st Sq, 8th Cav, begins overland journey northward along Highway 1 and reach Guintiguian. Control of San Juanico Strait is thus secured. In Palo area, 1st Bn of 34th Inf takes Hill Nan without opposition; is passed through by 3d Bn, which takes the next Hill, Mike--before Hill C--also without opposition, preliminary fires having been highly effective. 2d Bn, 19th Inf, continues efforts to take Hill B, finding enemy well entrenched on a crest higher than its own. Co K, 19th Inf, moving S along Highway 1 in effort to make contact with XXIV Corps, takes San Joaquin, south of Palo. In XXIV Corps area, 96th Div's 383d Inf, still beset by supply problems, holds current positions and patrols to
locate possible supply routes to rear. Patrol finds enemy established at Tabontabon. 382d takes Anibung and Hindang. In 7th Div zone 17th Inf clears Burauen and, after brief pause, starts toward Dagami. 1st Bn, 32d Inf, turns NW toward Buri Airfield from San Pablo Airfield but is so strongly opposed that it falls back to San Pablo Airfield with assistance of 3d Bn.
USN: The Battle of Leyte Gulf begins with the U.S. 3rd Fleet steams north in pursuit of a Japanese decoy squadron
allowing other Japanese ships to attack US forces on Leyte. After midnight, USS Darter (SS-227) ran aground on Bombay Shoal in the Palawan Passage at roughly Lat 9.456°N Long 116.933°E and will be abandoned and scuttled.
USS Shark (SS-314) torpedoes Arisan Maru a "Hell Ship" with 1,782 American Prisoners of War (POW) and about 100 civilians detained in the cargo holds. The entire crew except for nine of the Prisoners of War (POW) aboard died in the sinking. The sinking was the largest loss of American lives in a single disaster at sea.
USN: Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as planes from TG 38.2, TG 38.3, and TG 38.4 attack the Japanese "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo) in the Sibuyan Sea. Planes from carriers Enterprise (CV-6), Intrepid (CV-11), and Franklin (CV-13), and small carrier Cabot (CVL-29) sink battleship Musashi south of Luzon, 12°50'N, 122°35'E. Aircraft from the three task groups also damage battleships Yamato and Nagato, heavy cruiser Tone, and destroyers Kiyoshimo, Fujinami and Uranami. TG 38.4 planes attack Japanese "Southern Force" (Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji and Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide) as it proceeds through the Sulu Sea; planes from Franklin sink destroyer Wakaba off the west coast of Panay, 11°50'N, 121°25'E; aircraft from Enterprise and Franklin damage battleships Fuso and Yamashiro. Japanese planes, however, attack TG 38.3; combat air patrol and effective use of rain squalls as cover limits the damage to small carrier Princeton (CVL-23), hit by bomb from dive bomber, 15°21'N, 123°31'E. In trying to save Princeton, however, light cruiser Birmingham (CL-62) and destroyers Morrison (DD-560), Gatling (DD-671), and Irwin (DD-794) are damaged by rolling against the stricken carrier or by fragments from the explosion of Princeton's magazines when fires gain the upper hand; in addition, Morrison's bridge is damaged by a jeep (used to tow aircraft) falling from Princeton's flight deck. Birmingham suffers the greatest destruction because she is alongside the carrier when the latter's magazines explode. The cruiser's decks literally run red with blood: 229 men killed, four missing, 211 seriously wounded and 215 with minor wounds. Ultimately, light cruiser Reno and Irwin scuttle Princeton. During the aerial action that day, Commander David McCampbell, Commander Air Group 15, flying from carrier Essex (CV-9), again distinguishes himself in combat. With only one wingman, McCampbell attacks what is estimated as being over 60 hostile aircraft and downs nine, breaking up the attacking formation before it even reaches the fleet. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life" on this occasion and on 19 June, McCampbell is awarded the Medal of Honor.
Elsewhere off Leyte, Japanese planes damage destroyer Leutze (DD-481), 10°50'N, 125°25'E; tank landing ship LST-552, 11°11'N, 125°05'E; and infantry landing craft LCI-1065. Oiler Ashtabula (AO-51) is damaged by aerial torpedo, 11°03'N, 125°22'E.
U.S. freighter Augustus Thomas, anchored in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, is attacked by a Japanese plane. The ship's Armed Guard gunfire sets the aircraft ablaze but the kamikaze presses home his attack, a wing striking the stack of the nearby tug Sonoma (ATO-12) before it crashes the freighter's starboard side. The bombs detonate in the water between the two ships, and the exploding suicider sets Sonoma afire. There are no casualties on board Augustus Thomas (41-man merchant complement, 27-man Armed Guard and 480 troop passengers), which is subsequently beached by tugs Chowanoc (ATF-100) and Whippoorwill (ATO-169). Sonoma subsequently sinks off Dio Island, 10°57'N, 125°02'E.
U.S. freighter David Dudley Field is damaged by kamikaze off Tacloban, Leyte; there are no fatalities among the 40-man merchant complement, 30-man Armed Guard, 50 stevedores embarked to work cargo and 10 Army passengers. After repairs, the freighter will resume active service.
Late on 24 October, Commander Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) orders TF 38 (Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher) to proceed north to be in position to strike the "Northern Force" (Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo) on the morning of 25 October, but does not inform Commander Seventh Fleet (Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid) of his action. Unbeknown to the Americans, remnants of the "Center Force" transit San Bernadino Strait and head for Leyte Gulf. Commander Seventh Fleet meanwhile makes his dispositions to meet the expected enemy onslaught: bombardment and support group TG 77.2 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf) is augmented by close covering group TG 77.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey).
On eastern Leyte airfields, however, are not yet ready to base night reconnaissance aircraft, and the only carrier equipped to operate such planes, small carrier Independence (CVL-22), is proceeding north with TF 38.
Coordinated submarine attack group TG 17.15 (CommanderAlan B. Banister), meanwhile, operates against Japanese shipping in South China Sea west of Luzon Strait: Drum (SS-228) sinks merchant cargo ship Shikisan Maru, 20°27'N, 118°31'E; Icefish (SS-367) sinks army cargo ship Tenshin Maru, 19°31'N, 118°10'E; Seadragon (SS-194) sinks transport Eiko Maru and cargo ship Daiten Maru, 20°31'N, 118°33'E, and merchant passenger/cargo shipo Kokuryu Maru, 20°27'N, 118°31'E.
Hospital ship Comfort (AH-6), fully illuminated in accordance with the dictates of the Geneva Convention, is bombed 22 miles southeast of Leyte.
Tank landing ship LST-695 is damaged by Japanese submarine I-56 in Philippine Sea, west of Mindanao, 08°31'N, 128°34'E. Destroyer escort Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) sinks Japanese submarine I-54, 70 miles east of Surigao, 09°45'N, 126°45'E.
Destroyer escort Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) sinks Japanese submarine I-54, 70 miles east of Surigao, 09°45'N, 126°45'E.
Submarine Besugo (SS-321) damages Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.132 south of Ashizuri Saki, Japan, 30°19'N, 132°49'E.
Submarine Croaker (SS-246) sinks Japanese army cargo ship Mikage Maru and passenger/cargo ship Gassan Maru southwest of Quelpart Island, 33°00'N, 125°49'E.
Submarine Kingfish (SS-234) sinks Japanese cargo ship Ikutagawa Maru east of Chichi Jima, 27°08'N, 143°13'E.
Submarine Shark (SS-314) is sunk, probably by Japanese destroyer Harukaze, in Luzon Strait, 20°41'N, 118°27'E.24
Submarine Snook (SS-279) sinks army cargo ships Arisan Maru, 20°54'N, 118°19'E, and No.1 Shinsei Maru, 20°10'N, 118°17'E. Merchant tanker Kikusui Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by Snook the day before, 19°46'N, 118°30'E.
Submarine Tang (SS-306) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Ebara Maru in Formosa Strait, 25°03'N, 119°35'E, and damages tanker Matsumoto Maru, 25°04'N, 119°35'E, but is herself sunk by the circular run of one of her own torpedoes, 25°06'N, 119°31'E.
TF 38 planes damage Japanese light cruiser Kinu and destroyer Uranami at Manila, and sink Japanese army ore carrier Fuyukawa Maru off Luzon, 16°30'N, 120°15'E.
