Battle of Surigao Strait

1. “I have returned.”

15 1 “I have returned.” Sunrise, Friday, October 20, 1944, over Leyte Gulf revealed to the Japanese an awesome armada, one of the largest and most powerful assemblies ever concentrated in the Pacific. Emerging from its obscurity and the shroud of conflicting and confusing reports since October 9, the invasion forces of General Douglas MacArthur now stood plainly on the stage. Well over seven hundred vessels—including six battleships—were gathered east of Leyte and the gulf entrance alone, while beyond Suluan island over the horizon to the northeast stood the four fast-carrier task groups and screen of Vice Admiral William F. Halsey’s Task Force 38. Swarms of aircraft patrolled overhead, while others lined up in formation to support the invasion as the landing craft surged toward the beaches from 420 transports. Four American divisions would be landing, and their arrival announced in no uncertain terms the fulfillment of MacArthur’s dramatic pledge “I shall return” made in 1942. Then it had been the Americans that had been fighting in vain to somehow marshal enough strength to withstand invasion by overwhelmingly powerful forces. Now the proverbial shoe was on the other foot.1 At 1000 hours, precisely on schedule, the first landing ramps dropped and the soldiers dashed through the waves onto the beach. Four hours later MacArthur emerged from his cabin on the light cruiser Nashville, to descend into a waiting landing craft, where he was joined by the president of the Philippines, Sergio Osmena. The beach was already so crowded there was no room to land at the pier, and the harried beach master directing the landings indicated that if MacArthur was going to come ashore, he was going to have to walk. With little ado, General MacArthur had the ramp dropped, waved for Osmena and his staff to follow, and took the momentous step into the knee-deep water. While all around watched, with grim resolve he waded through the Leyte surf and swaggered onto the beach. An inspiring scene, so inspiring that it was repeated for the benefit of more film crews at a later hour. Yet the first ar- 16 · BattleofSurigaoStrait rival itself was recorded and remains a decisive moment in history. His pants were still damp when MacArthur was handed a temporary microphone and announced : “People of the Philippines. I have returned. Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of Bataan and Corregidor lead on.”2 In hindsight, and conditioned as we are by the drama of the scene and what followed, though it seems hard to imagine otherwise, there had been no guarantee that MacArthur would be allowed to fulfill his famous 1942 vow. After the capture of Saipan conceivably the Philippines could have been bypassed entirely as had been done to the great Japanese bases at Truk and Rabaul—both cut off from supplies and air support and their garrisons left to wither on the vine. After all, the primary goal of both the Central Pacific campaign of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and the Southwest Pacific campaign of MacArthur was to converge on Japan’s inner defense sphere, to cut the supply chain of bases between Japan and its southern oil territories, to build air bases for heavy bombers in range to pound Japan, and ultimately, if necessary, to invade the home islands to compel complete surrender. From Pearl Harbor Admiral Nimitz’s forces, primarily the marines and the navy, had been working eastward since the battle of Midway in what was termed the Central Pacific drive. They started at Guadalcanal and then sprang to the Gilbert Islands, with operations following through the Marshalls, the Marianas, and the Western Carolines, with such bloody clashes as Tarawa in the mix. At the same time, in the drive up from the Southwest Pacific MacArthur was waging the bloody fight to secure New Guinea, and then up through New Georgia and thence to the Philippines. The capture of Saipan had marked the converging of these two campaigns; the next big one would involve both heretofore distinct supreme commands. Saipan’s fall had gone far toward meeting the main criteria for the next phase. The airfields in Saipan were both in range and large enough to accommodate the heavy B-29 “Superfortress” bombers that would begin the pounding of Japan and the Asian coast. The U.S. Navy’s fast carriers were capable of supporting an invasion force wherever it might be sent, and between them the army and marines could pretty much take...