1944-10-23
Palawan Passage
Palawan Passage, on the morning of 23 October 1944
This is the morning attack in Palawan Passage on 23 October 1944, the day before the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Darter and Dace were on the route Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force was taking toward Leyte. Only the ships that were hit are on this page. Before dawn, Darter sank Atago. Atago was Kurita's flagship. The same attack torpedoed Takao, who was not sunk. Dace sank Maya. Takao was stopped. During the day Darter tried another submerged attack on her and was driven off. After dark Takao got underway, and Darter started a surface attack. At 0005 on 24 October she grounded on Bombay Shoal at 17 knots and rode up until she drew nine feet forward. Dace closed her. Confidential papers were burned, and Dace took off the whole crew before dawn. No one from Darter was lost. Darter's demolition charges failed. Dace fired the torpedoes she had left, and they exploded on the shoal before they reached the hull. She did put 21 four-inch hits into Darter. The submarine Rock fired ten torpedoes at the wreck, and those also exploded on the shoal. On 31 October Nautilus, on her thirteenth patrol, put 55 six-inch hits into the hull. The wreck is not credited to one ship.
Sunk in this fight
2 ships.
A diagram of how this fight went will go here.
