Edward J. Huxtable, Jr.: Lead Airmen on USS Gambier Bay During the Battle of Leyte Gulf

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‘Suddenly, we broke into the clear again on the starboard side of the cruisers,’ recalled Huxtable. ‘They were in line and directly ahead of us. The red balls of anti-aircraft fire were coming at us in what seemed like torrents; they were passing just below us. I broke to the left and started for the after cruiser in a shallow dive doing about 190 knots.

‘When I got within 2,000 to 3,000 yards, the anti-aircraft fire was getting just too hot. I couldn’t see being a hero without a load, so I turned left and pulled out.

‘I made a wide circle to the left and came in on their starboard side…paralleling them except on a reverse course; I was watching their next move. I thought I was far enough out at about 3,000 to 4,000 yards so they wouldn’t shoot me. Five different colored 5-inch bursts appeared about 150 yards ahead of me and I flew through the smoke of the middle burst.’

Huxtable had survived the anti-aircraft fire of eight cruisers, despite flying straight down their line. He then flew past the battleships, trying to give the impression he might drop a bomb or torpedo although he had none.

As air group commander for Taffy 3, he radioed a course proposal to Sprague on Fanshaw Bay, another escort carrier. Then he called Gambier Bay. The assistant air officer suggested he arm at Tacloban Airfield on Leyte. ‘I doubted that there was anything at Tacloban since they had just gone ashore two days before,’ said Huxtable, ‘and thought instead we could do a good job of just harassing the Japs by making dummy runs, and this all planes did from then on, mostly on an individual basis.’ Some Taffy 3 pilots, augmented by other Seventh Fleet planes, were eventually armed and made hits on several Japanese ships.

A Navy Department release noted some planes did not drop bombs on their first runs. Some made two and three runs through anti-aircraft fire to get sure shots. Afterward they joined Huxtable in ‘dry’ runs. ‘I made a dummy run on the lead cruiser from ahead,’ said Huxtable. ‘After a while, I made another run on the starboard bow. I made pullouts with the bomb bay doors open to feign a torpedo drop.

‘I flew back to our carriers and noted one of them was listing to port and slowed….I thought it was White Plains…but it was Gambier Bay.’

Gambier Bay was in serious trouble. Along with Kalinin Bay, Gambier Bay had been left exposed to salvos from the Japanese ships as Taffy 3 turned toward Samar. Fortunately, a rain squall and heroic destroyer action kept the Japanese from finishing off Kalinin Bay.

Gambier Bay was not blessed with such good fortune. At first Captain Vieweg managed to predict the Japanese shooting pattern and evade the salvos. But after about half an hour, Gambier Bay was bracketed by geysers as the Japanese gunners zeroed in on their target.

Huxtable continued to make dummy torpedo runs at the Japanese cruisers, watching the U.S. destroyers and destroyer escorts attack the Japanese fleet pursuing the baby flattops. ‘Our destroyers were taking a beating and some were afire,’ he noted. ‘They were magnificent in their actions from the very first attack and throughout the battle. Being an old destroyer man myself, I really felt for them when I saw them turn to go in on their first attack.’

The destroyers Johnston and Hoel were sunk that day, as was the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts. Gambier Bay would also share that fate.

A salvo from the mammoth battleship Yamato fell very near Gambier Bay, smashing a hole in the hull near the forward engine room. Gambier Bay’s speed dropped from 17 to 11 knots, and the ship fell behind the rest of Taffy 3. It was 8:20 a.m.

Despite the harassing actions of American aircraft and destroyers, the Japanese ships increased their rate of fire. Soon every other salvo was damaging Gambier Bay. A bulkhead near the forward engine room split, flooding the forward machine shop. A shell penetrated the starboard magazine, blowing it up.

Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Sea-Air Operations, World War II

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