The Battle of Surigao Strait was the largest clash of warships of World War II. Japanese, American and Australian forces engaged at night in the last great naval battle between big gun “dreadnaughts”. Among the lineup was the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire and the destroyer HMAS Arunta. Here veterans describe the lead-up to the historic battle and the roles they played in history’s final clash of battleship titans. Part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Surigao was fought on the night of October 24 and 25. Except for the USS Mississippi, all the battleships that took part were damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
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This is awesome, thanks for posting.
This video is a very informative broadcast. Thank you so much for posting it!
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Bloody marvellous
Brilliant accounts as ever.
I've always disliked how this battle had been referred to as "Yamashiro vs West Virginia", when it was actually "Yamashiro vs West Virginia, California, Tennessee, a dozen cruisers, and two destroyer flotillas". West Virginia actually played a relatively small role in the battle, only scoring three of the over a dozen battleship shell hits scored on Yamashiro.
So many, many times the US has assumed there kit is the best. I think the 10 ton bomb, radar, Inigma, torpedoes, Sherman tank/gun, no early US convoys off the US tc, etc, might drop a hint – but no.
I Thank God, for our British Commonwealth brothers and sisters in Australia. Canadian
It is difficult to express with words how excited I am when a video from this channel appears in my notifications. You just know you can set aside some time and strap in for some AAA+ quality informative content of a calibre that is almost unmatched. 😁👏👏👏
Nice to see the County class getting some recognition.
if the japanese admiral s had swapped the battle of leyte gulf would have been very different-halsey should have been sacked over leyte gulf
Unfortunately this video doesn´t tell the brutal truth about MacArthur.
Macarthur often failed to give credit where ir was due to Australian armed forces. For example, the Kokoda Trail campaign. "The generalship of MacArthur and Blamey has been criticised for unreasonable and unrealistic perceptions of the terrain and conditions under which the campaign was fought—to the detriment of the troops committed to the fighting. "- wikipedia (I am speaking here as a neutrallBrit, Well done Aussies!)
To the veteran who said "We were a small number compared to the ships that they (the U.S.) had." As an American who served alongside Australians in Somalia, your ships were there fighting alongside the men of my father's generation. As Shakespeare said, that made all participants a Band of Brothers. Showing up is everything.
Glad that there is someone who will give us history lessons without trying to shove another star spangled rag down our throats.
A very good oral history of HMAS Shropshire and HMAS Arunta at Surigao Strait, I enjoyed this greatly! There was a lots of great archival film of Shropshire and Arunta as well as all the US Navy ships. Thanks for your work and the post.
The man chuckling about the Americans firing so much ammunition at one plane. Sir, There's no such thing as shooting too much ammunition.
This is embarrassing to say. I didn't know Australian ships were in the Order of Battle in "Battle of Surigao Strait".
Articles I read always talk about the harassing PT Boats, the destroyers torpedoing the battleships and then the US Pearl Harbor battle wagons coming in to finish them off.
Thank you for these videos and interviews Armored Carriers
Nice to see from the Australian perspective. Good information on RAN fire control, and first person accounts. Nice integration with clips from Victory at Sea. Over all solid effort. Thanks!
Interesting about the Radar capabilities of the Shrop, and the use of the 8" as AA. Had no idea they had that advantage. 90% of early radar reports is a massive contribution.
8in AA guns? Ouch!
What a fantastic video, my Father served as Trainer in "B" turret aboard Shropshire having previously survived the sinking of Canberra, two of my Uncles, Mum's brother and Dad's brother were both AA Gunners on Arunta. Some of the footage I have never seen before. I wish they were still with us to have seen this presentation. BZ.
It does not sound as if 8" gun shells had a proximity fuse. If they had it could have proved interesting!
I love to hear of the great contributions made by the "commonwealth nations", Australia, New Zealand , India, Canada and others. They don't always get recognition they fully deserved. We owe them an unpayable debt. My deepest respects from the UK.
Thank you for covering the last Battle ship action of the 2nd World War.
The refitted battleships from Pearl Harbour take their revenge on the Fuso and Yamashiro. The Australia navy gets revenge for sinking of HMS Perth in the the Java Sea and HMS Canberra at Savo island.
One of the commentators mentioned the USS Phoenix, later named the ARA General Belgrano, sunk in 1982 by a British submarine off of the Falklands.
Amazing British radar-guided naval gunfire capability.
I sat down with my father-in-law over a few beers. He went through this battle just as it has been told in this show. He was on the Arunta and described how they went in close range until they were told to get out or be sunk. He was awarded a DSM during the action. Considering he just got off the Canberra to join the Arunta. He was also on the Swan(sunk) and Hobart. I should have recorded his exploits. Including pinching beer from the American supply tents and storing it on board. Let's just say they were a bunch of rogues from his stores.
As an Australian who is very much into naval history i had absolutely no idea we had ships present at the Battle of Surigao Strait! Thank you so much for this video!
Ppp00pp0
Minor nitpick, but I’ve seen the image you’ve used as the the thumbnail image been portrayed as an image of the battle of Surigo Strait in the past before, even though it isn’t, it’s a Nagato class battleship passing a lighthouse. Just wanted to say it.
I was chatting to a chap the other day about how the Aussies really did not get the respect they deserved in the general media sadly. Yes we all know what went on but the almost scrubbing of their efforts in the pacific always makes me grumpy.
Kiwi's and well all the commonwealth troops who had to fight so hard there, now days with the movies it just looks like America won the pacific alone… they always ignore the other nations efforts.
This is a great documentary. Lot's of footage hat is rarely seen. Many Thanks.
The picture from the start is a photo of the Nagato on a training mission pre-war and not the Yamashiro at the battle.
Thank God we didn't have Halsey or MacArthur in the ETO.
The Americans sank HMAS Canberra . So what's new ?
Thank you. I didn't know about Australian involvement in the operation to retake the Philippines.
That's a great video, thank you.
Fantastic video !!! Thank you very much for this !!! Up the Nips !!Thanks to the Aussies !!