USS Laffey's Battle Against Kamikazes
Twenty-two Japanese Kamikaze planes attack USS Laffey.
USS Laffey, naval destroyer DD724, helped bombard Normandy beaches on D-Day and was now in the Pacific theater of war. Commander Frederick Julian Becton, USN, and his crew took up their station on the Okinawa radar picket line in April 1945. Their duty was to report incoming enemy planes as they headed for the Okinawa beachhead. Their tour of duty was uneventful until 0827 April 16th.
The Battle Begins
A concentrated attack by four Japanese Kamikaze (suicide) planes came at the ship. Two of them headed for the bow and two headed for the stern. The Laffey shot down three and the fourth plane was knocked down by a nearby support landing craft.
Two more Japanese suicide bombers came in toward the bow, the Laffey shot down both of them. A seventh Kamikaze crashed amidships and a huge fire was started. Now smoke and flames were making the Laffey a target indeed, The enemy could see that it was crippled and would jump on it with full force.
The Japanese Swarm Over the Laffey
Two Kamikazes came one after the other and crashed into the after five-inch twin gun mount. The first one was carrying a bomb and it exploded on deck. The second Kamikaze dropped its bomb on deck just before crashing into the gun mount. Just then two more Kamikaze came in Laffey’s port quarter, crashing into the deckhouse. Gasoline flooded two compartments and now Laffey had fires going all over the place.
The Kamikaze Attack Continues
Another enemy suicide plane dropped a bomb close to the port propeller and jammed the rudder. A Japanese plane then came from the port bow and was shot down close to the ship’s side. A large bomb fragment knocked out the power in the number two five-inch gun mount. Laffey knocked down one of the Kamikazes about 500 yards from the ship.
Laffey had been strafed, bombed and hit by enemy planes. Fires were raging all over the ship. The rudder was damaged and all electrical power was gone. The last Japanese plane that attacked came in from the port bow and was shot down. The action had lasted one hour and twenty minutes.
This gallant destroyer had been attacked by twenty-two enemy planes. Eight of them had struck the ship and four bombs had hit the Laffey. Thirty-three men had been killed and seventy-one wounded. Undoubtedly no warship has ever survived an attack of this intensity.
USS Laffey, DD724, is now a National Historic landmark. It can be visited at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Sources:
Commander Becton, USN, World War II Interviews, Operational Archives, Naval Historic Center, February 19, 2001
Fred M. Gebhart, Gunner’s Mate 2/c, Oral History, Naval Historic Center
Larry Delewski, Gunner’s Mate.2/c, Oral History, Naval Historic Center
Luther McBryde, Signalman 3/c,Oral History, Naval Historic Center
History Net, 2006
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