USN:
A Kamikaze hits USS Suwannee, (CVE-27), in the waters off the Philippines, 26 Oct 1944. Taken from USS Sangamon, (CVE-26)
At 07:40 on the 25th, "Taffy 1" was jumped by land-based planes from Davao in the first deliberate kamikaze attack of the war. The first one crashed into
Santee; and, 30 seconds later,
Suwannee splashed a kamikaze during his run on Petrof Bay. Her gunners soon shot down another enemy plane, then bore down on a third circling in the clouds at about 8,000 ft (2,400 m). They hit the enemy, but he rolled over, dove at
Suwannee and crashed into her at 08:04 about 40 ft (12 m) forward of the after elevator, opening a 10 ft (3.0 m) hole in her flight deck.[1] His bomb compounded the fracture when it exploded between the flight and hangar decks, tearing a 25 ft (7.6 m) gash in the latter and causing a number of casualties
Medical officer Lieutenant Walter B. Burwell wrote:
One of our corpsmen tending the wounded on the flight deck saw the plight of those isolated by fire on the forecastle. He came below to report that medical help was critically needed there. It seemed to me that we would have to try to get through to them. So he and I restocked our first aid bags with morphine syrettes, tourniquets, sulfa, Vaseline, and bandages, commandeered a fire extinguisher and made our way forward, dodging flames along the main deck. Along part of the way, we were joined by a sailor manning a seawater fire hose with fairly good pressure, and though the seawater would only scatter the gasoline fires away from us, by using the water and foam alternatively as we advanced, we managed to work our way up several decks, through passageways along the wrecked and burning combat information center and decoding area, through officers' country, and finally out on the forecastle. Many of the crew on the forecastle and the catwalks above it had been blown over the side by the explosions. But others trapped below and aft of the forecastle area found themselves under a curtain of fire from aviation gasoline pouring down from burning planes on the flight deck above. Their only escape was to leap aflame into the sea, but some were trapped so that they were incinerated before they could leap. By the time we arrived on the forecastle, the flow of gasoline had mostly consumed itself, and flames were only erupting and flickering from combustible areas of water and oil. Nonetheless, the decks and bulkheads were still blistering hot and ammunition in the small arms locker on the deck below was popping from the heat like strings of firecrackers. With each salvo of popping, two or three more panicky crew men would leap over the side, and we found that our most urgent task was to persuade those poised on the rail not to jump by a combination of physical restraint and reassurance that fires were being controlled and that more help was on the way. Most of the remaining wounded in the forecastle area were severely burned beyond recognition and hope.
Within two hours, her flight deck was sufficiently repaired to enable the escort carrier to resume air operations.
Suwanee's group fought off two more air attacks before 13:00; then steamed in a northeasterly direction to join Taffy 3 and launch futile searches for Kurita's rapidly retiring force. Just after noon on 26 October, another group of kamikazes jumped Taffy 1. A Zero crashed into
Suwanee's flight deck at 1240 and careened into a torpedo bomber which had just been recovered. The two planes erupted upon contact as did nine other planes on her flight deck. The resulting fire burned for several hours, but was finally brought under control. The casualties for 25–26 October were 107 dead and 160 wounded. The escort carriers put into Kossol Roads in the Palaus on 28 October, then headed for Manus for upkeep on 1 November.
**This image is from the 2nd of the two strikes on
Suwanee**