I was watching a WW2 documentary a while ago and they had a story how during the campaign to take back the Philippines, the Navy ships guarding the landing forces took off to chase a Japanese fleet. Left the ground troops almost undefended except for 4 or 5 destroyers. From the other side of the island another Jap fleet snuck around and the crew of the 4 destroyers knew they had the stand their ground to give the troops more time to offload. One of the destroyer captains got on the horn and said, "we will be engaging the Japanese fleet shortly. The outcome is doubtful but I know you will do your job." they gave the japs all they could even scoring a few hits but ultimately they were all sunk. Then the sharks came and ate a lot of the sailors in the water. And still, years later, not a single guy who survived whined afterwards that they should have cut and run, because they had a job to do. It annoys me when people are already admitting defeat before we've played the game. Yes the outcome is doubtful but you have to be a real douche to bring up that Miami doesn't have a chance at every opportunity.
That would be the Battle off Samar, part of the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Basically they were Destroyer Escorts who lost their carrier air cover when Bull Halsey took his Third Fleet off to attack a phantom Japanese carrier force. This left about four tin cans to defend the Jeep carriers and the landing beaches at Leyte against Admiral Kurita’s Center Force Of fleet battleships and heavy cruisers, led by the super battleship Yamato.
Center Force basically had its way with the tin cans, but not without serious losses on its own part that disrupted Kurita’s attack. The DE’s attacked with such fury that , combined with the planes from the Jeep Carriers, convinced Admiral Kurita to signal a withdrawal. Kurita became convinced he was facing Halsey’s Third Fleet, so he withdrew.
The Canes are the Tin Cans, of course. They’re not expected to win against Alabama, but they have a better chance now than they had even a week ago. Better coaching will make the difference, of course, but as the Battle off Samar reminds us, there’s always a chance!
