"Death of The Japanese Navy"; "Dogfights" Taffy-3 rebroadcast tonight 1-16-07

History Channels "Dogfights" website ^ | 1-16-07 | History Channel staff

[VOA]

Re-Broadcast Times for "Dogfights" episode of "Death of The Japanese Navy"
are EASTERN time:

Tuesday January 16 11:00 PM
Wednesday January 17 03:00 AM
(from a "Dogfights" webpage)
In one of the most amazing yet lopsided naval battles in history,
a mighty Japanese fleet led by the Yamato, the biggest battleship
in the world, versus Taffy 3, a small U.S. task unit of tin can
destroyers and baby flat-tops. The U.S. fleet is made up of ships
too weak to fight and too slow to run. David battles Goliath in
a fight for survival, with the lives of thousands of American soldiers
in the balance. We will recreate this famous battle using state
of the art computer graphics. Viewers will feel like they're in
the battle, facing the enemy.

[VOA]

This is a television "headsup" for those that missed the original airing
of this story of the naval and aerial components of The Battle of Samar"

I saw this on the original broadcast date.
Like all the "Dogfights" episodes, the computer-generated
renditions of the aerial component (of The Battle of Samar) are
quite well-done.
The naval component (i.e., The Last Stand of The Tin-Can Sailors)
is also technically well-done, but a little souless as they are
devoid of sailors mvoing about on the ships (which of course would
have garnered an "R", "NC-17" or "X" rating for graphic, realistic
violence of the battle).

[VOA]

bump for publicity

[unkus]

ping

[VOA]

Thanks for checking in...
and here's another bump for publicity

[GoldCountryRedneck]

The "Dogfights" series has become a Friday nite must-see here. The credits flash by too fast to read, but I suspect that a version of MS FlightSimulator is used to generate the amazing graphics....

Anybody confirm??????

[unkus]

I have seen something on this on the History Channel. If it is the same battle, it is an amazing story. A lot of posthumous medals. Those men were BRAVE.

[CrazyIvan]

Wish I could get it out here in the boonies. This is a great true story of tactics, heroism, and fate on both sides. "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" or "Sea of Thunder" are excellent reading on this subject. I especially like one line about being in heavy seas with an escort destroyer. One sailor said that they should get both flight pay and submarine pay because half the time they were in the air and the other half they were underwater! An escort destroyer weighed about what one turret on the Yamato weighed.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

Roger that on the CGI being very good - puts me on the edge of my seat for the most part, it does. I try not to miss an episode.

 

Last week's show "Long Odds" was outstanding - particularly about the "Speedy-D" that shot down 3 Zeros - I had never heard of that fight until that show. Amazing what a man can do when he's quick on the mind as well as the stick.

 

 

 

[Obie Wan]

The battle of Leyte Gulf where Bull Halsey took off after a decoy Jap fleet leaving Taffy 3 allllllll alone. Remember Admiral Nimitz's message to Halsey ("Turkey trots to water. Where is repeat where is Task Force 34 The world wonders") !!!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Good line: "flight pay and sub pay."

[VOA]

Last week's show "Long Odds" was outstanding

Amen to that.
That portrayal of the SBD pilot smoking three Zeros was well nigh incredible.

Overall, "Long Odds" ranks just about tops of my "Dogfights" favorites.

For a segment from "Dogfights", I put Robin Olds in his WWII exploits
in a P-38 as darned well pretty amazing.

And the "Mig Alley" show was pretty good, with the guy who downed
the Mig thus, wiping out most of a Mig group on the ground in Manchuria.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

A must see! I try to never miss it!

[rmlew]

I liked the Louisianan Marine fighter pilot from the Guadalcanal episode.

[llevrok]

Remember Admiral Nimitz's message to Halsey ("Turkey trots to water. Where is repeat where is Task Force 34 The world wonders") !!!

If I recall from "Tin Can Sailors", the turkey phrase and the world wonders phrase were decoys around the real message "where is task force 34".

Ideally, the prefix and suffix phrases, when coded, were meant to confuse those enemies trying to decipher

In reality, a decoder left it in the message given to Halsey by mistake. And Halsey took it is biting sarcasm from Nimitz.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

 

the SBD pilot smoking three Zeros was well nigh incredible.

 

Good grief, yes! "Swede" was doing jet-fighter type manuevers, and without a G-suit. That had to have been beating him to a pulp, but he had no choice - it was do or die. Bet the hapless rear gunner needed more than a change of underpants after that ordeal. In the words of Rear Admiral George Tarran in James Michener's The Bridges at Toko-Ri, "Where do we get such men"

 

 

 

[VOA]

I liked the Louisianan Marine fighter pilot from the Guadalcanal episode.

Yep!
Hearing him recount in that fantastic accent how he got his squadron to
stay with him seeing how he was going to stay on station even with
a leaky fuel tank.

And he says "Now, ah ain't no hero..."
(incredible)

[VOA]

In reality, a decoder left it in the message given to Halsey by mistake.
And Halsey took it is biting sarcasm from Nimitz.

Your recollection is basically what I've read over the years.
I've taken it as an object lesson to be "slow to anger" when reading
written communication.

Even if Halsey did "bite" when the Japanese dangeled a lure,
I still feel a bit of sympathy at his response to the errant message.
IIRC, it was said he threw his hat to the deck and started crying
at what he perceived as a pointed insult to his whole life as a Navy man.

[VOA]

bump for publicity

[BallyBill]

Repeating this episode again Sunday @ 5PM EST. Truly a great job on all these episodes. The "camera" even vibrates when the crafts whizz by their perspective.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Dat be a Cajun boy!