American Valor Quarterly Issue 8 - Winter 2010/2011 | Page 5

Gallantry, Guts, and Gumption
The Samuel B. Roberts and the
Battle off Samar Island
By Jack Yusen
The Battle off Samar, October 25, 1944, was the centermost
action during the epic Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest
naval battles in history. A modern-day tale of “David vs. Goliath,”
the American task unit “Taffy 3” of the U.S. 7th Fleet, made up
of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts, was forced
to take on a massive Japanese force led by the battleship Yamato,
after Admiral “Bull” Halsey was lured into taking the U.S. 3rd
Fleet after a Japanese decoy fleet.
Realizing that nothing stood between the Japanese force and the
American troop and supply ships supporting the landings at Leyte
Gulf, Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, commander of Task Unit
77.4.3 or “Taffy 3,” ordered his destroyers, destroyer escorts,
and aircraft to confront the Japanese head on, despite their massive
disadvantage in strength and firepower.
The Americans suffered tremendous losses in ships and men,
with two escort carriers, two destroyers, and one destroyer escort
sunk, and virtually all of the ships damaged. More than 1,500
men were lost, and another 900 wounded. Still, the scrappy
American force inflicted serious damage on the Japanese, sinking
three enemy heavy cruisers and damaging three more. Far more
importantly, the intensity of the American defense led the Japanese
commander, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, to believe he was facing
a much larger force, causing him to withdraw rather than pressing
on to destroy Taffy 3, and ultimately the troop and supply ships
at Leyte Gulf.

The USS Samuel B. Roberts in the waters off Boston, 1944,
shortly before departing on its fateful voyage.

Little did seventeen-year-old Jack know what lay ahead as he
boarded the Samuel B. Roberts in Boston, February 1944. Six
months later, he would find himself thousands of miles from
home in the Leyte Gulf, playing a small part in one of the great
naval battles of World War II.

As we headed into the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston in early
1944, we pulled up along the left side of a huge ship with massive
guns aimed outward. My friends and I stood staring at it, wideeyed with amazement at what we thought was our new ship, the
Samuel B. Roberts. Moments later, the chief petty officer
approached us and asked us what we were looking at.

AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY - Winter 2010/11 - 5

U.S. Navy Photo

In late 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, fifteen-yearold Jack Yusen of New York made the decision that he was
determined to join the military. One day two years later, shortly
after graduating high school, he walked past one of the famed
Uncle Sam “I Want You,” recruiting posters when getting off the
subway. He turned right around, got back on the subway, and “We’re looking at our ship, of course,” I replied to him.
rode down to the recruiting office on Church St. in Manhattan.
By 11:00 that morning, he had raised his right hand and pledged At that, he shot back a look of amusement and informed us that
himself to service in the United States Navy.
this ship was not the Roberts; it was a British cruiser. He then
pointed toward our ship, hidden behind the cruiser with nothing
Within four weeks, Jack received