October
23-26, 1944
The
Battle for Leyte Gulf
The
Third Fleet as of dawn October 24, 1944
Admiral William F. Halsey aboard battleship New Jersey
The Third Fleet
consisted of Task Force 38
under the tactical command of Vice Admiral Mitscher
Task
Force 38 - The Fast Carrier Force
He commanded from aboard the Aircraft Carrier "Lexington"-
which had logistical support units as :
8 Fleet Carriers, 8
Light Carriers, 6 Battleships,
6 Heavy Cruisers, 9 Light Cruisers, 58
Destroyers
ABBREVIATIONS - SHIPS : AIRPLANES:
VF = Fighter
CV = Fleet Aircraft-Carrier VB = Dive Bomber
CVL = Light Fleet Aircraft-Carrier VT = Torpedo-bomber
BB = Battleship
CA = Heavy Cruiser
CL = Light Cruiser or Anti-aircraft Light Cruiser
DD = Destroyer
The
Fast Carrier Force and Its Ships
CV and
CVL with fast-Battleships and Cruisers
Task
Force 38 was divided into four fast carrier
groups, as follows :
Task
Group One, TG38.1
Vice Admiral John S. McCain
aboard carrier Wasp
(Sen. John McCain's grandfather)
3 Fleet Carriers, 2 Light Fleet Carriers,
4 Heavy Cruisers, 2 Anti-aircraft Light Cruisers, 14 Destroyers:
CV = Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Wasp
CV18 (Capt. O.A. Weller)
Air Group 14 (Cdr W.C.
Wingard)
43VF, 28VB,
18VT
Hornet
CV12 (Capt. A.K. Doyle)
Air Group 11 (Cdr F.R.
Schraber)
40VF, 25VB,
18VT
Hancock
CV19 (Capt. F.C. Dickey)
Air Group 7 (Cdr J.D.
Lamade)
41VF, 42(?)VB,
18VT
CVL = Light Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Cowpens
CVL25 (Captain H.W. Taylor)
Air Group 22 (Lt. Cdr T.H.
Jenkins USNR)
26VF, 9VT
Monterey
CVL26 (Captain
S.H. Ingersoll) Air Group 28
(Lt. Cdr R.W.
Mehle)
Gerald
R. Ford was aboard 23VF, 9VT
CA = Heavy Cruiser
CA24 Pensacola (Captain A.P. Mullinix)
CA25 Salt Lake City (Captain L.W. Busbey)
CA27 Chester (Captain Henry Hartley)
CA69 Boston (Captain E.E. Herrmann)CL = Light Cruiser
CL53 Anti-aircraft light cruiser San Diego (Captain W.E. Mullan)
CL95 Anti-aircraft light cruiser Oakland (Captain K.S. Reed)DD = Destroyer
DD435 Grayson DD460 Woodworth DD488 McCalla
DD544 Boyd DD546 Brown DD547 Cowell
DD581 Charrette DD582 Conner DD587 Bell
DD588 Burns DD589 Izard DD650 Caperton
DD651 Cogswell DD652 Ingersoll
Ships
of Third Fleet that were in Ulithi, December 1944
Task
Group Two, TG38.2
Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan
aboard carrier
Intrepid
1 Fleet Carrier, 2 Light Fleet Carriers, 2 Battleships, 3 Light Cruisers, 16 Destroyers -
CV = Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Intrepid
CV11 (Captain J.F.
Bolger)
Air Group 18 (Cdr W.E. Ellis)
44VT, 28VB,
18VT
CVL = Light Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Cabot
CVL28 (Captain S.J. Michael)
Air Group 29 (Lt. Cdr
W.E. Eder)
21VF, 9VT
Independence
CVL22 (Captain E.C.
Ewen)
Night Air Group 41 (Cdr T.F.
Caldwell)
19VF, 8VT
BB = Battleship
BB61 Iowa (Captain A.R. McCann)
BB62 New Jersey (Captain C.F. Holden) (ADMIRAL HALSEY aboard)CL = Light Cruiser
CL64 Vincennes (Captain A.D. Brown)
CL80 Biloxi (Captain P.R. Heineman)
CL89 Miami Miami (Captain J.G. Crawford)DD = Destroyer
DD535 Miller DD536 Owen
DD537 The Sullivans DD539 Tingey
DD540 Twining DD541 Yarnall
DD658 Colahan DD673 Hickox
DD674 Hunt DD675 Lewis Hancock
DD676 Marshall DD683 Stockham
DD684 Wedderburn DD686 Halsey Powell
DD687 Uhlmann DD797 Cushing
Task
Group Three, TG38.3
Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman
aboard carrier
Essex
2 Fleet Carriers, 2 Light Fleet Carriers, 2 Battleships,
3 Light Cruisers, 1 Anti-aircraft Light Cruiser, 17 Destroyers -
CV = Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Essex
CV9 (Captain C.W.
Weiber)
Air Group 15 (Cdr David
McCampbell)
51VF, 25VB, 19VT
Lexington
CV16 (Captain E.W.
Litch) Air Group 19 (Cdr T.H. Winters)
42VF, 30VB,
18VT
CVL = Light Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Princeton
CVL23 (Captain W.H.
Buracker)
Air Group 27 (Lt. Cdr.
F.A. Bardshar)
Sunk
in the Battle
25VF, 9VT
Langley
CVL27 (Captain J.F.
Wegforth) Air Group 44 (Cdr
M.T. Wordell)
25VF, 9VT
BB = Battleship
BB57 South Dakota (Captain C.B. Momsen)
BB59 Massachusetts (Captain W.W. Warlick)CL = Light Cruiser
CL60 Santa Fe (Captain Jerauld Wright)
CL62 Birmingham (Captain T.B. Inglis)
CL63 Mobile (Captain C.C. Miller)
CL96 Anti-aircraft light cruiser Reno (Captain R.C. Alexander)DD = Destroyer
DD558 Laws
DD559 Longshaw DD560 Morrison
DD650 Caperton DD651 Cogswell
DD652 Ingersoll DD653 Knapp
DD668 Clarence K. Bronson DD669 Cotten
DD670 Dortch DD671 Gatling
DD672 Healy DD682 Porterfield
DD792 Callaghan DD793 Cassin Young
DD794 Irwin DD795 Preston
Task Group Four,
TG38.4
Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison
aboard carrier
Franklin
2 Fleet Carriers, 2 Light Fleet Carriers, 2 Battleships, 2 Heavy Cruisers, 11 Destroyers
CV = Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Enterprise
CV6 (Captain Cato D. Glover)
Air Group 20 (Cdr Dan F. Smith)
40VF, 34VB,
19VT
Franklin
CV13 (Captain J.M. Shoemaker)
Air Group 13 (Cdr R.L.
Kibbe)
39VF, 31VB,
18VT
CVL = Light Fleet Aircraft-Carrier
Belleau
Wood CVL24 (Captain John Perry)
Air Group 21 (Lt. Cdr V.F.
Casey)
25VF, 9VT
San
Jacinto CVL30
(Captain M.H.
Kernodle)
Air Group 51 (Cdr C.L.
Moore)
19VF, 7VT
BB = Battleship
BB56 Washington (Captain T.R. Cooley)
BB60 Alabama (Captain V.R. Murphy)CA = Heavy Cruiser
CA32 New Orleans (Captain J.E. Hurff)
CA45 Wichita (Captain D.A. Spencer)DD = Destroyer
DD380 Gridley DD386 Bagley
DD388 Helm DD389 Mugford DD390 Ralph Talbot
DD392 Patterson DD400 McCall DD401 Maury DD441 Wilkes DD442 Nicholson DD443 Swanson
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