One thousand seven hundred forty-five tons against seventy-two thousand. A destroyer escort against the most powerful battleship ever built.
On October 25, 1944, USS Samuel B. Roberts found herself directly in the path of twenty-three Japanese warships off Samar Island. No reinforcements. No heavy guns. No escape route. Just two 5-inch guns, three torpedoes, and a crew that had never fired a shot in combat. Her mission was simple — stop Yamato and her escorts from reaching the undefended American invasion fleet. The math said it was impossible.
What her crew did in the next fifty-one minutes earned Roberts a nickname that still echoes through naval history. And what happened to her survivors over the following fifty hours is a story most people have never heard.
In 2022, her wreck was found four miles beneath the ocean — the deepest shipwreck ever discovered.
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On October 25, 1944, USS Samuel B. Roberts found herself directly in the path of twenty-three Japanese warships off Samar Island. No reinforcements. No heavy guns. No escape route. Just two 5-inch guns, three torpedoes, and a crew that had never fired a shot in combat. Her mission was simple — stop Yamato and her escorts from reaching the undefended American invasion fleet. The math said it was impossible.
What her crew did in the next fifty-one minutes earned Roberts a nickname that still echoes through naval history. And what happened to her survivors over the following fifty hours is a story most people have never heard.
In 2022, her wreck was found four miles beneath the ocean — the deepest shipwreck ever discovered.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
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LearningTranscript
00:00The radar screen aboard USS Samuel B. Roberts lit up at 0645 on October 25, 1944.
00:08Lieutenant Commander Robert Copeland stepped onto the bridge off Samar Island
00:12and counted the silhouettes emerging through the dawn haze.
00:15Enemy warships. More than he could engage. More than he could survive.
00:20Six months in command. 224 men under his authority.
00:24Zero combat engagements against surface ships.
00:27The Japanese center force had 23 warships closing on his position.
00:31Battleship Yamato. 72,000 tons. 18-inch guns that could fire a shell weighing 3,200 pounds
00:39to a range of 26 miles. Three more battleships behind her.
00:43Six heavy cruisers. Two light cruisers. 11 destroyers.
00:48Samuel B. Roberts displaced 1,745 tons fully loaded.
00:53Her main battery consisted of two 5-inch guns.
00:55Her design top speed was 24 knots. She was a destroyer escort built to hunt submarines in the
01:02Atlantic, not fight battleships in the Pacific. The math was simple. Yamato outweighed Roberts by
01:08a ratio of 41 to 1. A single salvo from Yamato's main battery weighed more than Roberts' entire
01:14ammunition load. The Japanese fleet could stand off at 15 miles and dismantle every American ship on
01:20station without taking a single hit in return. Copeland's ship was part of Task Unit 77.4.3,
01:27callsign TAFI-3. Six escort carriers. Three destroyers. Four destroyer escorts.
01:34Their mission was to provide air support for the Leyte Gulf landings, not to engage the Imperial
01:40Japanese Navy's most powerful surface action group. Admiral Halsey's 3rd fleet had been lured north,
01:46chasing empty Japanese carriers. The San Bernardino Strait was supposed to be blocked. It wasn't.
01:52Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita had brought his entire center force through the strait during the night.
01:57Now his battleships were 8 miles away and closing. The escort carriers were defenseless. Thin flight
02:03decks over converted merchant hulls. No armor. Maximum speed, 18 knots. If Kurita reached them,
02:10the slaughter would take minutes. Roberts had been in commission for 5 months and 27 days. Most of her
02:16crew had never fired their guns in anger. The chief engineer had never pushed the engines past test
02:21speeds. The torpedo crews had never launched their Mark 15 torpedoes at a moving target. By late October
02:281944, the statistics for destroyer escorts engaging heavy cruisers were clear. They didn't survive. In two
02:36years of Pacific combat, no destroyer escort had successfully defeated a Japanese heavy cruiser in
02:42surface action. The armor differential was too great. The gun caliber mismatch was absolute. Roberts'
02:485-inch guns could penetrate cruiser armor at close range under perfect conditions. Against battleship
02:54armor, they were effectively useless. Her Mark 15 torpedoes had a range of 6,000 yards. To reach firing
03:01position, Roberts would need to close to within four miles of ships that could kill her at 15.
03:07Copeland had read the action reports from previous battles. He knew what happened when light escorts
03:12fought heavy units. USS Johnston at the battle off Cape Esperance. Crippled by the first salvo.
03:19Sunk within an hour. USS Lafayette Guadalcanal. 14-inch shells through her engine room. Dead in the water.
03:26Finished by torpedoes. The Japanese were already firing. Colored splashes walked across the water
03:32toward the carriers. Red. Green. Yellow. Purple. Each battleship and cruiser used dye in their shells,
03:39so observers could track their fall of shot. The rainbow salvos meant multiple ships had locked
03:45firing solutions. A 1,745 ton destroyer escort was about to charge a 72,000 ton battleship. Hit that like
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03:59Back to Roberts. Copeland looked at his crew. Gunner's mate 3rd class Paul Carr stood at his
04:05station on the aft 5-inch mount. Lieutenant Lucky Trowbridge waited in the engine room with his
04:10hand on the throttle controls. The torpedo crews checked their Mark 15s one final time. At 0735,
04:17Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague ordered the destroyers and destroyer escorts to make a torpedo attack.
04:23It was a death sentence phrased as a tactical command. Small boys attack. Copeland reached for
04:30the ship's announcing system. His next order would send Roberts charging directly into the guns of
04:35the most powerful battleship ever built. Copeland gave the order at 0740. Roberts turned hard to
04:41starboard and increased speed. The torpedo run would require closing from 8 miles to 4 miles
04:47vehicles, under direct fire from battleships and cruisers. Standard doctrine called for destroyers
04:52to make high-speed dashes using smoke for concealment. Roberts would follow the same playbook,
04:58despite weighing half what a fleet destroyer weighed. Lieutenant Lucky Trowbridge stood in the
05:02forward engine room, watching his gauges. The John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts were designed with
05:08two boilers feeding steam to twin turbines. Maximum design pressure was 450 pounds per square inch.
05:15That pressure delivered 24 knots in calm seas. Against Yamato's 31-knot top speed,
05:2224 knots meant Roberts would be run down and destroyed before reaching torpedo range.
05:27Trowbridge made his decision in seconds. He ordered both boiler rooms to bypass every safety valve and
05:33pressure relief system. The boiler crews opened the fuel oil flow to maximum. Trowbridge watched the
05:39pressure gauges climb past 450 pounds, 500, 550, 600, 660 pounds per square inch. The turbines screamed. The
05:53fire at 660 pounds per square inch exceeded design specifications by 46%. If a boiler failed at this pressure,
06:00the explosion would kill everyone in both engine rooms and cripple the ship. If a steam line ruptured,
06:07superheated steam at 600 degrees would fill the compartments in seconds. Roberts accelerated. 25 knots, 26, 27.
06:16At 28 knots, she was moving 4 knots faster than her designers had ever intended.
06:21The extra speed came from engineering margins built in for safety. Trowbridge was burning those margins to
06:27buy his ship a chance. On deck, the other destroyers were already making their runs. USS Johnston charged
06:34directly at the Japanese line. USS Hole followed close behind. USS Heerman angled for the battleships.
06:41All three were Fletcher-class destroyers with five five-inch guns and ten torpedo tubes. All three displaced
06:492,100 tons. They had the speed and armament to make credible torpedo attacks. Roberts had two five-inch
06:56guns and three torpedo tubes. Her thin hull plating was designed to stop small-caliber shells and shell
07:02fragments, not armor-piercing rounds, from eight-inch or 14-inch guns. A direct hit from a cruiser would
07:08pass completely through both sides of her hull. A battleship shell would detonate inside her and break
07:14her in half. The smokescreen from the destroyers ahead provided some concealment. Roberts steamed
07:19through the chemical fog at 28 knots, heading for the Japanese heavy cruiser Chokai.
07:248-inch main battery. 13,000 tons displacement. Flagship of cruiser division 7. She was leading the
07:32Japanese pursuit of the escort carriers. The torpedo crews prepared their Mark 15 torpedoes for launch.
07:38Each torpedo weighed 3,200 pounds, fully fueled. Warhead carried 820 pounds of Torpex explosive. Range at high
07:47speed was 6,000 yards. At 28 knots, Roberts would need to close to 4,000 yards to guarantee hits.
07:54That meant entering point-blank range for Chokai's eight-inch guns. At 0750, a Japanese shell struck
08:01Roberts' mast. The impact sent shrapnel across the deck and jammed the torpedo mount. The torpedo crews
08:08worked to clear the jam while Roberts continued closing. Chokai was firing steadily now. Her forward
08:14turrets tracked Roberts through the smoke. Each 8-inch shell weighed 250 pounds. A single hit in the
08:20right location would disable Roberts completely. The range counter clicked down. 6,000 yards. 5,000.
08:284,500. Roberts was inside the engagement envelope, where Japanese gunnery training gave cruiser
08:34crews decisive advantages. Chokai's rate of fire was three rounds per minute per gun. With five 8-inch guns
08:41in her forward turrets, she could throw 15 shells at Roberts every minute. At 0800 hours, the torpedo
08:47mount crews cleared the jam. Roberts had reached 4,000 yards. Copeland gave the order to fire.
08:54Three Mark 15 torpedoes launched from their tubes and entered the water. Their contra-rotating propellers
08:59spun up to speed. They ran straight and hot toward Chokai's hull. Roberts immediately reversed course and
09:06disappeared back into the smoke. The next 35 minutes would determine whether a 1,745-ton destroyer
09:13escort could damage ships built to withstand punishment from battleships. At 0810, Roberts emerged from the
09:20smoke screen. The heavy cruiser Chokuma appeared through the haze at 4,800 yards, firing broadsides at
09:26the escort carriers. Copeland ordered his forward 5-inch gun to open fire. Gunner's mate 3rd class Paul Carr
09:33commanded the aft gun mount. Both guns began firing on Chokuma simultaneously. Roberts closed the range
09:39to 2,600 yards. At that distance, her 5-inch shells could penetrate Chokuma's superstructure and upper
09:46armor. The forward gun crew loaded and fired as fast as the hydraulic rammer could cycle. Three rounds
09:52per minute. The aft gun, under Carr's command, fired faster. Manual ramming after the hydraulic system
09:58failed. Four rounds per minute sustained. Chokuma divided her fire between Roberts and the carriers.
10:05Her 8-inch guns struggled to track Roberts at close range. The Japanese cruiser's fire
10:10control systems were calibrated for long-range engagements against other cruisers and battleships.
10:16Roberts' small size and high speed created targeting problems. Chokuma's salvos fell long, then short,
10:22then over. Roberts did not have Chokuma's targeting problems. At 2,600 yards, the 5-inch gun crews could
10:30see their shells impact. Carr's aft gun hit Chokuma's bridge structure. Flames erupted from the superstructure.
10:37Another salvo destroyed the cruiser's number 3 gun turret. The turret went silent and did not return
10:43fire. The forward gun continued firing at Chokuma's waterline. Armor-piercing shells at this range could
10:49penetrate the cruiser's side armor below the main belt. Several shells struck home near Chokuma's
10:55engineering spaces. Black smoke began pouring from her funnels. Carr's gun crew fired without pause.
11:02The powder charges came up from the magazine. The projectiles came up from the handling room.
11:07The gun captain loaded. The rammer drove the round home. The breach closed. The gun fired. Repeat.
11:13The crew maintained this cycle for 35 continuous minutes. At 0820, destroyer Heerman joined the
11:20engagement against Chokuma. Her five 5-inch guns added their fire to Roberts' two guns. Chokuma was
11:27now taking hits from seven 5-inch guns simultaneously. Her superstructure was burning. Her number 3 turret
11:34was destroyed. Her speed dropped as damage accumulated in her engineering spaces. Roberts fired her entire load
11:41of anti-aircraft ammunition at Chokuma's superstructure. The 40-millimeter guns raked the cruiser's bridge and
11:47fire control positions. The 20-millimeter guns targeted the cruiser's search radar and radio antennas. At
11:54close range, these lighter weapons could disable critical systems and kill exposed crew members. The
12:00range between Roberts and Chokuma fluctuated between 2,600 yards and 4,800 yards as both ships maneuvered.
12:08Roberts' higher speed allowed her to control the engagement distance. When Chokuma's guns found
12:14the range, Roberts accelerated and opened the distance. When Chokuma turned away, Roberts closed
12:20and resumed firing. By 0835, Carr's aft gun had fired 324 rounds. The forward gun had fired approximately
12:29280 rounds. Combined with the anti-aircraft batteries, Roberts had expended over 600 rounds of ammunition
12:36in 35 minutes against ships designed to withstand sustained bombardment from battleship-caliber weapons.
12:43Then the battleships entered the fight. Yamato's forward turrets rotated toward Roberts. Each 18-inch gun
12:50could fire a shell every 40 seconds. Battleship Kongo added her 14-inch guns to the firing solution.
12:57Battleship Haruna began tracking Roberts with her own 14-inch battery. The colored splashes changed. No longer the
13:04green and purple of cruiser fire. Now red and yellow marked the fall of battleship shells. The splashes were three
13:10times larger. Each salvo displaced enough water to swamp a small boat. At 0851, two shells struck Roberts. The first
13:19hit near the forward gun mount. The second penetrated the aft engine room. The explosion killed three men
13:25instantly and ruptured steam lines throughout the engineering spaces. Roberts's speed dropped from
13:3128 knots to 17 knots in seconds. Dead in the water meant dead. The Japanese battleships had finally found
13:38their range. Roberts had fought for 51 minutes against overwhelming firepower. Now the ships she had
13:44damaged wanted revenge. And three more battleships were lining up to deliver it. At 17 knots, Roberts became a
13:52stationary target by battleship standards. Yamato could close the distance at 14 knots. Kongo and Haruna could run her
14:00down at 16 knots. The mathematical certainty of the situation was absolute. Roberts could not escape. She could only
14:07continue fighting. Carr's aft gun kept firing. The hydraulic rammer had failed 20 minutes earlier. The gun crew was manually
14:15ramming each round into the breech. Loading powder charge. Ramming projectile. Closing breech. Firing. The process took
14:23longer without hydraulics, but Carr maintained a steady rhythm. Two rounds per minute. Then one round per minute as fatigue
14:30set in.
14:31The forward 5-inch gun remained in action despite the damage from the first hit. The gun captain kept his
14:37crew loading
14:38and firing at any Japanese ship within range. Target selection became irrelevant. Fire at whatever appeared
14:44through the smoke. Cruisers. Battleships. It made no difference. Roberts was going to sink. The only
14:51question was how much damage she could inflict first. At 0855, battleship Kongo fired a full salvo at Roberts
14:59from 11,000 yards. Nine 14-inch guns. Each shell weighed 1,485 pounds. The time of flight was approximately
15:0917 seconds. Roberts had 17 seconds to maneuver on one damaged engine, producing half power. The first
15:16salvo missed. Kongo's fire control adjusted. The second salvo bracketed Roberts. One shell short. One shell
15:25hit the waterline amid ships. The 14-inch armor-piercing shell penetrated Roberts' hull plating as if it
15:32were paper. The shell traveled completely through the ship before detonating in the water on the far
15:37side. The explosion opened a hole 40 feet long and 10 feet wide in Roberts' port side. Water poured into
15:44the engineering spaces. The damage control parties rigged emergency pumps, but the pumps could not keep
15:50pace with the flooding. Roberts began listing to port. The list increased from 5 degrees to 10 degrees in
15:56three minutes. At 0900 exactly, Kongo fired again. Three 14-inch shells struck Roberts simultaneously.
16:04One hit the forward superstructure. One hit the aft deckhouse. One penetrated the remaining engine room
16:10and detonated inside. The engine room explosion killed everyone in the compartment. Superheated steam
16:17vented through the ruptured bulkheads. The main turbines seized. The electrical generators went
16:22offline. Roberts lost all power. No engines. No electricity. No pumps. The list increased to 15
16:29degrees. Carr's aft gun took a direct hit from the deckhouse explosion. Shrapnel killed two crew members
16:36instantly. Fragmentation wounded four others. A powder charge detonated prematurely in the breach. The
16:42explosion wrecked the gun's firing mechanism and blew Carr backward against the bulkhead. Carr sustained
16:48severe wounds to his abdomen. Internal injuries. Massive blood loss. He could not stand without support.
16:55Another crew member tried to help him to the main deck. Carr refused. He crawled back to his gun.
17:01One round remained in the ready rack. The last 5-inch shell Roberts had available. Carr attempted to load the
17:07round manually. The gun's breach was damaged beyond use. The loading mechanism was destroyed. The barrel
17:13was cracked. The gun would never fire again. Carr kept trying to force the shell into the ruined breach.
17:20He believed if he could load one more round, fire one more shot, it might make the difference.
17:25At 0910, Copeland gave the order to abandon ship. Roberts was listing 22 degrees to port. The main deck was
17:33awash. Fires burned throughout the superstructure. The engineering spaces were flooded. No power,
17:39no propulsion. No way to fight the fires or control the flooding. The crew began moving to the main deck.
17:45Carr remained at his gun, still holding the last shell. Another crew member physically pulled him away
17:50from the mount and tried to carry him topside. Carr died before reaching the weather deck. 20 years old,
17:57gun captain for 5 months. 324 rounds fired in 35 minutes. He went down with his gun still loaded in
18:04his hands. Roberts had 11 minutes left before she slipped beneath the surface. The crew assembled on
18:10the main deck at 0915. Roberts was listing 30 degrees to port. The list was increasing 1 degree per minute.
18:17Water covered the portside weather deck. The starboard side was rising out of the water as the ship rolled.
18:23Copeland ordered the life rafts released. Roberts carried three large life rafts and multiple floater
18:29nets. The crew pushed the rafts over the side and jumped after them. The water temperature was 82
18:34degrees Fahrenheit. Warm enough to prevent hypothermia. Not warm enough to prevent exhaustion
18:40over extended periods. 120 men made it off the ship alive. 89 had died in the battle. Most killed by
18:47shell
18:47fragments and explosions. Some killed when 14-inch shells detonated inside the ship. Others killed by
18:54the engineering space's flooding. Carr died from his wounds minutes before the order to abandon ship.
18:59At 0923, Roberts rolled past 45 degrees. The starboard side of her hull was completely exposed.
19:07The propellers hung motionless in the air. The rudder was jammed hard over from the last evasive maneuver.
19:12Paint on the hull showed scorch marks from near-miss explosions and shell splashes. The Japanese fleet
19:19was withdrawing. At 0911, Vice Admiral Kurita had ordered his center force to break off the engagement
19:25and retire north. Twenty-three Japanese warships turned away from the escort carriers and headed back
19:31toward the San Bernardino Strait. The reason for Kurita's decision remained unclear. His force had suffered
19:37damage from the destroyer attacks and airstrikes. Several cruisers were burning. Chikuma was dead in
19:43the water with her engineering spaces flooded. But Kurita's battleships were intact. Yamato had expended
19:49less than 10% of her main battery ammunition. Kongo and Haruna could still make 28 knots. The escort
19:56carriers were defenseless and within gun range. Kurita could have annihilated Taffy III and proceeded to
20:02Leyte Gulf. Instead, he withdrew. The invasion fleet at Leyte Gulf survived. General MacArthur's
20:08ground forces continued landing supplies and reinforcements without interruption. The strategic
20:13objective that Roberts had been ordered to protect remained secure. At 0955, Roberts' list reached 60
20:20degrees. The ship hung suspended between floating and sinking. Water poured through the shell holes in
20:26her side. Air trapped in sealed compartments kept her from going under immediately. The air vented
20:32slowly through ruptures and the deck plating. At 10.05, the trapped air exhausted. Roberts rolled
20:38completely over to port. Her keel broke the surface for several seconds. Then she slid stern first beneath
20:44the waves. The bow rose vertically, pointing at the sky. The forward five-inch gun mount was still trained
20:50to starboard, frozen in position from the last time it fired. The bow hung there for ten seconds.
20:55Then Roberts disappeared. 120 men were in the water. Three life rafts, multiple floater nets,
21:02no rescue ships in sight. The battle was still ongoing to the north, where the destroyers Johnston
21:07and Hole had also been sunk. The escort carriers were running south at maximum speed. Every available
21:13ship was engaged in combat or evacuation operations. The men in the water could hear explosions in the
21:19distance. Aircraft engines overhead as Navy and Marine pilots continued attacking the retiring
21:25Japanese fleet. The sound of gunfire gradually faded as the center force withdrew beyond visual range.
21:31By noon, the sounds of battle had stopped completely. Silence. The survivors clung to
21:37their rafts and floater nets. The sun climbed toward its apex. Surface water temperature increased from 82
21:43degrees to 86 degrees. Dehydration would become critical within 24 hours. The nearest American ships were at
21:50Lady Gulf, 60 miles southwest. The survivors had no radio, no signaling devices beyond manual semaphore,
21:57and reflecting sunlight off metal surfaces. No way to communicate their position to searchers.
22:03Rescue would depend on American forces searching the battle area after securing the invasion fleet.
22:08That search would not begin for hours, possibly days. The men in the water had no food, no fresh water,
22:15no shelter from the sun, and the Philippine Sea had sharks. The first 12 hours tested basic survival.
22:22120 men distributed across three life rafts and multiple floater nets spread over half a square mile
22:28of ocean. The rafts held 15 to 20 men each. The floater nets supported groups of 5 to 10 men
22:34clinging to
22:35rope mesh. Men with severe wounds required constant attention. Shell fragment injuries, burns from steam
22:41explosions, broken bones from being thrown against bulkheads during the battle. The most seriously
22:47wounded men could not hold onto the rafts without assistance. Other survivors had to support them
22:51continuously. Dehydration began within six hours. The human body loses approximately one liter of water
22:58per hour through perspiration and respiration in tropical heat. Without fresh water intake, dehydration
23:05symptoms appeared rapidly. Thirst, dry mouth, decreased urine output, confusion. The men had no fresh water.
23:13Drinking seawater would accelerate dehydration and cause kidney failure. Solar radiation was severe.
23:19No cloud cover, no shade. Direct sunlight on exposed skin caused second-degree burns within four hours.
23:26The men tried to rotate positions on the rafts so everyone could get brief periods in the shadow
23:31cast by other survivors. The shadow moved as the sun moved. The relief was temporary and minimal. Several
23:38men died from their wounds during the first night. Combat injuries that might have been survivable with
23:43immediate medical treatment became fatal without surgery or blood transfusions. Internal bleeding,
23:49infection, shock. The survivors pushed the bodies away from the rafts. The alternative was keeping corpses
23:55among the living. At dawn on October 26th, the count was 115 survivors. Five men had died during the
24:03night. The remaining survivors faced a second day with no water, no food, and no sign of rescue. Sharks
24:10appeared on the morning of the second day. Multiple species inhabited the Philippine Sea. Tiger sharks,
24:16bull sharks, oceanic white tip sharks. The sharks were attracted by blood in the water from wounded men
24:22and by the vibrations from men treading water. The sharks circled the rafts and floater nets. They
24:28approached cautiously at first, testing the survivors' reactions. When men kicked at the sharks or
24:33splashed water, the sharks withdrew temporarily. When men became too exhausted to resist, the sharks
24:39attacked. Several men were pulled under during shark attacks. The survivors could hear the struggles
24:45underwater, thrashing, bubbles breaking the surface, then silence. The sharks were feeding. The men in the
24:51rafts could do nothing except hold on tighter and pray they would not be next. By noon on October 26th,
24:58the count was 105 survivors. Ten more men lost to shark attacks and wounds. 48 hours in the water,
25:05severe dehydration, extreme exhaustion. Some men were hallucinating from dehydration and sun exposure.
25:12They saw rescue ships that did not exist. They heard aircraft that were not there. The survivors tried to
25:18maintain group cohesion. Men who drifted away from the rafts often could not swim back. Currents separated
25:24individuals from the main groups. Once separated, a lone man had almost no chance. The sharks targeted
25:31isolated individuals. During the afternoon of the second day, several men gave up. They released their
25:37grip on the rafts and floater nets. They slipped beneath the surface without struggling. Exhaustion and
25:43dehydration had drained their will to continue fighting. Death by drowning was faster than death
25:48by dehydration. The sun set on October 26th. The survivors had been in the water for 33 hours.
25:55No rescue ships. No search aircraft. No indication that anyone knew their location or was looking for
26:01them. The battle area covered hundreds of square miles. The survivors occupied a tiny fraction of that
26:08area. Finding them required searching methodically through vast expanses of empty ocean. At dawn on
26:14October 27th, the count was 98 survivors. 22 men dead in 45 hours. The remaining survivors were approaching
26:22the physiological limits of human endurance. Severe dehydration causes organ failure after 72 hours
26:28without water. The survivors had 27 hours before that deadline. Then someone spotted aircraft on the horizon.
26:35At 09.30 on October 27th, a patrol plane from escort carrier Omani Bay spotted debris in the water 40
26:43miles
26:43northeast of Samar. The pilot circled lower and identified life rafts. He radioed the coordinates to
26:49the nearest surface vessels. A patrol craft designated PC-623, altered course to investigate. PC-623 reached the
26:59two survivors at 11.15, 50 hours and five minutes after Roberts sank. The patrol craft crew threw lines
27:06to the rafts and began pulling men aboard. Many survivors could not climb the nets without assistance.
27:12The PC crew had to physically lift them onto the deck. The survivors were in severe condition. Advanced
27:18dehydration. Second and third degree sunburns covering exposed skin. Saltwater ulcers on legs and arms.
27:25Multiple men had wounds from the battle that had become infected during 50 hours in tropical seawater.
27:31Several were unconscious from dehydration and exhaustion. The patrol craft took 120 men aboard.
27:38Every survivor who had lasted 50 hours in the water made it onto the rescue vessel. The men who had
27:44died
27:44during those 50 hours were gone. Their bodies had drifted away or been taken by sharks. The exact count of
27:50men who died in the water versus men who died on the ship remained uncertain. PC-623 transferred the
27:57survivors to landing craft infantry vessels that transported them to Leyte Gulf. From there,
28:03the most seriously wounded went aboard hospital ship, USS Comfort. The walking wounded received
28:09treatment at field hospitals near the invasion beaches. The remainder stayed aboard support vessels
28:14until transport became available. Official casualty reports listed 89 men killed in action during the
28:21battle. The number who died subsequently from wounds, shark attack, or drowning before rescue arrived
28:27was recorded as additional losses. Total dead from Roberts' crew of 224 exceeded 100.
28:34The Navy began evaluating what had happened at Samar. Task Unit 77.4.3 had faced 23 Japanese warships,
28:43with 6 escort carriers and 7 small escorts. The Japanese had 4 battleships, including Yamato.
28:506 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 11 destroyers. Total Japanese tonnage exceeded 200,000 tons.
28:59Taffy III had approximately 40,000 tons total. The tonnage ratio was 5 to 1 against. The gun caliber
29:06advantage was overwhelming. Yamato's 18-inch guns outranged every weapon Taffy III possessed by 15 miles.
29:13Yet Kurita had withdrawn at 09-11 without destroying the escort carriers or reaching Leyte Gulf.
29:20Three factors explained Kurita's decision. First, the aggressive destroyer attacks had damaged or sunk
29:27multiple cruisers. Chukuma was destroyed. Chokai was burning and would sink later that day.
29:33Suzuya had been hit by aircraft and was dead in the water. Second, continuous air attacks from the escort
29:39carriers had disrupted Japanese formations and fire control. Third, Kurita believed he was fighting
29:46fleet carriers and heavy cruisers, not escort carriers and destroyer escorts. The deception
29:52worked because ships like Roberts fought far beyond their design capabilities. A destroyer escort engaging
29:58battleships at close range was not in the tactical playbook. Kurita's staff could not reconcile what they
30:04were seeing with what they knew about American force dispositions. They assumed they must be
30:09fighting Halsey's 3rd Fleet carriers. Roberts received the Presidential Unit Citation, awarded to
30:14all of Task Unit 77.4.3, for extraordinary heroism in action. Gunner's mate 3rd class Paul Carr received the
30:23Silver Star posthumously. Lieutenant Commander Copeland received the Navy Cross. Chief Engineer
30:29Lucky Trowbridge received a commendation for his engine room performance. Three ships would later
30:34bear names honoring Roberts and her crew. USS Copeland, a frigate commissioned in 1982. USS Carr,
30:42a frigate commissioned in 1985. USS Samuel B. Roberts, a frigate commissioned in 1986.
30:49The original Roberts lay four miles beneath the Philippine Sea. Her exact location remained unknown
30:55for 78 years. The wreck site became a war grave, protected by international maritime law. No salvage,
31:02no disturbance. The ship and her dead crew would rest undisturbed in the deepest darkness of the ocean,
31:08until an explorer with a submersible decided to find her. On June 22, 2022, explorer Victor Vescovo
31:16piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the bottom of the Philippine Sea. He was searching for
31:21Roberts. Previous attempts to locate the wreck had failed, due to inaccurate historical records of
31:27where the ship sank. The battle area covered hundreds of square miles. Roberts could be anywhere
31:32within that zone. The Skovo's team used advanced side-scan sonar, capable of operating at extreme
31:38depths. Most sonar systems functioned to 6,000 meters maximum. This system was rated to 11,000 meters,
31:45full ocean depth capability. The team conducted six dives over eight days, methodically scanning the
31:52seafloor. On the final dive, the sonar detected a debris field. Vescovo descended to investigate.
31:58At 6,895 meters depth, the wreck came into view, 22,621 feet below the surface, deeper than Mount
32:08Kilimanjaro is tall, the deepest shipwreck ever discovered. The wreck lay in two sections separated by
32:14approximately 16 feet. The bow section had struck the bottom first, with enough force to buckle the
32:20hull plating. The stern section had separated during the descent. Both sections were intact and
32:26recognizable. The Skovo photographed the aft gun mount, Paul Carr's gun. The five-inch barrel was
32:32still there, pointed skyward at the angle it held when Roberts rolled over. The breach mechanism was
32:38visible. The loading tray where Carr had tried to load his last round remained in position. The hull number
32:44413 was clearly visible on the bow. Positive identification. This was Roberts. The submersible's
32:51cameras recorded the torpedo launcher, the three-tube mount that had fired the Mark 15 torpedoes at
32:57Chokai, the mass that had been struck by Japanese shells and jammed the torpedo mount before the crew
33:02cleared it. The wreck showed extensive battle damage, shell holes in the hull plating, structural damage from
33:0914-inch impacts. The engineering spaces were collapsed from the internal explosions. The superstructure
33:15was heavily damaged. Every Mark told part of the story of Roberts' final 51 minutes of combat. The
33:21discovery confirmed Roberts as the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. The previous record holder
33:27was destroyer USS Johnston, found by Viscobo's team in 2021 at 21,228 feet. Johnston had also been sunk at
33:37Samar. Both ships died protecting the same invasion fleet. Both earned the same presidential unit citation.
33:44Both now rest at depths that make them almost unreachable. The wreck site is protected under the
33:49Sunken Military Craft Act. No salvage permitted. No artifact recovery. No unauthorized disturbance.
33:56Roberts is a war grave containing the remains of American sailors who died in combat. The site will
34:03remain undisturbed. The discovery brought closure to surviving family members. Paul Carr's sisters had
34:09maintained contact with the Navy for decades, asking about their brother's ship. Robert Copeland's
34:15descendants had searched for information about where Roberts went down. The wreck's location
34:20answered questions that had remained open for 78 years. If this story stayed with you, hit that like
34:26button. One click tells YouTube this story matters and puts it in front of more people. Subscribe and turn
34:32on notifications. We dig through military archives, declassified reports, and veteran memoirs to bring back
34:40stories exactly like this one. Stories about destroyer escorts charging battleships. About gunners loading
34:46their last round with bare hands. About sailors holding on for 50 hours in open water. These are not
34:52Hollywood scripts. These are real men who did real things. Drop a comment and tell us where you're
34:58watching from. United States? United Kingdom? Philippines? Australia? Our viewers span the entire globe.
35:06If someone in your family served in the Navy, at Leyte Gulf, or aboard any ship in any war, tell
35:12us about
35:12them. Every comment keeps this community breathing. Thank you for watching. And thank you for making sure
35:18the crew of Samuel B. Roberts stays above the silence they've rested in for 80 years. They fought like a
35:24battleship. The least we can do is remember them like one.
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