- 18 hours ago
Why Commander David McCampbell split seven fighters against sixty Japanese aircraft during WW2 — and why his F6F Hellcat's engine died the second he landed. This World War 2 story reveals how two Navy pilots broke every tactical rule and changed naval aviation history.
October 24, 1944. Commander David McCampbell, Air Group 15 commander, climbed into his F6F-5 Hellcat on USS Essex as radar detected sixty Japanese fighters and bombers closing on the American fleet. He had seven Hellcats ready. Standard doctrine required three-to-one numerical advantage for attackers. McCampbell made a decision that violated every training manual: he sent five pilots after the bombers and took just his wingman against forty enemy fighters. Every tactical expert called it suicide.
They were all wrong.
What McCampbell discovered that morning wasn't about numbers. It was about altitude advantage and perfect ammunition conservation in a way that contradicted everything the Navy taught. By the time McCampbell's Hellcat crossed the carrier deck ninety minutes later, his fuel gauges showed zero and his ammunition counters were nearly empty. His engine quit on the arresting wire. Something happened in tho
October 24, 1944. Commander David McCampbell, Air Group 15 commander, climbed into his F6F-5 Hellcat on USS Essex as radar detected sixty Japanese fighters and bombers closing on the American fleet. He had seven Hellcats ready. Standard doctrine required three-to-one numerical advantage for attackers. McCampbell made a decision that violated every training manual: he sent five pilots after the bombers and took just his wingman against forty enemy fighters. Every tactical expert called it suicide.
They were all wrong.
What McCampbell discovered that morning wasn't about numbers. It was about altitude advantage and perfect ammunition conservation in a way that contradicted everything the Navy taught. By the time McCampbell's Hellcat crossed the carrier deck ninety minutes later, his fuel gauges showed zero and his ammunition counters were nearly empty. His engine quit on the arresting wire. Something happened in tho
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00:00At 0730 on October 24, 1944, Commander David McCampbell climbed into the cockpit of his F-6F-5 Hellcat on
00:08the flight deck of USS Essex,
00:10watching the radar operator sprint toward him with a report that would change naval aviation history.
00:1534 years old, 25 confirmed kills, commander of Air Group 15,
00:21the Japanese had launched 60 fighters and dive bombers toward the American Carrier Task Force, steaming east of the Philippines.
00:27McCampbell had been in his ready room when the alarm sounded.
00:31Battle of Leyte Gulf, first day.
00:33The largest naval engagement in modern history was unfolding across 400 miles of Philippine waters,
00:39and every available aircraft was already airborne or being refueled.
00:45Essex had seven Hellcats ready, seven fighters against 60 incoming hostiles.
00:50The math was simple and brutal.
00:52Standard doctrine called for a 3-to-1 numerical advantage for attackers.
00:56The Japanese had nearly 9-to-1 odds in their favor.
01:00Air Group 15 had lost 11 pilots in the previous three months of combat operations.
01:05McCampbell knew the names.
01:06He had written letters to their families.
01:08Lieutenant Morrison shot down over Formosa.
01:11Ensign Caldwell killed during the strikes on Manila.
01:14Lieutenant Commander Harris missing after the Taiwan raids.
01:18The Japanese were throwing everything they had at the American fleet,
01:21and they were running out of experienced pilots to counter the onslaught.
01:25Essex was exposed.
01:26The other carriers in Task Group 38.3 had launched their combat air patrols,
01:31but they were stretched thin across 60 miles of ocean.
01:35McCampbell checked his fuel gauge as his plane captain strapped him in.
01:38The main tank showed half full, not enough time to top off.
01:42The Japanese formation was 22 miles out and closing at 200 knots.
01:47He had maybe six minutes before they reached weapons range of the carriers.
01:50His Hellcat carried six .50 caliber Browning machine guns with 400 rounds per gun, 2,400 rounds total.
01:59The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine roared to life beneath him, 2,000 horsepower.
02:05He looked across the flight deck.
02:08Six other Hellcats were spinning up.
02:09Ensign Roy rushing in the aircraft next to him,
02:13Lt. Hayes, Lt. Johnson, 3 more pilots whose Hellcats were being pushed into position.
02:197 against 60.
02:21McCampbell was the air group commander.
02:23The decision was his.
02:25Send all seven fighters against the entire formation and hope they could break up the attack before the bombers reach
02:31the carriers?
02:31Or split the force?
02:33The tactical manual said never divide your fighters when outnumbered, but the manual assumed you had more than seven aircraft.
02:41If you want to see how McCampbell's impossible decision turned out, please hit that like button.
02:46It helps us share more forgotten stories from World War II.
02:50Please subscribe if you haven't already.
02:52Back to McCampbell.
03:16McCampbell made his decision in the time it took his plane captain to pull the wheel chocks.
03:20He pointed at five pilots and then pointed toward the southern quadrant.
03:25Attack the bombers.
03:27He looked at rushing and tapped his own chest.
03:30The two of them would take the fighters.
03:32Two Hellcats against 40 Japanese Zeros and Oscars.
03:36McCampbell released his brakes and pushed the throttle forward.
03:39His Hellcat rolled down the deck and lifted into the humid morning air above the Philippine Sea.
03:45Rushing followed 30 seconds behind.
03:47They climbed through 3,000 feet.
03:496,000.
03:5010,000.
03:51The Japanese formation was 15 miles ahead and slightly below them.
03:56McCampbell could see the dark specks against the blue water.
03:5960 enemy aircraft.
04:012 American fighters.
04:03McCampbell armed his guns and checked his fuel one more time.
04:06Half tanks.
04:08Maybe 90 minutes of flight time if he was careful.
04:11He nosed the Hellcat over and began his approach from the sun.
04:17McCampbell climbed to 20,000 feet.
04:19The altitude gave him speed and options.
04:22Physics and gravity on his side.
04:24The Japanese formation was 12,000 feet below, still heading toward the American carriers at steady bearing.
04:31Rushing health position 500 yards behind and to the right.
04:34Standard two-plane element.
04:36They had practiced this pattern dozens of times over the Solomon Islands and the Marianas.
04:46The Japanese fighters were flying a loose defensive circle around their bombers, Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes mostly.
04:54Fast and maneuverable.
04:55The best carrier fighter Japan had produced.
04:58McCampbell had fought Zeros before.
05:00They could out-turn a Hellcat at low speed and climb faster below 14,000 feet.
05:06But the Hellcat was heavier and could dive faster.
05:092,000 pounds heavier than a Zero.
05:11That weight became velocity in a dive.
05:14Velocity became killing power.
05:17McCampbell rolled his Hellcat into a 60-degree dive.
05:20The airspeed indicator climbed past 300 knots.
05:24350?
05:25400?
05:25The Japanese formation grew larger in his gun sight.
05:29He picked his target.
05:31A Zero trailing slightly behind the main formation.
05:34Always attack the straggler.
05:36The weakest link.
05:37The one the herd wouldn't miss until it was too late.
05:41He centered the Zero in his reflector sight at 800 yards.
05:44600.
05:46400.
05:47The Zero pilot never looked up.
05:49McCampbell pressed the trigger.
05:51650 caliber machine guns opened fire.
05:54Tracers arced across the sky.
05:57The Zero's right wing disintegrated.
05:59The aircraft rolled inverted and began its death spiral toward the ocean four miles below.
06:05First kill.
06:06Eight more to break the American record.
06:09McCampbell pulled up hard.
06:11Four G-forces pressed him into his seat.
06:14The Hellcat's wings groaned but held.
06:16He climbed back to altitude.
06:18Rushing was already there.
06:20His wingman had followed the same attack pattern and destroyed another Zero.
06:25Two down.
06:2658 remaining.
06:27The Japanese formation broke apart.
06:30Fighters scattered in all directions.
06:32Some dove.
06:33Some climbed.
06:34The tactical cohesion vanished in 30 seconds.
06:38McCampbell picked his second target.
06:39Another Zero trying to climb to meet him.
06:42Bad decision by the Japanese pilot.
06:44The Hellcat had superior power at high altitude.
06:47McCampbell dove again.
06:48Same pattern.
06:50Same result.
06:51The Zero exploded in a ball of orange flame.
06:54Burning fuel and ammunition cooking off in a cascade of secondary explosions.
06:59No parachute.
07:00Second kill.
07:01The battle developed into a rhythm.
07:03Dive.
07:04Fire.
07:05Climb.
07:06Repeat.
07:07McCampbell worked through the Japanese formation like a harvester through wheat.
07:11Third Zero at 0752.
07:13Fourth at 0756.
07:16He glanced at his fuel gauge between attacks.
07:18The needle was dropping faster than expected.
07:21All that climbing burned fuel.
07:23The main tank was down to one quarter.
07:25He switched to the auxiliary tank.
07:27Rushing stayed with him through every attack.
07:29The wingman was firing shorter bursts.
07:32More economical with ammunition.
07:34Smart flying.
07:35Fifth kill for McCampbell at 0803.
07:37A Nakajima KI-43 Oscar this time.
07:41Army fighter.
07:42The Japanese were mixing Navy and Army aircraft in the same formation.
07:46Desperate measures.
07:48The Oscar had less armor than a Zero.
07:50It came apart under McCampbell's guns like paper.
07:53McCampbell lost count of the attacks.
07:55Dive.
07:56Fire.
07:57Climb.
07:58Dive.
07:58Fire.
07:59Climb.
08:00His shoulder ached from the G-forces.
08:02Sweat soaked through his flight suit despite the cold air at 20,000 feet.
08:07The gun bores were heating up.
08:08He could smell the cordite even through his oxygen mask.
08:12Sixth kill.
08:13Seventh kill.
08:13The Japanese formation had completely disintegrated.
08:17Individual aircraft were fleeing west toward Luzon.
08:20McCampbell checked his ammunition counter.
08:22Less than 400 rounds remaining.
08:24Started with 2,400.
08:25He had burned through 2,000 rounds in 30 minutes.
08:29Rushing's Hellcat pulled alongside.
08:31The wingman was making hand signals.
08:33Tapping his machine guns.
08:35Then making a slashing motion across his throat.
08:38Out of ammunition.
08:39Completely dry.
08:41All 400 rounds per gun expended.
08:44McCampbell had a decision to make.
08:46Rushing was defenseless.
08:48The smart move was to escort him back to Essex.
08:51But there were still Japanese fighters in the sky.
08:54Still threats to the American carriers.
08:57And McCampbell had ammunition left.
08:59Not much.
09:01But enough for maybe two more attacks.
09:04He looked at his wingman.
09:05And pointed down toward another group of Zeros.
09:10Rushing nodded and followed McCampbell into another dive.
09:13The wingman had no ammunition.
09:15But he understood the tactic.
09:17His presence would split the attention of the Japanese pilots.
09:20Force them to track two threats instead of one.
09:22A Hellcat without ammunition looked identical to a Hellcat with full gun bays.
09:28The Japanese wouldn't know the difference until it was too late.
09:31McCampbell selected his eighth target.
09:34Another zero in a climbing turn.
09:36The Japanese pilot was good.
09:38He saw the Hellcats coming and reversed his turn to meet them head on.
09:41Classic zero tactic.
09:43Force the enemy into a turning dogfight.
09:45Where the lighter, more maneuverable aircraft had the advantage.
09:49McCampbell had seen this before.
09:51Coral Sea.
09:52Midway.
09:53The Marianas Turkey shoot.
09:55Japanese pilots loved the head-on merge.
09:58He didn't take the bait.
10:00McCampbell rolled inverted and pulled through.
10:02Negative G-forces threw him against his straps.
10:05Blood rushed to his head.
10:07His vision narrowed to a tunnel.
10:09He completed the roll and came out behind the zero.
10:11Perfect deflection shot.
10:14Range, 300 yards.
10:15He pressed the trigger.
10:17Shorter burst this time.
10:18Conserving ammunition.
10:2050 rounds maybe.
10:21The Zero's cockpit shattered.
10:24The canopy exploded in fragments of plexiglass and aluminum.
10:27The aircraft snap-rolled left and fell away.
10:30No fire.
10:31Just gravity taking over from a dead pilot.
10:34Eighth kill.
10:35One more to break the record.
10:37One more to make history.
10:39McCampbell climbed again, but his Hellcat felt sluggish.
10:42The engine was running rough.
10:44Cylinder head temperature climbing into the red.
10:47He had been running full throttle for 40 minutes.
10:50The R2800 engine was built tough, but nothing was built for sustained combat power at 20,000 feet in tropical
10:57heat.
10:57He spotted his ninth target at 0840, a lone Zero heading west, running for home.
11:04The pilot had seen enough.
11:06McCampbell dove one final time.
11:08The Zero pilot saw him coming and tried to dive away.
11:11Wrong move.
11:12A Hellcat could out-dive anything the Japanese had.
11:16McCampbell closed to 200 yards.
11:18He put the gun-side pipper on the Zero's engine cowling and fired his last extended burst.
11:24The tracers walked up the fuselage.
11:26The Zero's engine seized.
11:28Black smoke poured from the cowling.
11:30The aircraft nosed over into a vertical dive and disappeared into the overcast layer at 8,000 feet.
11:37Ninth kill.
11:38Nine Japanese aircraft destroyed in 90 minutes.
11:42American single-mission record.
11:44No other Navy pilot in the war would match it.
11:47McCampbell keyed his radio for the first time since takeoff.
11:50He called Essex and reported nine confirmed kills.
11:53The radio operator asked him to repeat.
11:56McCampbell repeated.
11:58Nine confirmed.
11:59He checked his fuel gauge and his blood went cold.
12:02The main tank showed empty.
12:04The auxiliary tank showed 1 eighth.
12:07Maybe 20 gallons.
12:08Maybe 30 minutes of flight time if he throttled back to minimum cruise power.
12:13He looked around for landmarks.
12:15The Philippine coastline was visible to the west.
12:18The Japanese were retreating toward their bases around Manila.
12:22McCampbell had chased them almost 100 miles from the American task force.
12:26100 miles back to Essex.
12:2830 minutes of fuel.
12:30The math didn't work.
12:32He throttled back to bare minimum power.
12:341,800 RPM.
12:36The Hellcat shuddered but stayed airborne.
12:39Rushing pulled alongside again.
12:41His wingman pointed at his own fuel gauge and shook his head.
12:45Both Hellcats were running on fumes.
12:48McCampbell turned east and began the long glide back toward the fleet.
12:52He had to maintain altitude for as long as possible.
12:55Height was potential energy.
12:57Energy he could trade for distance when the engine finally quit.
13:01Every thousand feet of altitude meant roughly two miles of glide range.
13:05He was at 18,000 feet.
13:07Maybe 36 miles of gliding if he was lucky.
13:11The Philippine coast fell away behind them.
13:14Open ocean ahead.
13:15Deep water.
13:16The temperature at those depths was cold enough to kill a man in 30 minutes.
13:20Even if he survived the impact.
13:23McCampbell had no intention of testing those statistics.
13:26He adjusted his mixture to full lean and watched the fuel gauge.
13:30The needle was touching empty.
13:32The engine coughed once.
13:34Twice.
13:36Then smoothed out.
13:37Running on vapor.
13:39McCampbell saw the American fleet on the horizon.
13:42Tiny gray shapes against blue water.
13:45Still 60 miles away.
13:48The engine coughed again at 50 miles out.
13:51McCampbell's hand moved to the fuel selector.
13:53He switched tanks.
13:55Checked the gauge.
13:56Nothing.
13:57Both tanks reading empty.
13:59The Pratt & Whitney was running on residual fuel in the lines.
14:02Vapor and hope.
14:04The propeller kept turning.
14:06But the engine node had changed.
14:08Rougher.
14:09Missing on one or two cylinders.
14:11The Hellcat was dying.
14:13Rushing was 500 yards to his left.
14:15His wingman's Hellcat was trailing a thin stream of white vapor.
14:19Oil temperature climbing.
14:20His engine was in worse shape than McCampbell's.
14:23Too much high-power combat maneuvering.
14:25Too many full-throttle climbs to 20,000 feet.
14:29The R-2800 engines were built for carrier operations.
14:32Launch.
14:33Fight.
14:34Land.
14:3490 minutes of continuous combat at maximum power was beyond their design parameters.
14:40McCampbell passed through 10,000 feet.
14:43Still 40 miles from Essex.
14:45He could see the carrier task force clearly now.
14:48Four carriers in a box formation.
14:50Cruisers and destroyers in a protective screen around them.
14:53White wakes cutting through dark blue water.
14:56He began descending faster.
14:58Trading altitude for distance.
15:008,000 feet.
15:017,000.
15:02The math was getting tighter with every passing minute.
15:06At 6,000 feet, the first 5-inch shell exploded 200 yards in front of him.
15:11Black puff of smoke.
15:13Proximity fuse.
15:14American anti-aircraft fire.
15:17McCampbell's stomach dropped.
15:18The destroyer screen had spotted two aircraft approaching from the west,
15:22from the direction of the Japanese bases on Luzon.
15:25The identification, friend or foe transponder in his Hellcat
15:29should have told them he was friendly.
15:31But IFF systems failed.
15:33Transponders malfunctioned.
15:35Radar operators made mistakes.
15:37Another 5-inch shell burst closer.
15:40100 yards.
15:41Then another.
15:42The destroyer screen was firing a full barrage.
15:45McCampbell pushed his stick forward and dove toward the wavetops.
15:49Rushing followed.
15:50Both Hellcats dropped through 3,000 feet in 30 seconds.
15:54The 5-inch fire stopped.
15:56But McCampbell knew what was coming next.
15:58He had seen it before off Saipan.
16:00The destroyers would call in the combat air patrol.
16:03Four Hellcats appeared at 2,000 feet, diving toward him.
16:07American fighters.
16:08VF-19 markings.
16:10From USS Lexington.
16:12They were coming in fast.
16:13Attack formation.
16:15McCampbell had no way to identify himself.
16:17His radio was set to Essex's frequency.
16:20He couldn't switch channels without taking his hands off the stick.
16:23And he needed both hands to keep his dying Hellcat in the air.
16:27The four Hellcats closed to 1,000 yards.
16:30800.
16:31600.
16:32McCampbell could see their gun ports.
16:34The lead fighter was lining up for a shot.
16:37McCampbell broke hard left.
16:38Four G-forces.
16:40His engine nearly quit from the sudden throttle change.
16:43The four American fighters followed through the turn.
16:45They were trying to force him toward the water.
16:48Standard intercept procedure for unidentified aircraft approaching the fleet.
16:51Rushing was in the same situation 500 yards away.
16:55Four more American fighters on his tail.
16:58Eight friendly aircraft trying to shoot down two friendly aircraft.
17:02McCampbell's engine was coughing constantly now.
17:04Running on nothing.
17:06He was three miles from Essex.
17:08So close he could see aircraft spotted on the flight deck.
17:11But the four Hellcats behind him were closing.
17:13400 yards.
17:15300.
17:16The lead American fighter broke off.
17:18McCampbell didn't know why.
17:19Maybe the pilot recognized the Air Group 15 markings on his tail.
17:24Maybe someone on Essex had radioed the combat air patrol.
17:27Maybe luck.
17:28The other three fighters broke off and climbed away.
17:31Rushing's four pursuers followed them.
17:33The friendly fire incident ended as suddenly as it began.
17:37McCampbell's engine quit at two miles from Essex.
17:40Complete power loss.
17:42The propeller windmilled in the slipstream but produced no thrust.
17:45He was gliding.
17:46Air speed 120 knots.
17:49Sink rate 800 feet per minute.
17:51Altitude 1000 feet.
17:53He did the math.
17:55He would hit the water one mile short of the carrier.
17:58He saw USS Langley off his right wing.
18:01Light carrier.
18:02CVL 27.
18:03Smaller than Essex but her flight deck was clear.
18:08McCampbell turned toward Langley.
18:10Dead stick landing.
18:11No power.
18:12One chance.
18:13The light carrier was steaming into the wind.
18:17Standard carrier operations.
18:19The wind gave him a few extra knots of airspeed over the deck.
18:22Maybe enough.
18:24Maybe not.
18:25He was at 800 feet altitude and one mile out.
18:28Sink rate increasing.
18:30700 feet.
18:32600.
18:33He dropped his landing gear.
18:35The hydraulic system was still working.
18:37Gravity and residual pressure in the lines.
18:40The gear locked down with a reassuring thump.
18:43He reached for the flap handle but stopped.
18:46Flaps would increase drag and steepen his glide path.
18:49He needed every foot of altitude to reach the deck.
18:53Gear down.
18:54Flaps up.
18:55Committed.
18:57Langley was growing larger.
18:59McCampbell could see the landing signal officer on the port side of the flight deck.
19:03Yellow paddles in both hands.
19:06The LSO was giving him the cut signal.
19:08Too high.
19:10Too fast.
19:11Wrong approach angle.
19:12McCampbell ignored the signal.
19:14He had no power to adjust.
19:16No throttle response.
19:18Physics was flying the airplane now.
19:21Gravity and momentum and the last of his airspeed.
19:24500 feet altitude.
19:26Half a mile from the ship.
19:28He was going to make it.
19:30Barely.
19:32The Hellcat crossed the stern of Langley at 50 feet.
19:35The LSO dove into the safety net as McCampbell's landing gear cleared the round down by inches.
19:41The Hellcat slammed onto the deck.
19:44Hard landing.
19:45The oleos compressed fully.
19:47The tail hook caught the number three wire.
19:50Perfect.
19:51The wire stretched.
19:52The Hellcat decelerated from 90 knots to zero in three seconds.
19:58Eight G-forces forward.
20:00McCampbell's head snapped against the headrest.
20:03The engine died the instant the tail hook caught the wire.
20:06The propeller stopped turning.
20:08Complete fuel starvation.
20:10The deck crew ran toward his aircraft to unhook the wire and push the Hellcat forward.
20:16Standard procedure.
20:17Clear the landing area for the next aircraft.
20:20But when they tried to release the tail hook, the hydraulic system had no pressure.
20:25The engine-driven pump was dead.
20:27They had to manually disengage the hook.
20:30Four sailors lifting and pulling while McCampbell sat in the cockpit watching the fuel gauge register absolute zero.
20:36Rushing landed 30 seconds later.
20:40His Hellcat caught the number two wire.
20:42His engine quit on the rollout.
20:44Two dead Hellcats on Langley's deck.
20:46Both pilots alive.
20:48Both aircraft damaged from combat maneuvering and hard landings.
20:52The deck crew pushed both fighters to the forward parking area and began immediate inspection.
20:57McCampbell climbed out of his cockpit.
20:59His legs nearly buckled.
21:0290 minutes of continuous combat.
21:04High G-forces.
21:05Adrenaline crash.
21:07A deck officer approached with a clipboard.
21:09Standard post-flight debriefing.
21:12McCampbell gave him the numbers.
21:13Nine confirmed kills.
21:15One probable.
21:16Six different attacks on the main formation.
21:19Ammunition expended.
21:20Fuel expended.
21:22The deck officer wrote everything down and then asked McCampbell to wait.
21:26An ordnance chief climbed onto McCampbell's Hellcat to check the guns.
21:30He opened each ammunition bay.
21:32Counted the remaining rounds.
21:34Port guns.
21:35Starboard guns.
21:36The chief climbed down and reported to the deck officer.
21:39Two rounds remaining.
21:41Total.
21:42Out of 2,400 rounds loaded that morning.
21:45McCampbell had fired 2,398 rounds.
21:4999.9% of his ammunition.
21:51The chief had never seen anything like it in three years of carrier operations.
21:56The fuel crew checked the tanks.
21:58They opened the fuel caps and measured the depth with a calibrated stick.
22:02Main tank.
22:03Bone dry.
22:04Auxiliary tank.
22:06Bone dry.
22:07Reserve tank.
22:08Bone dry.
22:09The engine had been running on vapor for the last five minutes of flight.
22:13Fuel enough for maybe ten more minutes of flight time if McCampbell had tried to reach Essex.
22:18He would have gone into the ocean, three quarters of a mile short of the deck.
22:22The deck officer looked at McCampbell.
22:25Nine kills.
22:26Two rounds remaining.
22:28Zero fuel.
22:29Landing on a different carrier because his own ship's deck was fouled.
22:33Friendly fire from American destroyers and fighters on the return flight.
22:37The officer had been on Langley since Guadalcanal.
22:39He had seen hundreds of pilots land after combat missions.
22:43This was different.
22:45McCampbell asked about the other five pilots from Essex.
22:47The ones he had sent to attack the Japanese bombers.
22:50The deck officer checked his status board.
22:53All five had returned to Essex.
22:55Two kills confirmed.
22:57Three probables.
22:58No American aircraft lost.
23:00The Japanese strike had been completely broken up before reaching the carriers.
23:04No bombs on target.
23:06No torpedo hits.
23:08Task Group 38.3 had survived intact.
23:11McCampbell walked to the island and looked east toward Essex.
23:14She was four miles away.
23:16Flight operations continuing.
23:18Hellcats launching for combat air patrol.
23:22The battle continued around him.
23:24October 24, 1944, was only the first day of the largest naval engagement in history.
23:32Four separate battles would unfold across the Philippine waters over the next 72 hours.
23:37The Battle of the Cebuyan Sea.
23:39The Battle of Surigao Strait.
23:41The Battle of Cape Engano.
23:44The Battle of Samar.
23:45More than 200,000 naval personnel involved.
23:49The Imperial Japanese Navy was throwing everything it had at the American invasion of Leyte.
23:55Operation Shogo.
23:57Victory Operation.
23:58Their last chance to stop the Allied advance toward the home islands.
24:03McCampbell's nine kills had disrupted the morning airstrike against Task Group 38.3.
24:08But the Japanese weren't finished.
24:10Vice Admiral Takejiro Onishi commanded land-based naval aircraft on Luzon.
24:16He had hundreds of aircraft available.
24:19Zeros.
24:20Vals.
24:20Cates.
24:21Bettys.
24:22The morning strike had been just the opening move.
24:25Two more waves would launch before sunset.
24:2850 to 60 aircraft per wave.
24:31The American carriers would be under attack for the next three days straight.
24:34A medical corpsman approached McCampbell on Langley's deck.
24:38Standard post-combat examination.
24:41Pulse rate.
24:42Blood pressure.
24:43Signs of hypoxia or decompression sickness from the high-altitude combat.
24:48The corpsman checked McCampbell's oxygen mask connection.
24:51Asked about vision problems.
24:53Headaches.
24:53Nausea.
24:54McCampbell was clean.
24:56No physical injuries.
24:58The corpsman noted McCampbell's hands.
25:00They were shaking.
25:01Adrenaline after effects.
25:03Normal response after 90 minutes of sustained combat.
25:07The deck officer handed McCampbell a message from Essex.
25:10Return immediately for debriefing.
25:13A destroyer would transfer him back to his carrier.
25:16McCampbell looked at rushing.
25:17His wingman was sitting on the wing of his Hellcat.
25:20Six kills for rushing.
25:2215 total between them.
25:24More enemy aircraft destroyed in one mission than most squadrons achieved in a month of operations.
25:31Rushing looked exhausted.
25:3224 years old.
25:34Ensign rank.
25:35This had been his biggest combat action.
25:37He would receive the Navy Cross for his performance.
25:40The nation's second highest decoration for valor.
25:44McCampbell climbed down to Langley's hangar deck and walked to the boat platform.
25:48A whale boat was waiting.
25:50The transfer took 20 minutes.
25:52Rough seas.
25:53Three foot swells.
25:55The whale boat crew had to time their approach to Essex's boarding ladder carefully.
26:00McCampbell grabbed the ladder and climbed 30 feet to the carrier's main deck.
26:04An officer was waiting.
26:06Commander Air Group 15 was needed in the intelligence center immediately.
26:10The intelligence center was deep in Essex's hull.
26:14Maps covered every wall.
26:16The Battle of Leyte Gulf was being tracked in real time.
26:19Red markers showed Japanese fleet positions.
26:22Blue markers showed American forces.
26:25The Japanese center force under Admiral Kurita was steaming through the Sibuyen Sea.
26:30Five battleships including the massive Yamato and Musashi.
26:34Twelve cruisers.
26:36Fifteen destroyers.
26:37Heading for the San Bernardino Strait.
26:39If they broke through, they would hit the American landing beaches at Leyte Gulf and slaughter the troops ashore.
26:46American carrier aircraft had been attacking the center force all morning.
26:50Essex's dive bombers and torpedo bombers were part of the strikes.
26:54The battleship Musashi had taken multiple torpedo and bomb hits.
26:58She was slowing.
26:59Listing.
27:00But still afloat.
27:02Still dangerous.
27:03The Japanese had built her with armor thick enough to withstand incredible punishment.
27:0816-inch belt armor.
27:109-inch deck armor.
27:12The largest battleship ever constructed.
27:1572,000 tons fully loaded.
27:18McCampbell studied the maps.
27:19The tactical situation was fluid.
27:22The Japanese southern force was approaching through Surigao Strait from the south.
27:26Two battleships.
27:27Four cruisers.
27:29Eight destroyers.
27:30Admiral Oldendorf's battle line was waiting for them.
27:33Seven battleships.
27:34Eight cruisers.
27:3628 destroyers.
27:37That fight would happen after midnight.
27:39Classic naval engagement.
27:41Ship against ship.
27:42Gun against gun.
27:44But the greatest threat was the Japanese northern force.
27:47Four aircraft carriers steaming south from Japan.
27:50Admiral Halsey had taken the fast carrier task force north to intercept them.
27:54Most of the American air power was moving away from Leyte Gulf.
27:59Away from the landing beaches.
28:00The center force might break through unopposed if Halsey didn't return in time.
28:04An intelligence officer briefed McCampbell on the afternoon air operations.
28:08Essex would launch another strike against the center force at 1,400 hours.
28:13Maximum effort.
28:14Every available bomber and torpedo plane.
28:17McCampbell would lead the fighter escort.
28:19His Hellcat was still on Langley.
28:22Damaged hydraulics.
28:23Dead engine.
28:24He would fly a different aircraft.
28:26The plane captain was preparing a replacement Hellcat right now.
28:29McCampbell had 90 minutes to rest, eat, and brief his pilots before the next launch.
28:36McCampbell went to the ready room.
28:38Air Group 15's pilots were already gathering for the afternoon briefing.
28:4223 pilots.
28:44Some had flown the morning combat air patrol.
28:47Others had attacked the Japanese center force in the Sibuyen Sea.
28:51Lieutenant Commander Rigg had led the torpedo bomber squadron against the battleship Musashi.
28:56He reported eight torpedo hits confirmed.
28:59The massive battleship was taking on water, but still under power.
29:03Still heading for San Bernardino Strait.
29:06The pilots looked at McCampbell differently now.
29:09Word had spread through the ship.
29:11Nine kills in one mission.
29:13American record.
29:14The pilots had heard the radio transmissions.
29:17They had seen McCampbell and Rushing land on Langley with dead engines.
29:21Fighter pilots respected kills, but they respected survival more.
29:26Coming back from an impossible mission.
29:28That earned something beyond respect.
29:31McCampbell had been flying combat missions for seven months.
29:35Since April 1944, when Essex joined Task Force 58 for the strikes on the Marshall Islands.
29:42Air Group 15 had flown operations against Truk, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Formosa, and now the Philippines.
29:51Six months of continuous combat.
29:53More than 20,000 hours of flight operations.
29:57The Air Group had destroyed 315 enemy aircraft in the air and 348 on the ground.
30:04More than any other Air Group in the Pacific War.
30:07McCampbell himself had accumulated 25 kills before this morning.
30:11His previous best single-day performance had been during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June.
30:17The Marianas Turkey Shoot.
30:19June 19, 1944.
30:21The Japanese had sent 400 carrier-based aircraft against the American fleet.
30:27McCampbell had shot down seven in two separate sorties.
30:30First sortie at 0,100 hours.
30:33Five Yokosuka-Judy dive bombers destroyed.
30:36Second sortie at 1530.
30:39Two more zeros over Guam.
30:41Seven kills in one day.
30:43He had become an ace in a day.
30:45The only American pilot to achieve that status twice.
30:49Now he had nine kills in 90 minutes.
30:52The record would stand for the rest of the war.
30:55No other Navy pilot would match it.
30:58The closest would be Lieutenant Cecil Harris, with seven kills in one mission over Formosa.
31:03McCampbell's nine kills represented the absolute limit of what one pilot could achieve under perfect conditions.
31:10Perfect altitude advantage.
31:11Perfect target-rich environment.
31:14Perfect ammunition conservation.
31:16Perfect fuel management.
31:18And perfect luck.
31:19The intelligence officer began the afternoon briefing.
31:22The Japanese Center Force was still heading east through the Subouyan Sea.
31:26Admiral Corita's flagship was the heavy cruiser Atago.
31:29Already sunk by the submarine USS Darter that morning, Corita had transferred to the battleship Yamato, the largest battleship in
31:37the world.
31:3818-inch main guns.
31:40Nine guns that could throw a shell weighing 3,200 pounds for 26 miles.
31:46One hit from those guns would vaporize a destroyer.
31:50Essex would launch 36 aircraft at 1,400 hours.
31:5312 Hellcat fighters.
31:5512 Helldiver dive bombers.
31:5712 Avenger torpedo bombers.
31:59McCampbell would lead the fighter section.
32:01His mission was to suppress anti-aircraft fire from the Japanese escorts while the bombers attacked Musashi and Yamato.
32:08Dangerous work.
32:09The Japanese had fitted their battleships with more than 150 anti-aircraft guns, 25-millimeter machine guns, 40-millimeter Bofors,
32:195-inch dual-purpose guns.
32:20The sky around those ships would be solid with flak.
32:24McCampbell checked his watch.
32:261,300 hours.
32:28One hour until launch.
32:29He went to the flight deck.
32:31His new Hellcat was spotted near the island.
32:34Aircraft number 47.
32:35Different from his regular mount, but mechanically identical.
32:38Same R-2800 engine.
32:41Same 650 caliber guns.
32:44Same 400 rounds per gun.
32:46The plane captain had already performed the pre-flight inspection.
32:50Oil levels checked.
32:51Fuel tanks topped off.
32:53Oxygen bottle filled.
32:54Guns loaded and charged.
32:56The deck was organized chaos.
32:59Aircraft handlers were positioning planes for the launch.
33:02Ordnance crews were loading bombs and torpedoes.
33:05500-pound bombs under the Helldivers.
33:08Mark-13 torpedoes under the Avengers.
33:10The torpedoes were temperamental weapons.
33:12They had to be dropped at exactly the right altitude and airspeed, or they would tumble
33:17and sink without running.
33:19100 feet altitude.
33:21110 knots airspeed.
33:23Any deviation meant a dud.
33:25McCampbell climbed into the cockpit of Aircraft 47.
33:28The seat was still warm from the morning's combat air patrol.
33:32He strapped in.
33:33Adjusted the rudder pedals.
33:35Set his oxygen regulator.
33:36The familiar routine.
33:38He had done this hundreds of times, but this afternoon felt different.
33:41Nine kills in the morning.
33:43Now another strike against the most heavily defended targets in the Japanese fleet.
33:48The launch order came at 1355.
33:53McCampbell's Hellcat rolled down the deck and lifted into the afternoon sky.
33:5711 more fighters followed.
33:59Then the dive bombers.
34:00Then the torpedo planes.
34:0236 aircraft forming up over Essex.
34:05The strike group turned west toward the Sibuyo Sea.
34:08Toward Musashi and Yamato.
34:10Toward the heaviest concentration of anti-aircraft fire in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
34:16The afternoon strike was brutal.
34:19McCampbell led his fighters in strafing runs against the destroyer screen.
34:22Suppressing the 40 millimeter guns.
34:25Forcing the gun crews to take cover.
34:27While the dive bombers and torpedo planes made their attacks.
34:30Musashi took 19 torpedo hits and 17 bomb hits that afternoon.
34:35The massive battleship finally capsized and sank at 1930.
34:402,300 crew went down with her.
34:42The largest warship ever sunk by aircraft.
34:46McCampbell landed back on Essex at 1700 hours.
34:49Two more combat missions followed over the next two days.
34:52The Battle of Leyte Gulf raged across 400 miles of ocean.
34:56When it ended on October 27th, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost four carriers, three battleships, 10 cruisers, and 11
35:05destroyers.
35:0626 warships totaling 300,000 tons.
35:09The Japanese Navy was finished as an effective fighting force.
35:13Commander David McCampbell flew his last combat mission on November 14th, 1944.
35:19Air Group 15 returned to the United States for rest and refit.
35:24McCampbell had flown 212 combat missions.
35:2734 confirmed kills.
35:2921 aircraft destroyed on the ground.
35:31He was the United States Navy's top fighter ace.
35:34The ace of aces.
35:36The only fast carrier task force pilot to receive the Medal of Honor for aerial combat.
35:42President Franklin Roosevelt presented McCampbell with the Medal of Honor in January 1945.
35:47The citation read that he had destroyed seven hostile planes during the Battle of the Philippine Sea
35:53and nine planes during the Battle of Leyte Gulf,
35:56while fighting desperately but with superb skill against overwhelming air power.
36:01His actions had completely disorganized the enemy group and forced them to abandon their attack before a single aircraft could
36:09reach the fleet.
36:10McCampbell survived the war.
36:12He remained in the Navy and retired as a captain in 1964 after 31 years of service.
36:18He lived quietly in Florida.
36:20He gave interviews occasionally.
36:22He spoke at naval aviation events.
36:25He never claimed to be a hero, just a pilot who did his job.
36:30He died on June 30, 1996, at age 86.
36:34He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
36:37An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS McCampbell DDG-85, was commissioned in his honor in 2002.
36:45The F-6F-5 Hellcat that McCampbell flew on October 24th sits in the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola,
36:54Florida.
36:55MNC-3
36:56Bureau number 70-0-143
37:00The aircraft that carried him through nine kills and a dead stick landing.
37:05Preserved exactly as it looked that morning.
37:08Navy blue paint.
37:10White stars.
37:11The kill markings on the fuselage showing 34 Japanese flags.
37:16Two Hellcats against 60 Japanese fighters.
37:19Nine kills in 90 minutes.
37:21Two rounds of ammunition remaining.
37:24Engine died the second he landed.
37:26American single-mission record that still stands 80 years later.
37:31Commander David McCampbell proved what one pilot with perfect training, perfect tactics, and perfect courage could achieve when everything was
37:40on the line.
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37:58Stories about pilots who saved entire fleets with skill and impossible courage.
38:03Real people.
38:04Real heroism.
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