Скачать или смотреть The Destroyer That Charged A Battleship Fleet - Samar 1944

October 25, 1944.
Battle off Samar, Pacific Ocean.

At dawn, American escort carriers supporting the Leyte landings faced an impossible threat—an advancing Japanese fleet of battleships and cruisers, including the massive Yamato. Against them stood a handful of lightly armed U.S. ships.

Then one destroyer attacked.

Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans, captain of the USS Johnston, ordered full speed ahead and charged the enemy fleet—alone. Under overwhelming gunfire, his ship launched torpedoes at point-blank range, crippling a Japanese cruiser and sowing chaos among the attackers.

Shells tore through the Johnston. Fires burned. Men fell at their stations. Wounded but unyielding, Evans continued to fight until his ship could fire no more. He was last seen standing on the bridge as the destroyer sank.

The Japanese fleet withdrew.

The escort carriers survived.

For his extraordinary bravery and leadership, Ernest E. Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.