雷伊泰灣大海戰【歷史頻道：戰役360.二戰傳奇航母企業號EP09】::雷伊泰灣大海戰【上】

USS Enterprise, a fighting city of steel She is the most revered and decorated ship of the World War II On this 360-degree battlefield, where threats loom on the seas, in the skies, and in the ocean depths The Enterprise's enemies could be anywhere, and everywhere There's nowhere to run when the battle's all around you Battle 360 USS Enterprise, Battle of Leyte Gulf Daybreak, October 24th, 1944, Philippine Sea Twelve scout bombers and sixteen Hellcat fighters launch from USS Enterprise Their mission, search the waters southwest of Leyte Gulf Word has it the Japanese warships are headed for American forces landing on Leyte Island The warships are likely to include Japan's two super battleships Musashi and Yamato, the biggest in the world Enterprise bombers are hoping to destroy them The bomber pilots are also eager to finally kill the last enemy carrier to take part in the Pearl Harbor attack The Zuikaku, sister ship Shoukaku, recently met her fate at the Battle of the Philippine Sea At this point, Enterprise and Zuikaku have seen more combat than any other carriers on either side since the opening of the war Bill Norberg, a 23-year-old captain's yeoman from Massachusetts, has been aboard since those earliest days We had some kind of a checker game going on, I would say, between ourselves and the enemy there The Shoukaku and the Zuikaku were sister ships We in the Yorktown and we in the Hornet were sister ships And so many times we met during the war Now, at 8 a.m., as Enterprise flyers reach the Sulu Sea They scan the ocean surface meticulously for enemy vessels Just over an hour later, 15,000 feet below them The American search group spots what it's been looking for A Japanese naval task force No aircraft carriers or super battleships are present But the task force does include two standard-sized battleships and a heavy cruiser They are picketed by four small destroyers and they're burning north at 15 knots There can only be one destination for these ships They're headed toward the beaches of Leyte To kill Americans Time to make some war The Enterprise aircraft immediately line up to dive on the Japanese vessels The plan here is for the dive bombers to get into a position where they can hit these battleships Japanese battleships are the main targets Meanwhile, the fighter escorts are going to swoop down And strafe these destroyers and cruisers that are escorting these battleships That way, the cruisers and destroyers will have their fire divided They won't be able to take on the attacking bombers quite so well They'll be distracted by the fighter flights The fighters nose toward the water first Slamming their throttles forward A sheet of murderous flak, anti-aircraft fire, quickly rises to meet them These planes encounter very interesting flak coming up from the Japanese fleet Each ship is firing a different color So when these flak bursts go off, you have blues and yellows and whites and reds It's a very interesting scene The shells from each enemy ship are marked with a different color dye So the fire from one ship can be distinguished from the fire of another Slicing through the heavy flak, the Hellcats blister the cruiser and destroyers With .50 caliber machine gun fire and 5-inch rockets Seconds behind them, the Enterprise dive bombers, Curtis Helldivers Screen downward toward the battleships At 2,000 feet, the Helldivers release their 500-pound bombs They pull out of their dives just above the water And maneuver to avoid the rainbow-colored flak as they make their getaway Arthur Kropp is a 19-year-old from Michigan We'd go right down treetop level or as low as we could Reason for this being anti-aircraft fire Would be diminished quickly because you're out of range quicker Smoke and fire on the decks of the battleships point to the bombers' success There are several near misses But at least three of the bombs do make direct hits So this battle does get some pretty damaging hits on this Japanese force Even so, neither battleship is out of the action But the injuries will slow them down But for Commander Fred Bacchatus, leader of the Enterprise Hellcats This has been a battle-ending encounter Shortly after the attack, he radios that he's losing oil And that he's ditching Bacchatus faces almost certain death If the impact of the landing doesn't kill him He'll be stranded alone in enemy waters And more than a hundred miles from land His comrades are also still at great risk While they think they've struck a major blow to the enemy attack force They don't know that a few hundred miles north A much larger Japanese force That includes the world's biggest battleships Is steaming toward the American landing troops at Leyte And the Japanese have a trick up their sleeve A deception to lure USS Enterprise And the other big US carriers away from the battle area And it just might work By October 1944 The American and Japanese aircraft carrier forces Have been slugging it out for three years Eastern Solomons Santa Cruz And now, following the recent clash over the Philippine Sea In which 400 planes were lost The enemy's carrier force is a shadow of its former self Their carriers at this point are empty They have vessels But they don't have planes or pilots to put on those vessels Just over 100 planes remain To distribute amongst the surviving carriers Even so, the Japanese Navy Has another skilled and menacing combat arm The remaining strength of the Japanese Navy at this point Is in its battleships and its heavy cruisers They still have a very formidable array Of heavy gun warships that they can bring to bear Among the warships are Japan's two super battleships The monsters Musashi and Yamato The biggest battleships ever built They were massive battleships 863 feet long 172 foot beam Weighing 72,000 tons The Yamato and the Musashi both Had a main battery of 9,400 kilowatts 60 millimeter guns That's 18.1 inches The largest naval guns used in combat They're extremely heavily armored Yet relatively fast Very powerful, graceful warships And they're able to sustain A level of punishment that was Considered inconceivable Even at the beginning of the war Japanese admirals must now rely On these large surface warships To stop the American advance Through the Pacific They believe the best way to do it Is to disrupt the American beach landings It's recognized at this point in the war That it's important to hit The American invasion forces So the point of attack For the Japanese battleships For the first time Is not their American opposite numbers But is rather the beachhead itself And the transports and the logistical apparatus That are supporting this invasion On the opposite side of the equation The American carrier forces Are holding their own so far They still have plenty of carriers And aircraft US admirals also have battleships And cruisers at their disposal They feel they have enough strength At this point in the war To finally target the Philippines But any attempt at landing in the Philippines Will be hotly contested Japanese occupiers Will defend this crucial ground to the death The American strategy For taking back the Philippines Calls first for the capture Of the centrally located island of Leyte It's felt that Leyte needs to be captured So that we can put air bases into operation And then we'll extend our air umbrella Over further portions of the Philippines And go on eventually To the liberation of Luzon Which contains the capital of Manila US navy will use two separate fleets To accomplish this The actual landing force US army troops Will be delivered by the US 7th fleet Under Vice Admiral Thomas Kincaid Kincaid is a tough-minded New Hampshire man With extensive battleship command experience The 7th fleet's transports and warships Will both land the troops And provide them with support Close air support Will come from small aircraft carriers Called escort or jeep carriers The small carriers Will also keep planes aloft To protect the other vessels Of the invasion fleet Aging battleships Ones that were sunk at Pearl Harbor Then razed and refurbished Will bombard the beaches Ahead of the landings The other fleet in this operation Is the US 3rd fleet Under the command of William F. Halsey Admiral Bull Halsey Is sort of this patron figure With US carriers And US carrier aviation It was Halsey that had led Enterprise's task force In all those early campaigns In the first months of World War II Halsey's 3rd fleet Includes the now legendary Enterprise Along with 17 other large, fast carriers Halsey and his 3rd fleet Will remain farther out at sea To provide additional comfort And support For the Leyte landing operation If the Japanese fleet shows itself The famous carrier admiral Will attempt to pummel it Before it gets a chance To disrupt the Philippine landing But the Japanese have devised a strategy For countering Halsey's presence Executed properly They believe their plan Will crush the Americans in Leyte Gulf In the wake of their massive defeat In the Marianas campaign In the battle known as the Turkey shoot The Japanese fleet is Well, they're spread out The main carrier fleet Is refurbishing back in the home islands They need new planes They have lost hundreds of Naval aviators and warplanes In the battle that summer So the carriers The fleet carriers Are back in the home islands And the battleships and cruisers And the remainder of the surface fleet Are hundreds of miles to the south A number of their warships Are at this point Sequestered in places near Singapore Because there's oil there And they need oil to operate But Japanese admirals Plan to use these circumstances To their advantage While their empty carrier force Can't accomplish much As a fighting entity It has great potential As a distraction The Japanese will use The carrier force as a decoy The hope is that Admiral Halsey Always eager to sink Japanese carriers Will steam north to intercept them Pulling America's big carriers Out of the primary battle area Simultaneously The enemy's main effort Will come from the south Japan's battleships and cruisers Will steam north Toward Leyte from Singapore The warships will split Into two groups One force sailing through The Sulu Sea and Surigao Strait And approaching Leyte Gulf From the south The other half Sailing through the Sibuyan Sea And San Bernardino Strait And coming down on Leyte From the north They have a southern And a northern pincer Composed of battleships and cruisers That will hopefully meet up Off of the island of Leyte And there crush The invasion convoys When Japanese And American forces collide The numbers of ships involved And the hundreds of miles Separating major battle areas Will distinguish the struggle For Leyte Gulf As the largest naval battle In the history of mankind Now On the morning of October 24th, 1944 The American landing On the island of Leyte Has been underway for four days Resistance from Japanese ground forces On Leyte has been minimal Due in large part To bombardment By Seventh Fleet battleships 25-year-old Oregonian Ken Peck is a gunnery officer Every time there was a new operation You'd soften them up for a while With bombings And then you'd hit them And they softened that up For a long time So when they landed at Leyte I don't think it was too much interference Or too much opposition Japanese naval forces Are rushing toward Leyte To stop them As men and equipment Flow ashore 60 miles off The eastern coast of Leyte William F. Halsey's Third Fleet Including USS Enterprise Has been sending out search planes Like the 28 planes Sent toward the Sulu Sea this morning To keep an eye out For approaching warships Richard Hart Also a gunnery officer Hails from West Virginia We knew the Japanese fleet Had left its anchorage And we had submarines out Who did a very good job In keeping track of it Of giving its advance warnings Indeed 25 hours ago American submarines USS Darter and USS Dace Launched torpedoes At the Japanese center force These subs are scouting Off the southern tip of Palawan And they managed to actually hit And sink two heavy cruisers Since this contact Admiral Halsey has stepped up Scouting flights from Enterprise And her sister carriers The flight that headed south Of Enterprise this morning Led by commanders Emmet Riera And Fred Bagatus Discovered the Japanese southern force One half of the intended pincer action Against Leyte The southern force Is under the command of Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura 55-year-old Nishimura Ably commanded The 7th Cruiser Division In the Guadalcanal Campaign Bombarding Henderson Field And inflicting heavy damage Now Thanks to Riera's hell divers Two of the battleships Of the southern force are wounded The Curtiss SB-2C Helldiver Is a fearsome attack aircraft Its impressive top speed Of 294 miles per hour Is made possible in part By its internal bomb bay Carrying large bombs internally Prevents wind drag The bombers arm with Two 20-millimeter wing-mounted cannons And two .30-caliber machine guns In the rear cockpit While the hits Riera's hell divers have scored On the southern force battleships Have resulted in fires The flames are quickly extinguished And neither warship Is out of the action The Hellcat fighters Have made rocket hits On the cruiser and the destroyers But damage is minimal And those vessels Also remain on course Commander Fred Beckett's Hellcat On the other hand Has become a casualty And shortly after Radioing that he's losing oil And that he's ditching His plane tears into the water Beckett's is lucky And survives the impact He scrambles out of his aircraft Just as it begins to sink Beckett's is able to Survive his water landing He's able to deploy His tiny life raft More importantly His friend Emmet Riera Who is in command of the hell divers Is able to get into a position Where he can drop Beckett's A larger life raft Commander Riera carefully plots Beckett's' position Before leading the Enterprise planes Back to the mothership Meanwhile 300 miles northwest In the Sibuyan Sea The Japanese center force Is also steaming toward Leyte This force comprises Five battleships Seven heavy cruisers One light cruiser And 13 destroyers And it's with this attack fleet That the monster battleships Yamato and Musashi are present Both vessels pack 18.1 inch guns And are designed to sustain A staggering level of punishment These ships represent the heart Of the enemy's main effort Spotted by scout planes earlier Now at 10.30 a.m. The center force comes under attack From American bombers They are aircraft From two other carriers In Admiral Halsey's task force USS Intrepid And USS Cabot Helldivers and Avenger torpedo planes From USS Intrepid and USS Cabot Swoop into this Japanese task force They score hits on a cruiser And three battleships Including the mega battleships Yamato and Musashi The monster warships Absorb the hits in stride And maintain speed But a second wave of planes From Intrepid Along with aircraft From USS Essex And USS Lexington Soon arrives And concentrates its attack On Musashi The American bombers Score 10 additional hits Musashi feels it this time They get bomb hits And torpedo hits On the Musashi That weaken it and slow it down When the smoke clears Musashi is listening to port And struggling to make 15 knots And the monster warships troubles Are far from over A few hours later In mid afternoon USS Enterprise pilots Get a crack at her A wave of bombers From both Enterprise And USS Franklin Buzzes in Determined to put Musashi Beneath the waves