Against All Odds by Avi Heiligman

Against All Odds

by Avi Heiligman

throughout history, there have been many stories of unequal battles and military engagements where one side has a distinct advantage. The David vs. Goliath narrative has found its way into the lexicon with the famous story originating in Tanach. In Sefer Shmuel Aleph, the Navi relates the story of Dovid defeating the mighty Golias in single (oneon-one) combat.

Against all odds stories have found their way into the history books with the most famous being the small Spartan army against the large Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae. During World War II, there were many occasions of small units taking on much larger opponents with some surprising outcomes. Here are two stories of small naval forces defeating the odds against much larger enemy ships during World War II.

Oil tankers were the lifeblood of both the Allied and Axis powers. Sinking tankers was a priority of American submarines in the Pacific, and although it wasn’t a priority for the Japanese, they still looked at them as targets of opportunity. The German Navy had launched armed merchant cruisers and other surface vessels to strike at Allied oil ships, and the Japanese soon followed by converting fourteen freighters/passenger ships into auxiliary cruisers.

On November 11, 1942, the Dutch-built

The Dutch Ondina

MV Ondina, an oil tanker owned by Royal Dutch Shell, was being escorted in the Indian Ocean by the small British-Indian warship HMIS Bengal. A lookout noticed two unidentified ships in the distance. The two ships were at first thought to be aircraft carriers, and the Ondina and Bengal sounded the alarm while turning away from the enemy ships. Then the Bengal turned again to meet the Japanese ships head on so that the Ondina could escape when she realized they were two auxiliary cruisers – the Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru.

The cruisers were each armed with each 5.5-inch guns, while Ondina had a 102-mm gun and the Bengal was outfitted with a 3-inch gun. The Japanese fired first and, while scoring several hits, did little damage. The Allied ships returned fire and scored several hits on the Hokoku Maru. One round hit amidships and was so devastating that she eventually sank. The hits most likely came from the small gun from the Ondina which had fired a perfectly aimed shot that caused a massive explosion on the Japanese ship.

The Ondina herself was badly damaged by the remaining cruiser, and her captain told her crew to abandon ship. However, Captain Willem Horsman was killed by enemy gunfire, and the rest of the crew climbed into rafts as the tanker again was pounded by enemy shells. Both the Bengal and the remaining Japanese cruiser left the scene, but incredibly the Ondina did not sink. She was still on fire and listing heavily, and several sailors went back on board to see if she could be saved. They started pumping water out of the ship which slowly righted the Ondina, and eventually the fires were put out. Against all odds, the heavily damaged tanker started moving and eventually made its way to Fremantle, Australia.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf took place on October 23-25, 1944 and was a series of four smaller battles. American forces had landed on Leyte in the Philippines on October 20 and were trying to build airfields in the mud as the infantry rapidly advanced inland. Japanese commanders assembled most of their remaining ships and formed task forces to try and stop the invasion. A large American battleship task force had defeated the southern Japanese force on the night of October 24.

At about the time that the engagement was over, a frantic call for help was sent out. It came from the northern section of the 16 escort carriers screening the landing zone that had just sighted the massive ships of the Japanese Center Force. This section, called Taffy 3 under Rear Admiral Clifton “Ziggy” Sprague, had five escort carriers, three destroyers, and four DE (destroyer escorts). This tiny force was no match for the 16- and 18-inch guns of the Japanese – the Americans’ largest guns were five-inchers. The largest battleship ever built, the Yamato, could lob shells over 22 miles. Called the Battle off Samar, it was truly a David vs. Goliath story.

Admiral Bull Halsey and his powerful fleet were supposed to be protecting the northern approaches to the San Bernardino Strait, but his planes had sighted enemy aircraft carriers. Halsey gave the order to go after the enemy but was just playing into their trap. The Japanese had sacrificed their carriers, which had only a few aircraft on board due to attrition. Japanese Admiral Kurita turned around the 22 ships of Center Force and started to hit Taffy 3. In return, the destroyers laid down a smoke screen as the carriers grouped together, steaming as fast as they could away from the Japanese. Every available plane from the three Taffys was thrown helter-skelter into the battle even though most were armed for ground support. Very few had large bombs or torpedoes, and some didn’t have any weapons at all. However, that didn’t stop them from attacking, and even when their ammo was used up, they still made “dry” runs at the enemy. This forced the Japanese to attack as individual ships and not as a coordinated effort.

The destroyer USS Johnston braved enemy fire and steamed straight into the

teeth of the enemy, firing her torpedoes. She scored a hit on a heavy cruiser but was hit repeatedly and sunk. The two other destroyers and tiny destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts made a frontal attack on the Japanese. The frantic and wild maneuvers caused Japanese fire to be concentrated on the destroyers, allowing most of the escort carriers to escape. The USS Gambier Bay was shot by the Yamato and sunk. The destroyer USS Hoel and the USS Roberts were also sunk

General Douglas MacArthur, accompanied by Philippine president Sergio Osmeña (left), landing at Red Beach, Leyte, October 20, 1944

despite their heroic attacks. It seemed that only a miracle could save Taffy 3, and then the unthinkable happened. Kurita turned around his ships and headed back to Japan.

Observers were confused as to why Kurita turned around when it was clear he had the upper hand. In reality, he did not know the American forces’ disposition, and after losing two more ships to the two he lost the day before, he thought the American large carriers were in range. In addition, he had no air cover, and there was a lack of communication among Japanese ships. Also, Japanese intelligence told him that they were fighting battleships, heavy cruisers, and large carriers when, in fact, they were much smaller ships.

These two stories of lightly armed ships surviving against a larger, better equipped enemy are just two of the “Against All Odds” stories from the war. The names of those who served on the ships are known, and many were awarded medals for their bravery. These Forgotten Heroes were called upon to fight the Axis powers and went above and beyond while facing overwhelming odds.

Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.