My grandfather was on the hoel and he was killed that day on October 25th 1944, my dad was born 2 months later , those men that died in that battle are true war heros !
Thank you for covering the USS Hoel! My great grandfather was one of the 89 survivors, Chief Machine Mate, George William Morby. I never got to ask him what it was like on the Hoel, since he died in 2003. Keep up the great work!
We had about six of the first Hoel's survivors at our twenty-fifth anniversary of the third Hoel (DDG-13)'s commissioning. I remember one of the men had piece of shrapnel about the size of a saucer that had been taken out of his back. I was a young GMG3 at the time
Hoel deserves more than she usually gets, so thank you for this. Any other battle, and she'd have been the star, a fate to live up to. At Samar, she sadly ended up third... Interestingly, it seems like Hoel and Heerman were laid down more or less next to each other...
My friend George Morby told me about it many times before he died and I loved and cherished every story he told me, he told every detail exactly the same every time!🙏🏼❤
Thank you for sharing the story of the USS Hoel. My uncle survived the sinking of the Hoel and was awarded the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and the Presidential Unit Citation.
My Grandfather served on the USS Hoel in radio communications. He survived the war, but only because he was having emergency appendix surgery during the Battle of Samar, so he wasn't on the ship at the time. Dozens of lives, such as myself, exist only because of a freak appendix surgery. Thank you for this video, it's greatly appreciated!
From my grandfather's memoirs: HOEL's area of operations was then moved to the northwest to patrol in the vicinity of New Britain and New Hanover. One afternoon a small craft was sighted and as we closed in it proved to be a dugout canoe approximately 40 feet long and holding a number of men who appeared to be natives. As a precaution, the Captain had our 40 MM mounts manned and rifles issued to several gunners' mates. As we approached more closely we could hear the pop of a pistol and observed the person in the stern executing those nearest him by shooting them in the head. It was apparent that these were Japanese soldiers. As I remember we called to them to surrender or we would open fire. I believe we had a Japanese-speaking person aboard. This demand did not get any response and the shooting continued. The Captain ordered 'commence firing' and the 40 MM guns cleared the canoe of people in short order but didn't sink the canoe. We now had a number of Japanese in the water who had survived the attack but they could not be induced to surrender. Instead they faced us treading water, pointed to their chests and yelled to attract attention. The decision was made to grant them their suicidal wishes as being more humane than death by sharks. The riflemen picked them off one by one. In the clear water we could see the bullets passing through their bodies. The canoe, when pulled alongside, yielded some valuable intelligence information which was passed on to higher headquarters. Later during a night patrol close to the south shore of New Britain, the sweet scent of the tropical growth was a delightful reminder of life's pleasanter side.
The Japanese set the tone of the war,many times surrendering Japanese soldiers concealed grenades and used them against American soldiers. Safer to give them what they want .
Like Johnston, Hoel has to switch to aft steering after her bridge was knocked out. Hoel also rotated her torpedoes into position prior to the attack, which became handy since she was hit in the bridge prior to the torpedo launches. The torpedoes were fired locally, at the tubes instead of by remote director and were fired after the bridge was knocked out and the ship was steered via aft sheering. Just imagine: bridge and gun director is knocked out. They keep charging. They steer via aft steering and launch two sets of torpedoes at two different columns, all while the forward guns are firing like crazy with no central director. And the captain is in the back of the ship. Total bad asses.
If you like that then I suggest you look up HMS Exeter in the battle of the River Plate vs the Graf Spee. Comms down, replaced by ship wide runners. Gun directors knocked out, last remaining gun turret was commanded by someone literally sticking their head out of the top hatch and giving targeting info and fire commands manually
Thank you for covering Hoel and showing that she was every bit as badass as her more famous sister Johnston or li'l Samuel B(attleship) Roberts at Samar!
She would most likely have done as much or maybe more than the Johnson had her engines remained working along with her steering. The very fact that her gunners had to be manually pulled from the remaining two operational guns speaks volumes of the type of men they were.
Great content. Fletcher class boats were pretty tough, and likely the best destroyer of the war. Period. They could take a hell of a beating and still be give out licks.
My friend George Morby was also on the Hoel. History is in the UNT Library you can look it up. Before that he was on another ship sank in Pearl Harbor.
Thanks for discussing the Hoel. It was not long ago that the Battle off Samar Island was unknown. The Navy War College omitted it in its studies of Leyte Gulf.
Hoka Hey! It is a good day to die, the sun is shinning and the trees whisper on the gentle breeze. Hoka Hey! It is a good day to die, the rain makes little rivulets down my back and I have not eaten in days. Hoka Hey! It is a good day to die, the night is very dark and the enemy is all around. Hoka Hey! WE do these things so that our people may live! Hoka Hey! If evil should befall my people, I will stand in harms way! Hoka Hey! Take my hand, let me help you, because I love you. It is a good day to die. Warrior's Song
Courage, Duty, Honor We call upon our heroes In this our darkest hour Our way of life is what we're fighting for The flag above use, inspires each day To give our very best in every way! It's a Good Day to Die! When you know the reason why! Citizens we fight for what is right! A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price For the Freedom I'll give my life! All is fair in love and war That's what my Gunny said You're not alive unless you're almost dying These are the words I march by Duty, Courage, Honor Every single day I'm out there trying! It's a Good Day to Die! When you know the reason why! Citizens we fight for what is right! A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price For the Freedom I'll give my life! The Eagle flies high above us! The Eagle makes our spirits soar! To give us the strength to carry on To fight and win this war! It's a Good Day to Die! When you know the reason why! Citizens we fight for what is right! A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price For the Freedom I'll give my life! It's a Good Day to Die! When you know the reason why! Citizens we fight for what is right! A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price For the Freedom I'll give my life! For Freedom, I'll give my life!
(May 2023) It is a big ask, but I sure hope the Petrel or some other research group is able to locate her final resting place. RIP to all the great men of Taffy 3, including the naval aviators.
It's pretty wild that no one every mentions Hoel, even though she got into a straight up gunfight with the largest battleship ever built, at her behest and on her own terms.
Japan should have learned after the Hiei ran into Laffey. Never send a Battleship to fight an American Destroyer. They both defy expectations and ruin well laid, complex plans.
@@yoseipilot - When the Hiei was trying to rip the USS San Fransisco to pieces with her heavier guns, Benson-class USS Laffey came flying out of the night between the pair. The little Benson was completely outclassed but closed so close that Hiei couldn't depress ANY of its weapons to fire on USS Laffey. USS Laffey, by contrast, COULD fire all her weapons that could be brought to bear. And she did. Raking the hell out of anything that stood out, especially the Superstructure, piercing the Bridge with her guns blazing UPWARDS at angles the Bridge Armor was not meant to defend against. The Japanese commander, Admiral Abe was actually wounded by USS Laffey and his Staff Captain who was next to him was killed instantly along with several other Officers on Hiei's Bridge. USS Laffey saved USS San Fransisco from being destroyed, though, the American Commanders, both Admirals present and on different ships were killed, the Flagship and enough of the other ships survived the night and in turn were able to turn the Japanese attack back. USS Laffey wasn't one of them. She ended up right in the heart of the Japanese ships and was torn apart from several different directions. Completely overwhelmed, she went down, but she turned the tide of the battle long enough for the Japanese to be so disorganized that their wounded leader called for a retreat due to the threat of American Air Power arriving before they could reform for another attack. Abe made the right decision to retreat. Partially supported by USS Laffey's suicidal charge that wounded him. And no doubt, shook the Japanese Officers to their core.
We can’t judge wether they were right or wrong with hosing down the boat. Thousands of sailors, soldiers and marines died by allowing “surrendering” Japanese. They would have explosives taped to their bodies, grenades etc and blow themselves up, start throwing the grenades they had, or start shooting suddenly. I don’t know if I condemn them for what they did given what happens.
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My grandfather was on the hoel and he was killed that day on October 25th 1944, my dad was born 2 months later , those men that died in that battle are true war heros !
So were the survivors.
Thank you for covering the USS Hoel! My great grandfather was one of the 89 survivors, Chief Machine Mate, George William Morby. I never got to ask him what it was like on the Hoel, since he died in 2003. Keep up the great work!
We had about six of the first Hoel's survivors at our twenty-fifth anniversary of the third Hoel (DDG-13)'s commissioning. I remember one of the men had piece of shrapnel about the size of a saucer that had been taken out of his back. I was a young GMG3 at the time
Hoel deserves more than she usually gets, so thank you for this. Any other battle, and she'd have been the star, a fate to live up to. At Samar, she sadly ended up third...
Interestingly, it seems like Hoel and Heerman were laid down more or less next to each other...
My friend George Morby told me about it many times before he died and I loved and cherished every story he told me, he told every detail exactly the same every time!🙏🏼❤
Thank you for sharing the story of the USS Hoel. My uncle survived the sinking of the Hoel and was awarded the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and the Presidential Unit Citation.
My Grandfather served on the USS Hoel in radio communications. He survived the war, but only because he was having emergency appendix surgery during the Battle of Samar, so he wasn't on the ship at the time. Dozens of lives, such as myself, exist only because of a freak appendix surgery. Thank you for this video, it's greatly appreciated!
From my grandfather's memoirs: HOEL's area of operations was then moved to the northwest to patrol in the vicinity of New Britain and New Hanover. One afternoon a small craft was sighted and as we closed in it proved to be a dugout canoe approximately 40 feet long and holding a number of men who appeared to be natives. As a precaution, the Captain had our 40 MM mounts manned and rifles issued to several gunners' mates. As we approached more closely we could hear the pop of a pistol and observed the person in the stern executing those nearest him by shooting them in the head. It was apparent that these were Japanese soldiers. As I remember we called to them to surrender or we would open fire. I believe we had a Japanese-speaking person aboard. This demand did not get any response and the shooting continued. The Captain ordered 'commence firing' and the 40 MM guns cleared the canoe of people in short order but didn't sink the canoe. We now had a number of Japanese in the water who had survived the attack but they could not be induced to surrender. Instead they faced us treading water, pointed to their chests and yelled to attract attention. The decision was made to grant them their suicidal wishes as being more humane than death by sharks. The riflemen picked them off one by one. In the clear water we could see the bullets passing through their bodies. The canoe, when pulled alongside, yielded some valuable intelligence information which was passed on to higher headquarters.
Later during a night patrol close to the south shore of New Britain, the sweet scent of the tropical growth was a delightful reminder of life's pleasanter side.
THAT is awesome ! Thank you for sharing that. 🫡 🇺🇸
The Japanese set the tone of the war,many times surrendering Japanese soldiers concealed grenades and used them against American soldiers.
Safer to give them what they want .
Like Johnston, Hoel has to switch to aft steering after her bridge was knocked out. Hoel also rotated her torpedoes into position prior to the attack, which became handy since she was hit in the bridge prior to the torpedo launches. The torpedoes were fired locally, at the tubes instead of by remote director and were fired after the bridge was knocked out and the ship was steered via aft sheering.
Just imagine: bridge and gun director is knocked out. They keep charging. They steer via aft steering and launch two sets of torpedoes at two different columns, all while the forward guns are firing like crazy with no central director. And the captain is in the back of the ship. Total bad asses.
If you like that then I suggest you look up HMS Exeter in the battle of the River Plate vs the Graf Spee. Comms down, replaced by ship wide runners. Gun directors knocked out, last remaining gun turret was commanded by someone literally sticking their head out of the top hatch and giving targeting info and fire commands manually
Thank you for covering Hoel and showing that she was every bit as badass as her more famous sister Johnston or li'l Samuel B(attleship) Roberts at Samar!
She would most likely have done as much or maybe more than the Johnson had her engines remained working along with her steering. The very fact that her gunners had to be manually pulled from the remaining two operational guns speaks volumes of the type of men they were.
James Hornfischer wrote about the exploits of the Hoel in every gruesome detail in Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors
Great content.
Fletcher class boats were pretty tough, and likely the best destroyer of the war. Period.
They could take a hell of a beating and still be give out licks.
My friend George Morby was also on the Hoel. History is in the UNT Library you can look it up. Before that he was on another ship sank in Pearl Harbor.
A story worth remembering. Thank you for sharing.🙂🙂
thank you for the info. my great uncle was KIA on this ship
Thanks for discussing the Hoel. It was not long ago that the Battle off Samar Island was unknown. The Navy War College omitted it in its studies of Leyte Gulf.
Hoka Hey! It is a good day to die,
the sun is shinning and the trees whisper on the gentle breeze.
Hoka Hey! It is a good day to die,
the rain makes little rivulets down my back and I have not eaten in days.
Hoka Hey! It is a good day to die,
the night is very dark and the enemy is all around.
Hoka Hey! WE do these things so that our people may live!
Hoka Hey! If evil should befall my people, I will stand in harms way!
Hoka Hey! Take my hand, let me help you, because I love you.
It is a good day to die.
Warrior's Song
Courage, Duty, Honor
We call upon our heroes
In this our darkest hour
Our way of life is what we're fighting for
The flag above use, inspires each day
To give our very best in every way!
It's a Good Day to Die!
When you know the reason why!
Citizens we fight for what is right!
A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price
For the Freedom I'll give my life!
All is fair in love and war
That's what my Gunny said
You're not alive unless you're almost dying
These are the words I march by
Duty, Courage, Honor
Every single day I'm out there trying!
It's a Good Day to Die!
When you know the reason why!
Citizens we fight for what is right!
A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price
For the Freedom I'll give my life!
The Eagle flies high above us!
The Eagle makes our spirits soar!
To give us the strength to carry on
To fight and win this war!
It's a Good Day to Die!
When you know the reason why!
Citizens we fight for what is right!
A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price
For the Freedom I'll give my life!
It's a Good Day to Die!
When you know the reason why!
Citizens we fight for what is right!
A noble sacrifice, when duty calls you pay the price
For the Freedom I'll give my life!
For Freedom, I'll give my life!
Hero is much overused word, but TF3 was, without doubt, heroic.
I served on the second USS Hoel. DDG-13. 75-78.
(May 2023) It is a big ask, but I sure hope the Petrel or some other research group is able to locate her final resting place. RIP to all the great men of Taffy 3, including the naval aviators.
It's pretty wild that no one every mentions Hoel, even though she got into a straight up gunfight with the largest battleship ever built, at her behest and on her own terms.
Do you plan to do a video on the Princeton?
Excellent video!
Given what the Japanese were well known for doing when they "surrendered" and their treatment of pows I would have hosed that boat down too.
Its not like you can be picky on when employing a deck mounted 40mm.
My dentist's uncle was an engineering officer on the Hoel.
1:50 there no t on going Burrr,
Burrt is the sound of a warthog.
Tom Hank and Steven Spielberg should honor the Navy with the next Series. Taffy 3...
No one would believe it.
And abandoned by the USN for two days......
Japan should have learned after the Hiei ran into Laffey.
Never send a Battleship to fight an American Destroyer. They both defy expectations and ruin well laid, complex plans.
@@yoseipilot - In what universe?
@@yoseipilot - When the Hiei was trying to rip the USS San Fransisco to pieces with her heavier guns, Benson-class USS Laffey came flying out of the night between the pair.
The little Benson was completely outclassed but closed so close that Hiei couldn't depress ANY of its weapons to fire on USS Laffey.
USS Laffey, by contrast, COULD fire all her weapons that could be brought to bear. And she did. Raking the hell out of anything that stood out, especially the Superstructure, piercing the Bridge with her guns blazing UPWARDS at angles the Bridge Armor was not meant to defend against.
The Japanese commander, Admiral Abe was actually wounded by USS Laffey and his Staff Captain who was next to him was killed instantly along with several other Officers on Hiei's Bridge.
USS Laffey saved USS San Fransisco from being destroyed, though, the American Commanders, both Admirals present and on different ships were killed, the Flagship and enough of the other ships survived the night and in turn were able to turn the Japanese attack back.
USS Laffey wasn't one of them. She ended up right in the heart of the Japanese ships and was torn apart from several different directions. Completely overwhelmed, she went down, but she turned the tide of the battle long enough for the Japanese to be so disorganized that their wounded leader called for a retreat due to the threat of American Air Power arriving before they could reform for another attack.
Abe made the right decision to retreat. Partially supported by USS Laffey's suicidal charge that wounded him. And no doubt, shook the Japanese Officers to their core.
November 31st? What's up with that?
You’ve never made a mistake?
@@tylerjerabek5204 I make them all the time, just not on TH-cam. 😁
Great content… please no sing song🙏🙏
We can’t judge wether they were right or wrong with hosing down the boat.
Thousands of sailors, soldiers and marines died by allowing “surrendering” Japanese. They would have explosives taped to their bodies, grenades etc and blow themselves up, start throwing the grenades they had, or start shooting suddenly. I don’t know if I condemn them for what they did given what happens.
First.
NO ONE CARES.