JABQ04 said:

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There's a movie rumored to be in the works called "Destroyer" by Mel Gibson based on USS Laffey. A picket screen destroyer that took something like 6 kamikaze hits and stayed afloat.

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Quote:

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"A US Army transport just aft of John Burke was severely damaged by the blast and sank before it could be identified"

It MAY mean a landing transport, not too big, and would possibly explain how they would not know what it was if didn't catch the number. Unless it was the wrecked LST-750 which another Japanese plane than sank the hulk with a torpedo hit.

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YZ250 said:

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Quote:

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"A US Army transport just aft of John Burke was severely damaged by the blast and sank before it could be identified"

It MAY mean a landing transport, not too big, and would possibly explain how they would not know what it was if didn't catch the number. Unless it was the wrecked LST-750 which another Japanese plane than sank the hulk with a torpedo hit.

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titan, my book refers to the ship immediately astern of the John Burke as a small Army freighter. He said the LST 750 continued on with the convoy.

On January 4 a ship carrying bombs, the Lewis L.Dyche, was hit by a kamikaze and disintegrated.

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titan said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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Never heard of this before. If it had not been titan who posted this, I would argue it was a photoshop and false caption of a nuclear test.


titan, isn't it true that the government covered up how devastating Kamikazes were, during the war? Maybe that's why this is unknown?

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Canyon,

Yes, you are basically right. They didn't cover up the existence of them, but they very much downplayed how effective and frightening they were. The losses off Okinawa during the mass kamikazes strikes then were particularly intimidating. Nimitz issued a special memorandum of exactly the way kamikazes were to be talked about to any press, and what not to say, and what was okay. A major motive was to preserve morale against the fact that there were few defenses other than stopping it before it hit for what amounted to guided missiles before their time. Another motive was to conceal from the Japanese just how effective the new method was.

The reason it is unknown is the invasion of Mindoro itself is generally ignored --- it came between the capture of Leyte after the big battles of October and November and the big landing on Luzon -- where Manila is, in January 1945. That battle would become such a fight it completely eclipsed the stepping stone invasion of Mindoro that set it up and was to serve as a staging area and airfield.

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ABATTBQ87 said:

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SS John Burke story

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The ship's keel was laid on 20 November 1942 and only 33 days later, on December 13, the hull was launched. After fitting out over the next ten days, John Burke was handed over to the US Navy on 23 December, such was the speed with which Liberty Ships were built during World War II. John Burke was approximately 422 feet long and 57 feet wide, had a top speed of 11 knots

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texrover91 said:

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ABATTBQ87 said:

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SS John Burke story

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Amazing - 33 days to build a 10-ton ship

Quote:

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The ship's keel was laid on 20 November 1942 and only 33 days later, on December 13, the hull was launched. After fitting out over the next ten days, John Burke was handed over to the US Navy on 23 December, such was the speed with which Liberty Ships were built during World War II. John Burke was approximately 422 feet long and 57 feet wide, had a top speed of 11 knots

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CanyonAg77 said:

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Username fits.

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