Philippine Sea in WW2 History | World War II Database

24 May 1943

Pacific Ocean

While transiting toward her patrol area south of Japan in the daylight, submarine USS Saury made a sudden dive because of a ship sighting. The navigator first observed what he said was thick black smoke. Captain Dropp identified it as a ship heading straight toward them. While submerged, Saury circled into a better firing position. When the submarine surfaced to make the attack, they were surprised to learn they had been stalking Lot's Wife, a 300-ft tall rock pillar in the middle of the ocean. ww2dbase [Saury | Philippine Sea | DS]

3 Dec 1943

Pacific Ocean

West of Palau, submarine USS Tinosa torpedoed and sank the 6,600-ton passenger-cargo ship Azuma Maru. ww2dbase [Tinosa | Philippine Sea | DS]

15 Feb 1944

Pacific Ocean

Submarine USS Tinosa attacked a convoy of four ships east of Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Sea and sank Odatsuki Maru and Chojo Maru. ww2dbase [Tinosa | Philippine Sea | DS]

18 Nov 1944

Pacific Ocean

Ships and aircraft from the hunter-killer group built around escort carrier USS Anzio conducted a coordinated attack 350 miles east of the Philippines on the submerged Japanese submarine I-41 commanded by LtCdr Kondo Fumitake. Destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor launched a successful spread of Hedgehog anti-submarine mortars and the I-41 was lost with all hands. Other ships in the Anzio group were USS Melvin R. Nawman, USS Tabberer, USS Oliver Mitchell, and USS Robert F. Keller. ww2dbase [Tabberer | Anzio | Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign | Henry Plage | Philippine Sea | DS]

29 Nov 1944

Pacific Ocean

Destroyer USS Shaw and her convoy were attacked by one Nakajima Ki-43 (Oscar) and two Nakajima B6Ns (Jill) with no damage to ships or planes. ww2dbase [Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign | Shaw | Philippine Sea | DS]

17 Dec 1944

Photo(s) dated 17 Dec 1944

TBM Avenger heavily lashed to the deck of escort carrier USS Anzio as the ship rocks with Typhoon Cobra in the Philippine Sea, 17 Dec 1944.

18 Dec 1944

Photo(s) dated 18 Dec 1944

Cruiser USS Santa Fe rolling heavily during Typhoon Cobra in the Philippine Sea, 18 Dec 1944. Note the forward turret trained to the side so water over the bow would not enter through the gun ports.

20 Dec 1944

Pacific Ocean

After three days and two nights of searching for survivors in the water after Typhoon Cobra, destroyer escort USS Tabberer was relieved of the search by other ships after recovering 55 men from the water. ww2dbase [Tabberer | Hull | Henry Plage | Typhoon Cobra | Philippine Sea | DS]

3 Jan 1945

Pacific Ocean

When coming alongside Casablanca-class escort carrier USS Sargent Bay, destroyer escort USS Robert F. Keller collided with the carrier's starboard side amidships resulting in a 16-inch hole in the hull. There were no injuries. ww2dbase [Sargent Bay | Philippine Sea | DS]

31 Mar 1945

Pacific Ocean

In the Philippine Sea, Japanese submarine I-361 with its deck loaded with five Kaitens was spotted on the surface by US Navy Lt(jg) Sam Stovall flying a TBM-3E Avenger from USS Anzio. The Avenger released a Mark 24 FIDO acoustic homing torpedo and I-361 was lost with all 76 hands plus the five Kaiten pilots. ww2dbase [Mark XXIV | Kaiten-class | TBF Avenger | Anzio | Philippine Sea | DS]

4 Jun 1945

Pacific Ocean

At 1848/I, USS Ancon's radar captured a clear image of a well-formed tropical storm on a rapid northeasterly track heading directly toward Rear Admiral J.J Clark's 76-ship formation of ships including carriers, battleships, and a replenishment group. Ancon prepared a message for Clark and Fleet Commander Admiral William Halsey but because of coding requirements and a heavy volume of similarly coded weather reports from other sources, Ancon's report was not fully appreciated by Clark or Halsey for over five hours. By then, Clark's ships had already sailed into Typhoon Connie. ww2dbase [Typhoon Connie | Ancon | J. J. Clark | William Halsey | Philippine Sea | DS]

5 Jun 1945

Photo(s) dated 5 Jun 1945

Heavy seas of Typhoon Connie as seen from the cruiser USS Pittsburgh looking aft down her starboard side, dawn 5 Jun 1945 in the Philippine Sea. Pittsburgh lost 110-feet of her bow in this storm.

5 Jun 1945 typhoon map from the Japanese Meteorological Agency. Note the disturbance in the center that the Americans called Typhoon Connie and also the smaller disturbance closer to Okinawa.

USS Attu, an escort carrier with a replenishment group, the morning after enduring Typhoon Connie in the Philippine Sea, 5 Jun 1945. Note at least three TBM Avengers tossed onto their backs by the storm.

29 Jul 1945

Pacific Ocean

Japanese submarine I-58 sank cruiser USS Indianapolis with two hits from Type 95 torpedoes; USS Indianapolis' prior order to maintain radio silence resulted in a 2-day delay in realizing she was lost. ww2dbase [Type 95 | Indianapolis | I-58 | Philippine Sea | TH]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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