A radical reassessment of this important World War II naval battle
List of Maps
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Prologue: "Retiring towards the enemy."
1. "I have returned."
2. "Bah. We will do our best."
3. "We are going to participate in a surface special attack."
4. "It is deemed advisable for 2YB to storm into Leyte Gulf."
5. "He gallantly came to a stop and started rescue work."
6. "Everybody aboard thought a BB could force a narrow strait."
7. "Make all ready for night battle."
8. "A most tragic dispatch."
9. "Take out the searchlight."
10. "He wished them to know he was penetrating alone."
11. "Just scored a big flare on 1 of them."
12. "You are to proceed independently and attack all ships!"
13. "At 0345 observed battleship burning."
14. "This has to be quick. Standby your torpedoes."
15. "An awfully gruesome sound, which passed from left to
right."
16. "We proceed till totally annihilated."
17. "We have arrived at battle site."
18. "In God's name, where's the doctor?"
19. "The chances of success are nil."
20. "It was the kind of naval battle you dream about."
Epilogue: "A thing repeated will happen a third time."
Appendices
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Anthony P. Tully is an independent scholar and historian of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He is author (with Jon Parshall) of Shattered Sword, a study of the Battle of Midway. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
"Anthony Tully has managed to trace the complicated flow of and
reason for events... with a skill and aplomb that forces one to
reconsider previously held views." —Naval History
"With copious endnotes, an extensive and interesting bibliography
and thorough index, this book is worth buying by serious students
of the Pacific War and for institutional libraries with a strong
military history focus." —The Journal of Naval History
"By giving a fuller view of the Japanese side, Tully's work forces
a substantial revision of the traditional picture of the battle.
Battle of Surigao Strait is not only military history based on
scrupulous use of a plethora of new source materials, but is a
spanking good read. Highly recommended." —War in History
"Aims to sort out the discrepancies that have crept in over time to
standard accounts of the battle... a confused and complex night
action. Of special interest is Tully's exploitation of fresh source
materials." —Malcolm Muir, Jr., author of Black Shoes and Blue
Water: Surface Warfare in the United States Navy, 1945–1975
"If the vibrant international community of experts who study the
Pacific War and discuss and debate it online can be seen as a
mafia, then Anthony Tully is its consigliore. Whenever a question
arises about the battle history of World War II in the
Pacific--what really happened after the fleets collided,
dive-bombers entered their dives, and shot met plate--he is the
indispensable man. In this book he paints Admiral Nishimura's
high-speed run into history with an entirely fresh palette of
detail, from the command decisions to the after-action reports. It
offers naval history buffs something fresh and easy to relish on
almost every page" —James D. Hornfischer, author of Ship of Ghosts
and The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
"Tully's narrative is clear and clarifies a confused night battle
in restricted waters. He disputes several perceived truths about
the battle by giving the reader a complete record of what each ship
was doing at each stage of the battle." —Military Review
"The skillful incorporation of personal testimony from those
involved is what really elevates this work above run-of-the-mill
naval history and turns it into something special." —Warship
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