 Tom Marshall |
The day included a raid on the Japanese fleet which later became known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf
(2nd Battle of the Philippine Sea) and ended with a crash landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Essex. "Jess had a stomach flu that morning but decided to go anyway. As senior air group we were allowed to make the first attack. Our TMB came in low and fast, the water looked like a blur. We approach a Japanese aircraft carrier from the side, dropped our torpedo and banked to the left. Jess, our pilot, said it was a hit. The plane banked again to the right coming around the other side of the carrier. The torpedo had ripped into the aft section of the ship and exploded. As we flew around the ship, Japanese anti-aircraft fire knocked out our hydraulic system. Our job was done and we headed back to the Essex." (Tom Marshall) |
| Air group 15 left the Essex at 0555 under the command of
David McCampbell. Because McCampbell was the Navy's ranking ace fighter pilot,
his air group made the first attack. A torpedo from Tom, Jess and Charlie's TBM hit the Japanese light aircraft carrier
Chitose. According to the books Warship Losses of World War II by David Brown and The Fast Carriers by Clark Reynolds, the Chitose was hit by Essex and Lexington based aircraft at 0800 and the light carrier sank by 0937. Air Group 15 TBMs hit the Chitose with two more torpedoes and it was sinking when the second attack group arrived at 0930. In addition to the Chitose, three other Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk that day by U.S. carrier based aircraft in the area off Cape Engano, a heavy carrier the Zuikaku and two light carriers the Zuiho and the Chiyoda. |
 IJN Chitose 
Explosion Tom viewed as it ripped through the deck of IJN Chitose |
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