By late August 1944, Japanese supply operations in the Philippines were reduced to a dangerous gamble. With deepwater shipping lanes under constant threat from American submarines, the enemy had turned to small intercoastal tankers to shuttle fuel and oil between island bases. These vessels could slip close to shore where larger warships hesitated to follow, but if they were caught in open water they had little chance of survival.

 

Continue reading “USS Guitarro’s Moonlit Victory: The Surface Gun Attack and Sinking of Nanshin Maru No. 27 off Cape Calavite, August 27, 1944” →