David vs. Goliath: The 80th Anniversary of the Battle Off Samar
Schedule
Sat Oct 26 2024 at 09:00 am to 02:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
1341 Princess Anne Road,Virginia Beach,23457,US | Virginia Beach, VA
Join us for a day of speaker programs, flight demonstrations and activities that commemorate the Battle Off Samar on the 80th Anniversary.Part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history, the Battle Off Samar would come to be known as the last stand of the Tin Can Sailors. On October 25, 1944 the Imperial Japanese Navy's most powerful battleship would face off against some of the smallest ships in the US Navy, and be defeated.
Join us for a day of speaker programs, flight demonstrations and other activities at the Museum as we celebrate the bravery of the sailors and aviators who faced down the Yamato - the largest battleship ever built.
This Event is Included with Museum Admission - Single-Day Admissions Can Be Purchased Through This Page.
Schedule
9am - 1pm Tin Cans vs Dreadnaughts
The Military Aviation Museum Model Club has faithfully re-created, in reduced scale, every ship and squadron that would see action during the battle. These ships and aircraft will be displayed, and moved throughout the day to reflect their positions throughout the engagement accurately. Club members have also reproduced the rain squalls that were present on the day, and even the colored shell splashes created by Japanese dye packs designed to help their gunnery crews aim their massive guns.
9am - 2pm Story Board Exhibition
Compiled by Museum Docent Mike "Quickdraw" McGraw the storyboards utilize primary source material from his collection, and from the Naval Archives to provide a window into the action on October 25, 1944. With copies of original orders, enlarged and detailed, as well as maps of the region, the Exhibition gives visitors a chance to put themselves in the shoes of the pilots who were flying off into a maelstrom.
12pm A Wilder Wildcat Ace
Hear Ensign Joseph D. McGraw’s firsthand account of action during the “Battle off Samar” as retold and narrated by Museum Docent Mike “Quickdraw” McGraw. Review what was perhaps the most surprising and lopsided allied victory in the Pacific Island Hopping Campaign as “David” (USN CVEs, DDs and DDEs) squares off against “Goliath” (IJN Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Cruisers and Destroyers) as experienced by VC-10’s first and only ACE.
1pm General Motors FM-2 Wildcat - Flight Demonstration
Derived from the Grumman-built F4F-4, our FM-2 Wildcat variant was manufactured by General Motors and featured several design improvements, including a modified tail, more powerful engine (Wright Cyclone R-1820-56) and a reduced number of wing-mounted machine guns to provide greater room for ammunition.
General Motors continued to produce Wildcats and improve upon their design even after Grumman switched over to manufacturing the more advanced F6F Hellcat. The Museum’s FM-2 received its first assignment to San Pedro, California in April 1944, having been built just a short time earlier at General Motors’ Eastern Aircraft Division plant in Linden, New Jersey. It was assigned to the South Pacific during the summer of 1944, before eventually returning to San Diego, California, and then moving to Florida, where it joined a training unit. In July 1945, a short time before war’s end, the fighter received a new assignment at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Pungo in Virginia Beach, just 4 miles north of the Museum!
2pm A Wilder Wildcat Ace
Hear Ensign Joseph D. McGraw’s firsthand account of action during the “Battle off Samar” as retold and narrated by Museum Docent Mike “Quickdraw” McGraw. Review what was perhaps the most surprising and lopsided allied victory in the Pacific Island Hopping Campaign as “David” (USN CVEs, DDs and DDEs) squares off against “Goliath” (IJN Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Cruisers and Destroyers) as experienced by VC-10’s first and only ACE.
Taffy 3, the Unit which engaged the Japanese Fleet directly received the Presidential Unit Citation.
For extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944. ... the gallant ships of the Task Unit waged battle fiercely against the superior speed and fire power of the advancing enemy, ... two of the Unit's valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy's heavy shells as a climax to two and one half hours of sustained and furious combat. The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Where is it happening?
1341 Princess Anne Road,Virginia Beach,23457,US, United States
