One Ship, One Captain, No Surrender USS Samuel B. Roberts vs Japan's Navy

A 1,400-ton destroyer escort, built to hunt submarines and escort convoys, turned her bow toward Japan's most powerful surviving battle fleet - and attacked anyway. On October 25th, 1944, off the coast of Samar in the Philippines, the USS Samuel B. Roberts and her crew of 224 men faced an enemy force built around battleships, including the mighty Yamato, with nothing but two 5-inch guns and three torpedoes. Their captain told them plainly: this ship was not expected to survive the morning. They sailed at them anyway. This is the story of Taffy 3, the Battle off Samar, and the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship - buying the time that saved the invasion of Leyte Gulf. CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Introduction 0:58 - The Trap at Samar 4:24 - Contact 5:58 - The Order 8:28 - The Charge 10:00 - Fighting Like a Battleship 12:22 - The Reckoning 15:26 - The Withdrawal 17:17 - The Legacy RESOURCES & FURTHER READING: Naval History and Heritage Command - USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413): https://www.history.navy.mil/research... Naval History and Heritage Command - Battle off Samar overview: https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-b... Destroyer Escort Sailors Association - Taffy 3 survivor accounts: https://www.desausa.org If you enjoyed this documentary, subscribe to When Heroes Refused to Fall for more untold stories of courage, sacrifice, and defiance from military history. Drop a comment and let us know what battle or campaign you want us to cover next. military history, WWII history, WWII documentary, naval history, US Navy history, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle off Samar, USS Samuel B Roberts, Taffy 3, destroyer escort, Pacific War, WWII Pacific theater, naval warfare documentary, WWII naval battle, Yamato battleship, Imperial Japanese Navy, Robert Copeland, last stand history, underdog battle, WWII true stories, forgotten battles WWII, WW2 documentary channel, war documentary, military history channel, historical documentaries, WWII naval combat, epic last stands, when heroes refused to fall, true war stories, WWII heroism