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The following items are first person accounts or news articles on the sinking of DD-364 on December 7, 1944.

Letter from Bill Fyffe to Bobby Goin, son of Raymond Goin.

Midwest City, Oklahoma

28 October 1997

Dear Bob-

I guess I could accept the fact you were a turn-coat (ha) - I believe every person Is entitled to their own convictions. I'm sure you did an outstanding job while in NAM. About the coming and going of the USS MAHAN (DD 364) - she did move about. The MAHAN did not serve in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was used at that time as escort for the Landing of Troops on the west side of Leyte Gulf at ORMOC. This happened on the 7th of December 1944. We landed the troops - didn't lose any of the 14,000 in the landing. We were on picket duty watching for a group of Japanese ships coming down the slot. During this time (0730) were hit by the Kamikaze Planes. You said that we were hit by seven Kamikaze planes - this is incorrect - we were hit by four "Betty" Bombers - they had dropped their bombs but they still had plenty of gas.

One was turned sideways and completely stripped the ship of all life

rafts on the starboard side - ended up cutting the gig in two with each half hanging by a boat davit. One came directly into the office on starboard side - one engine going through my office and almost going through the radio room. The other engine went through hull and set off the ammunition in the number two handling room. This plane did the most damage and after we abandoned ship a sister ship had to sink her. The third plane hit the after deck house - hit the stack and knocked the cross arm down that held the radars. The fourth plane just slammed into the tail of the ship. There were other planes in the air - we had a Major Bong and a Major Johnson as fighter escorts. They were mixing It up overhead with some Jap Zeros and some additional Betty

Bombers. Our pilots got most of the Jap planes and we were down on the

ocean trying to figure what was our best move.

I'll tell you how I know all this is because I was Captain Campbell's talker on the bridge. I had a eye ball to eye ball picture of what was going on. Your father's duty station was in the Officers' Ward Room where he ran an ECM Machine, This little gadget encoded messages and decoded messages. An officer named Robert Miller was killed less than ten feet from where your father worked.

His duty station during combat was there in the ward room where the ECM Machine was, He had left his station and gone to his room for

something and that was when the Bomber engine hit his room - the water line of the ship and then into the magazine of number two handing room. He^- was a mathematician - could read figures and tell you what the answer was long before anyone could - that trip to his room cost him his life.

The MAHAN was traveling about 30 knots when she was sunk. Navy didn't want the Japs getting any secret data from her.

Letter from George Lapaire who was on board USS Walke DD-723 on 12/7/44 and picked up survivors.

Oct5/02

Dear Mr. Goin:

I read your request information on the sinking of the USS Mahan on Dec 7th, 1944. I was on the Walke that day as an electrician on a repair party. My memories of the events of that day are still quite clear and I consulted a day by day log I kept during my service years. I can only tell you what I saw and experienced. In an action as big as that operation was it is impossible for one person to see it all and put into words an accurate description of the event. In talking with other shipmates each has a different perspective depending on what they were doing and where they were at the time.

I did not see Mahan hit. I became aware of her when I was ordered below to cut in the forward emergency fire pump. When I came back topside we were heading for Mahan at high speed from about 1-2 mile away. Our Captain thought to lay us alongside to help fight fires. She was dead in the water under a huge column of black smoke. We could see flames in her bridge area. As we got closer we could see fire hoses in action. At this time our guns were firing so-we did--not hear, but we saw what-appeared to -be-an explosion forward of the bridge. We were coming in on her port side when we saw her men beginning to abandon. At the same time a big raid developed and we had to pull away. During a lull in the battle, we returned to the area and began to pick up survivors. Twice we had to pull away to fight off raids, returning to pick up her people. Another destroyer was aiding in this. Some of the survivors were horribly burned and many were other- wise wounded. There was heavy fuel oil in the water and a lot of the men were sick and vomiting. I believe we got them all. I don't know how many were picked up by the other can. We circled the area for quite a while to be sure. We fished their small dog out and he became friends with our own dog.

From survivors I heard that Mahan had been hit by three planes in rapid succession and they believed that two of the planes carried bombs. One of the wounded who was badly cut up said his injuries were from a bomb blast. Some of the survivors said that the ship should never have been abandoned because her engineering dept. was intact and the hull was not penetrated below the water line.

A lot of real anguish and anger was expressed when they realized we were firing full salvos at Mahan trying to sink her. We had been ordered to do so because she was drifting toward the invasion beaches and now her fires had spread. They went wild even though they knew there was no hope for their ship. Some had tears in their eyes. One guy kept pounding me on the shoulder, "Don't do it, don't do it". Then all went silent when the torpedo mount was trained out and waited those awful minutes until a huge column of water rose from Mahan. In minutes she rolled over on her port, side and went down. Some of these guys had been on her since the beginning of the war. She had been in the thick of things since the beginning.

I doubt that anyone saved the deck log because as I understand it the bridge became an inferno after the first plane hit. I don't know how many men she lost, it must have been many.

It was always sad to see a gallant ship go down. Because of her record the Navy recently launched a new USS Mahan.

I don't know as I have told you much. I can't put down sounds or smells or the horror of it all.

Long ago and far away

Sincerely yours

George Lapaire

Letter from Bob Stout, crew member of USS Walke DD-723 to Bobby Goin.