ABSTRACT
On the morning of December 9, 1944, U.S. forces landed at the port of Ormoc on western Leyte Island to prevent the continuing disembarkation of Japanese reinforcements there. Howorth arrived at Ormoc Bay at 4:30 a.m. and covered the landing craft as they approached the beachhead. Air attack was a major concern, as Japanese kamikazes had sunk the destroyer Mahan and destroyer minesweeper Ward in the same location two days earlier. 1 Howorth's stay at Ormoc was brief, just four hours, before she escorted empty transports back to Leyte Gulf. Howorth remained in Leyte Gulf for two days, then rejoined the invasion force for the central Philippine island of Mindoro, located approximately 200 miles northwest of Leyte Island. Mindoro would provide a useful air base for U.S. 5 th Army Air Force operations in support of the forthcoming Lingayen Bay invasion to reclaim the island of Luzon and the Philippine capital of Manila.
