Although DeHaven does not have an engagement date of 1 Nov 44, the following describes the scene as she steamed into battle off the coast of Luzon Island.

Loss of USS Abner Read.

The aerial onslaught on Rear admiral G. L. Weyler’s Task Group 77.1 gave the Seventh Fleet destroyer-men a bitter taste of what was to come-the employment of self-destruction as a combat tactic. And by November 1, 1944 the curtain was rising on a horror drama that had no equal in the bloody history of warfare.

The Jap aircraft which was riddled by Claxton’s 40mm, fire and crashed close aboard, blasting the destroyer, may have been a suicider. The Jap "Frances" which crashed into Ammen seems to have been more deliberate. But the strike on Abner Read, which occurred early in the afternoon, seems to have been undoubtedly purposeful.

Screening damaged Claxton, Abner Read (Commander A. M. Purdy), flag ship for Captain J. B. McLean, ComDesDiv 48, was conducting a circular patrol. About 1339 the radar watch reported two enemy aircraft about eleven miles distance, and coming fast. Abner Read opened fire with main battery and automatic guns. Down from the sky plunged a "Val" dive-bomber, dragging a trail of smoke. Evidently hit by Abner Read’s scorching fire, the plane was burning, but the pilot drove straight for the destroyer.

It happened fast—three minutes after the initial radar contact. Abner Read’s guns were slamming, chattering and roaring. It seemed impossible that an aircraft could penetrate the lacework of flame, machinegun lead, and flak. All hands on the bridge watched in a freeze of dread as the dive-bomber came on, nearer and nearer, growing in size as eyes stared in dilated appallment.

Someone shouted, "Oh my God!"

Men were thrown to the deck as the "Val" crashed into the destroyer’s starboard side, smashing in a splatter against the after stack. A wave of fire blew across the superstructure. Blazing gasoline showered the wreckage with flame. At once the ship was an inferno topside. Then the conflagration ignited a magazine. Ready ammunition exploded near a gun mount. Sailors were struck down by flying shrapnel and whistling scraps of debris. The flames ran below decks and touched off a series of explosions. Abner Read, listing and shaken by interior blasting, lay dying in the sea. Torpedoes were jettisoned, and damage control parties fought a desperate battle to save the ship, but the flood swept in through her ruptured hull, and her abandonment had to be ordered. Thirty-six minutes after the plane crash, Abner Read plunged to the bottom of Leyte Gulf. For several hours an ugly oil fire burned on the sea where she went down.

Lost with the ship were 19 men and three officers. Among the survivors picked up by the rescue vessels were a wounded officer and 55 injured men. While rescue work was going forward, the air battle raged on. A suicide plane plummeted at destroyer Richard P. Leary. Torn to pieces by AA fire from Leary and Claxton, this plane crashed into the sea. The attack indicated all too clearly that Japan’s airmen were in a hari-kari mood. The suspicion of deliberate suiciding was confirmed that evening by the report that Anderson (Lieutenant Commander R. H. Benson Jr.) had been crashed by a plane in Cabalian Bay.

After fighting off numerous air attacks near Panaon Island that day, Anderson had been struck at 1812 by one of three attacking Jap fighters. The plane crashed into the ships motor whaleboat aft, and the shattering of the boat undoubtedly absorbed much of the blast. As it was, Anderson suffered 18 fatalities, and 21 of her crew were wounded. The ship’s boilers were damaged, it was necessary to jettison the torpedoes, and the crew had a hard fight extinguishing wild fires and keeping the ship underway. Destroyer Bush stood by to screen the damaged vessel and to offer medical aid. At 2030 Anderson fought off an attacking torpedo plane. Pluckily she made San Pedro Bay under her own power.

All together 1 November was a rough day for the destroyer-men in the Leyte area. Six ships were struck, of which four –Claxton, Ammen, Anderson, and Abner Read—were victims of suicide onslaughts. Of these Abner Read was the first United States destroyer to die at the hands of the homicidal Japanese suiciders.