For Crew and Country ─ The Inspirational True Story of Bravery and Sacrifice Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts

On October 25, 1944, the Samuel B. Roberts and twelve other vessels stood between Japan's largest battleship force ever and MacArthur's transports inside Leyte Gulf. Facing more than twenty Japanese vesselsincluding the 70,000-ton Yamatothe 1,200-ton Samuel B. Roberts turned immediately to action, churning straight at the enemy in a near-suicidal attempt to deflect the more potent foe and buy time for MacArthur's forces. Of 563 destroyers constructed during WWII, the Samuel B. Roberts was the only one sunk, going down in a duel reminiscent of the Spartans at Thermopylae. The battle would go down as history's greatest sea clash.