"samuel b. roberts" participated in the battle off samar, an unlikely victory in which a relatively small force of u.s. warships prevented a vastly superior japanese force from attacking the amphibious invasion fleet off the large philippine island of leyte. this destroyer escort, along with the handful of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers of the unit called "taffy 3", was inadvertently left alone to fend off a fleet of heavily armed japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers in this crucial action off the island of samar, during the battle of leyte gulf of october 1944. steaming aggressively through a gauntlet of incoming shells, "samuel b. roberts" scored one torpedo hit and numerous gunfire hits as she slugged it out with larger enemy warships before finally being sunk. after the battle, "samuel b. roberts" received the appellation "the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship."