Note 18 — Chapter XVI · The Fall of Ormoc
Reading edition
Two mine sweepers swept the Canigao Channel between Leyte and Bohol on 27 November and again on 4 and 6 December, but they encountered no mines of any sort.18 At 1200 on 6 December the convoy’s escorting destroyers departed from San Pedro Bay and moved to the point of rendezvous offshore, near the Tarragona-Rizal area. The principal convoy was formed and got under way at 1330, having been preceded by four slower-moving LST’s escorted by two destroyers. The commander of the destroyer unit gave additional protection to the transports with four destroyers until 2300, when the destroyers departed for a prelanding raid on Ormoc Bay. They were also to intercept any Japanese surface vessels that might be attempting to bring reinforcements into Ormoc harbor.