It was early in December in 1944 When our fleet came steaming in to Ormoc Bay And the Japanese were busy on some other local shore So we stood along the decks in brave array (brave array) There were 80 warring vessels in our band that fateful date And their task it was to to land upon the beach But before we set our aircraft out we knew we'd have to wait Until MacArthur made another speech (another speech) Then the word was quickly flashed for our planes to disembark And the brass was told to hurry up the crew For the hour was getting late and the sky might soon grow dark And the stateside magazines were out of new (out of news) Things were going pretty well and the beaches all looked swell Till the Japs decided they might like to stay So they stabbed us in the back with a sneaky air attack And it spoiled what could have been a pleasant day (pleasant day) Then our ship was whirled around till the cans fell off the shelves And the Mahan and the Ward met with defeat And their wreckage looked so bad that we sank them both oursleves Just to keep the little navy looking neat (looking neat) But with all the noise and fuss we enjoyed that little hop And its probable we won't forget the day For hours go slowly by on our harmless old flatops Save for moments like the fun at Ormoc Bay (Ormoc Bay)