- Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the
South China Sea onLuzon in thePhilippines stretching convert|56|km|mi|0. It is framed by the provinces ofPangasinan and La Union and sits between theZambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. TheAgno River drains into Lingayen Gulf.History
During
World War II , the Lingayen Gulf proved a strategically important theatre of war between American and Japanese forces. On the22 December ,1941 , theJapan ese 14th Army under Lieutenant GeneralMasaharu Homma landed on the Eastern part of the gulf at Agoo, Vaba, Santiago and Bauang, where they engaged in a number of relatively minor skirmishes [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/lingayen-gulf/ Encyclopedia of American History] ] with the defenders, which consisted of a poorly equipped contingent of predominantly Filipino and American troops, and managed to successfully invade and occupy the gulf. Following the defeat, the next dayGeneral MacArthur issued the order to retreat fromLuzon and withdraw toBataan . For the next three years, the gulf remained underJapan ese occupation prior to the Lingayen Gulf Landings.On 9.30 AM,
January 9 ,1945 , the US 6th Army conducted an amphibious landing on the gulf, following a devastating naval bombardment, with 68,000 troops landing on the first day alone and a total of 203,608 in subsequent landings along a convert|20|mi|km|sing=on beachhead, stretching from Sual, Lingayen and Dagupan (XIV Corps) to the west, and San Fabian (I Corps) in to the east. The total number of troops under the command of MacArthur was reported to have even exceeded the number that Eisenhower controlled in Europe [ [http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/philippines_lingayen_gulf.html/ Pacific wrecks - Lingayan Gulf] ] .Despite their success in driving out the Japanese army stationed there, they suffered relatively heavy losses, particularly to their convoys due to
Kamikaze suicide attacks. From January 4 - 12, a total of 24 ships were sunk and 67 damaged byKamikaze planes, including thebattleship s USS "Mississippi" and USS "Colorado" (accidentally hit by friendly fire),light cruiser USS "Columbia", and minesweepers USS "Long" and the USS "Hovey" [ [http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/philippines_lingayen_gulf.html/ Pacific wrecks - Lingayan Gulf] ] . Following the landings, the Lingayen Gulf was turned into a vast supply depot for the rest of the war to support the American and Filipino assault onManila .Commemoration
On
January 9 ,2008 , Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. and Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas institutionalized the commemoration to honor the war veterans. The resolution namedJanuary 9 asPangasinan Veterans’ Day. In the 63rd anniversary commemoration of theLingayen Gulf Landing, PresidentFidel Ramos appealed to US PresidentGeorge W. Bush for 24,000 surviving war veterans, to pass two legislative bills pending since 1968 at theUS House of Representatives – the Filipino Veterans’ Equity Act of 2006 and the Filipino Veterans’ Equity of 2005 sponsored by former SenatorDaniel Inouye . [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=105014 Abs-Cbn Interactive, 63rd anniversary of Lingayen Gulf Landing commemorated] ]Features
The gulf has numerous islands, the most famous of which are in the
Hundred Islands National Park . This tourist attraction features 123 islands, the majority of which are relatively small in size. A number of cities are found along the gulf's coast such asDagupan City andAlaminos City in Pangasinan, and San Fernando City in La Union. Lingayen, the capital of Pangasinan also lies on the shores of the gulf.Economy
Fishing andsalt -making are the primary industries on Lingayen Gulf. In fact, the name Pangasinan literally means "“place where salt is made”" in Tagalog. Salt is collected fromseawater through evaporation, leaving the crystalline salt behind.References
""'
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
