Battle of Leyte Gulf
_burning_on_24_October_1944_(80-G-287970).jpg?lang=en) The USS Princeton on fire east of Luzon on 24 October 1944. | |||||||||||||||||
| The Battle of Leyte Gulf | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | World War II | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | October 24, 1944 - October 25, 1944 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Pacific Ocean in and east of the Philippines | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | American victory | ||||||||||||||||
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The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a naval battle of the Pacific War that lasted from 23 October and 26 October, 1944, around the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The United States Navy inflicted a major defeat on the outnumbered Imperial Japanese Navy in the largest air-sea battle yet recorded in history.
The battle consisted of four main engagements: the battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the battle of Surigao Strait, the battle off Cape Engano, and the battle off Samar.
This battle saw the first use of Kamikaze aircraft by the Japanese.
Background
The US Third Fleet under Admiral William Halsey was protecting the landings of Allied forces at Leyte in the Philippines. The Japanese plan was to lure the Third Fleet away to the North using an apparently vulnerable force of aircraft carriers, and then to attack the landing forces with two attack forces sailing from the West. The diversion was successful, yet one of the Japanese attack forces was driven off by a force of six old battleships, five raised from the bottom of Pearl Harbor. It was in this battle that the phrase "the world wonders" became accidentally infamous.
The other attack force fell on a group of destroyers and escort carriers, designed for anti-submarine warfare, which were covering the landing on Samar. The US force off Samar was massively outgunned, but fought sufficiently well that the Japanese withdrew without stopping the landings.
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea
Battle of Surigao Strait
On the night of the 24th/25th, the 7th Fleet Support Force under Jesse Oldendorf was sent to guard the Surigao Strait between Leyte and Dinagat to the east, against the expected arrival of the Southern Force, consisting of two battleships, four heavy and light cruisers, and eleven destroyers. Oldendorf's force included six battleships, nine heavy and light cruisers, 30 destroyers and some PT boats. While the capital ships formed a literal picket line to the north, the destroyers and PT boats went south looking for the Japanese, and found them at about 2am. The PT boat attacks had little effect, but the destroyers scored torpedo hits, sinking the Fuso and three destroyers.
At 4:20am the Yamashiro came within range of the picket line, and received a full barrage in the last-ever artillery action between battleships, sinking with all hands including Nishimura. The other ships turned to escape, but the damaged cruisers Mogami and Mogami were sunk the next day by aircraft.
Battle off Cape Engano
Shortly before midnight on 24 October 1944 the three American carrier groups made rendezvous off Luzon and began a high-speed run northwards to strike the Japanese Northern Force at daybreak. During the run northward the ships which were to make up Task Force 34 were detached from the carrier groups and Task Force 34 was officially formed at 0240 October 25. This force swept northwards in the van of the carrier groups to follow up with gunfire the carriers’ attacks on the Japanese ships. The carriers launched their first attack group of 180 aircraft at dawn, before the Northern Force had been located, and the search aircraft made contact at 0710. At 0800 the air strikes began and continued until the evening, by which time the American aircraft had flown 527 sorties against the Northern Force, and sunk the carrier Zuikaku, the last survivor of the six carriers which had launched the attack on Pearl Harbor, and two of the three light carriers, crippled the remaining light carrier, and sunk a destroyer.
When added to the three battleships and nineteen smaller ships it represented a quarter of the Japanese losses so far.
Battle off Samar
The force under Admiral Kurita passed through San Bernardino Strait at 0300 on 25 October 1944 and steamed south along the coast of Samar. At dawn the Japanese ships engaged an American task group of six escort aircraft carriers, three destroyers and four destroyer escorts under the command of Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague which they thought was part of the 3rd Fleet. The escort carriers launched their aircraft which attacked the Japanese ships as they pursued the fleeing American force. The seven small ships turned to attack the Japanese fleet and, while three were sunk and the others damaged, they delayed the Japanese pursuit. The Japanese ships also had to evade aircraft from the escort carriers and were soon spread out and were in some confusion while Kurita, who still thought he was engaging the Third Fleet, expected a massive air strike. He received a message from Ozawa that he was engaging the Third Fleet, which further confused the action, and turned north. He felt that the Fast Carrier Task Force was close by and that he could engage the fast carriers while their aircraft were busy with Ozawa. He did not make contact with Halsey’s ships, but continued to take punishment from Admiral McCain’s Task Group and then from the Halsey's Fast Carrier group returning from the north. Kurita then turned westward and retreated through the San Bernardino Strait.
Aftermath
Having defended the landing force against the air and naval challenge, the way was opened for the reconquest of Leyte by the land forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, in the Battle of Leyte.