The Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte gulf was the largest naval battle of World War II and a decisive turning point that crippled Japanese forces, allowed US invasion of the Philippines, and reinforced the Allies’ hold of the Pacific. The battle took place from October 23-25, 1944.
The naval battle was precipitated by an invasion of the island of Leyte, which was attacked by US forces on October 20th. Led by Lt. General Walter Krueger, Allied forces managed to gain beachheads against around 270,000 Japanese army and air forces.
The first stage of the Battle of Leyte Gulf was at the Palawan Passage. Early in the morning on October 23rd, American forces located Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita’s Center Force, the first Japanese encounter in the battle. Two US submarines, the USS Darter (SS-227) and USS Dace (SS-247) ambushed the fleet with undetected torpedoes, managing to sink the Admiral’s flagship and severely damaging two other cruisers. Kurita was later rescued by sailors and put back into command of his fleet later in the day.
The second stage of the battle was the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. On the morning of October 24th, Japanese forces were spotted in the Sibuyan Sea by US planes. Two hundred planes from the USS Intrepid attack in waves, using bombs and torpedoes and successfully attacking and damaging multiple ships. However, as the US forces attacked Kurita’s fleet, 80 Japanese planes were sent to attack 4 US ships. The Japanese to kill 200 sailors on the Princeton and 80 on the Birmingham, sinking one ship and putting the other into early retirement.
Finally, on October 25, the three major engagements of the Battle were fought, almost simultaneously. At the Surigao Strait, battleships and cruisers from the Seventh Fleet destroyed C Force and forced the Second Attack Force to withdraw with only one of its total 7 ships intact. Meanwhile, Admiral Kurita passed through San Bernardino Strait at 3 a.m. and progressed southward along the coast of Samar. Three groups of the Seventh Fleet, each with six escort carriers, eight destroyers and destroyer escorts, would ultimately be responsible for stopping Kurita. The Americans defeated the Japanese, with 2 destroyers sunk and 4 more damaged. This battle was also the first time organized Kamikaze planes were used. They bombed the escort carriers that had just fought in the Battle of Samar, and the tactic showed the Japanese’s continued devotion to fighting until death, and was a tactic that the Japanese would resort to until the end of the war.
Leyte Gulf was decisive in that it destroyed most of the remaining parts of Japan’s fleet and basically ended Japan’s ability to move resources from islands to Southeast Asia. These resources included oil from the Philippines, and the loss of oil greatly crippled Japan’s ability to fight. In the battle, Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers, three battleships, six heavy and four light cruisers, and eleven destroyers, along with several hundred aircraft and over 10,500 sailors, far more than the losses the Allies had suffered. Admiral Yonai, the Navy Minister, said he realised the defeat at Leyte 'was tantamount to the loss of the Philippines. I felt that it was the end.'
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This post provides more details and insight on the significance of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which is highlighted in one of the assigned articles. However, the only significant outcome I see of this war, from the details of your blog post, was that it strengthened the momentum of the American military campaign over the Pacific islands. Are there any other significance to this battle? Why are you interested in this specific battle? I would be very interested to know the political and military implications of this particular battle.
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