It may well be regarded as the largest naval battle in military history. Interpreting “the world wonders” as a stinging rebuke from the commander of the Pacific Fleet, an insulted Halsey at last dispatched an air strike to harass the already retiring Japanese central force. Fought in the seas surround the island of Leyte in the Philippines from 23 October to 26 October 1944, this battle cut Japan off from her Southeast Asian colonies and therefore all of Japan's oil. In doing so he left the San Bernadino Strait unguarded, subsequently sparking a major controversy as to whether his main focus should have been to destroy the Japanese fleet or protect the landings. The Japanese responded to the American landings with Sho-Go (Victory Operation), a plan to decoy the U.S. Third Fleet north, away from the San Bernardino Strait, while converging three forces on Leyte Gulf to attack the landing; the First Attack Force, under Vice Adm. Kurita Takeo, was to move from the north across the Sibuyan Sea through the San Bernardino Strait, with the Second Attack Force, under Vice Adm. Shima Kiyohide, and C Force, under Vice Adm. Nishimura Shōji, moving from the south across the Mindanao Sea through the Surigao Strait. At the same time, the Allied force also failed to clearly select its aim. U.S. Navy/National Archives/Naval Historical Center (Digital Photo Numer: 80-G-287970) The Battle of Leyte Gulf officially entered the books as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, though most of the action occurred nearly one thousand miles from the June turkey shoot. “No one”, wrote Captain Tarbuck, USN, the Senior Naval Adviser at MacArthur’s headquarters, “could see this great panorama of ships without realising the impotence of any great army engaged in oceanic warfare without control of the sea and air”. Additional lift capacity, and an escort force, was required for supplies necessary to project and sustain the land operations. At 10:00 am Nimitz himself sent what would become one of the most famous radio messages of the entire war: “WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY FOUR RR THE WORLD WONDERS.” The last three words were meant to serve as meaningless padding to deter Japanese code breakers and should have been stripped from the final message, but they were included in the printout that was given to Halsey. Three days after the battle, Nimitz would relate his disappointment in Halsey in a personal message to King: “It never occurred to me that Halsey, knowing the composition of the ships in the Sibuyan Sea, would leave the San Bernardino Strait unguarded…That the San Bernardino detachment of the Japanese Fleet, which included the YAMATO and the MUSASHI, did not completely destroy all of the escort carriers and their accompanying screen is nothing short of special dispensation from the Lord Almighty.” All the men of Taffy 3 were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their actions off Samar, and Capt. The Northern Force aircraft carriers were intended to distract and divert the American fast aircraft carrier group while the two Japanese battleship groups entered Leyte Gulf and attacked the invasion shipping. MacArthur was given overall command of the Leyte operation, and Nimitz provided strong naval support from the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Ernest Evans of the destroyer USS Johnston was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Battle of Leyte Gulf, was the biggest naval battle in modern history. The advance from Morotai to Leyte in one bound was a calculated risk, as the Allied forces would be ringed by Japanese airfields and land-based aircraft with greater staying power than the aircraft from USN aircraft carriers.[1]. Seventh Fleet and the cruisers and destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy’s Task Force 74. In all but the latter, the RAN made a small, but still substantial, contribution to the successful outcome of the operation. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought October 23-26, 1944, during World War II (1939-1945) and is considered the conflict's largest naval engagement. The goals of this operation were threefold: (1) to win positions that would allow the Allies to sever Japan’s supply lines to the East Indies, (2) to make possible an invasion or neutralization of Formosa [Taiwan] and the east China coast, and (3) to provide bases for an attack on the Japanese home islands. The warship was lost during the Battle off Samar, part of the larger, sprawling Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall had proposed skipping both the Philippines and Formosa and proceeding directly to an assault on southern Honshu. Battle of Leyte Gulf The USS Princeton engulfed in flames after being bombed by the Japanese Navy on the Sibuyan Sea, at Luzon, Philippines, October 24, 1944. The Royal Australian Navy’s contribution to Kinkaid’s force, under the command of Commodore Collins, consisted of the heavy cruisers HMA Ships Australia and Shropshire; the destroyers Arunta and Warramunga; the infantry landing ships Westralia, Kanimbla and Manoora; the frigate Gascoyne; and the motor launch HDML 1074. In other words, the last great battleship engagement of World War II, and in all of history, was staged in five parts, each bearing its own name: As Kurita sailed his mighty force northward, he was suddenly ambushed by an array of undetected torpedoes. 9:19. At the same time, U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy cruisers and destroyers on the flanks of the battleship line opened fire. U.S. soldier and his war dog in a foxhole on Leyte Island, October 1944. …forces seized offshore islets in Leyte Gulf, and on October 20 they landed four divisions on the east coast of Leyte.…. It was unusual in that it was a series of actions, not a single battle. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Leyte-Gulf, United States History - Battle of Leyte Gulf, military operations in the Philippines, 1941–45, Douglas MacArthur at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The aim of SHO-1 was to disrupt the landings by attacking the transport shipping in Leyte Gulf. On 18 October Gascoyne and the American minesweeper YMS 393 entered San Pedro Bay and laid channel markers and shoal water buoys. Although Taffy 3’s carrier planes has been outfitted for close air support of the landing forces, they dominated the airspace above the Japanese ships and were eventually joined by aircraft from Taffy 2, another task force that was a short distance away. Over the following days, U.S. carrier planes responded with attacks on Japanese air bases in Formosa and the northern Philippines, and October 18–19 saw further strikes on targets near the landing beaches. At the Battle off Samar Island the Japanese Centre Force attacked the US Navy Escort Carrier Force, which was left exposed by Halsey’s departure. The Imperial Japanese Navy had all but ceased to exist as an offensive force. Shore based opposition to the landings was light and Japanese aircraft made only sporadic attacks during the day. The Battle for Leyte Gulf stands as a tribute to the effective employment of sea-power and sea-air-power and of close mutual support. While Kurita’s ships continued their cat-and-mouse pursuit of Taffy 3, they were subjected to nearly two hours of incessant aerial bombardment. USS Charrette (DD-581) screening USS New Jersey (BB-62) during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, 24 October 1944 (80-G-K-2191).jpg 5,580 × 4,158; 6.31 MB USS Cowell (DD-547) underway in October 1944.jpg 595 × 740; 278 KB This campaign followed two lines of advance: the first, commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, along the northern coast of New Guinea, and the second, commanded by Admiral Chester Nimitz, through the island chains of the central Pacific. Photo # 80-G-270516 The Japanese naval forces, organised into Northern, Centre and Southern Forces, sailed on 22 October to intercept the Allied invasion force. The Princeton was eventually scuttled by a pair of torpedoes from the cruiser USS Reno. Menyok. The main landings at Tacloban and Dulag were accompanied by a full bombardment from battleships, cruisers, destroyers and rocket ships, including Australia, Shropshire, Arunta and Warramunga. Just after midnight on October 23, Kurita’s First Attack Force was discovered off Palawan by the U.S. submarines Darter and Dace. Lo (CVE-63) was the first naval vessel to be sunk by a single precision-guided weapon, a Japanese kamikaze attack, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Halsey believed his primary role was destroying the Japanese fleet, while MacArthur believed Halsey’s primary role was protecting the landings. The Japanese C Force entered the Surigao Strait in the early hours of October 25 and was annihilated in a night engagement with destroyers and battleships of the U.S. The Japanese battleship Fuso was sunk, as were the destroyers Asagumo, Michishio, and Yamagumo. Admiral Halsey ordered his ships to intercept the approaching Northern Force. With the exception of the Mississippi, each of these battleships had been damaged during the Pearl Harbor attack and subsequently returned to service. It may well be regarded as the largest naval battle in military history. The Battle of Leyte Gulf actually consisted of four separate battles or engagements between Allied Forces and the Imperial Navy. Lo (CVE 63) after she was hit by a Kamikaze off Samar on Oct. 25, 1944. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought from October 23-26 1944 and was the largest naval battle of World War II. At the Battle of Cape Engano the Northern Force lost four aircraft carriers, a light cruiser and four destroyers, before the remaining force withdrew. Early in the day, a 550-pound (220-kg) bomb from a Japanese dive-bomber penetrated the flight deck of the light carrier USS Princeton and ignited a series of fires on the decks below. [3]Australia was the first Allied vessel at Leyte hit by a suicide aircraft; although this was not part of the organised kamikaze attacks on the Allied forces, which began four days later, but the act of an individual pilot. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The battle cost the IJN most of its remaining warships, including 3 battleships, one of which was the huge Musashi, 6 heavy and 4 light cruisers, and 9 destroyers, in addition to its remaining carriers. The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the amphibious invasion of the Gulf of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita from 20 October - 31 December 1944. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The potential naval threat to this and future Allied invasions was removed, and the need to provide extensive protection to logistics forces was also greatly reduced. S01:E09 - Battle of Leyte Gulf. Every shell, spare part, and morsel of food required for this vast armada had to be carried in ships from either the US west coast or Australia. Japanese offensives are represented by black arrows, and American offensives are represented by white arrows. It was unusual on five separate counts that are so obvious that they are usually missed. By the time of the engagement off Samar, it included four battleships—among them Kurita’s new flagship, the super battleship Yamato—eight cruisers, and nearly a dozen destroyers. The RAN’s ability to operate in Allied coalitions and alliances, from 1901 to the current day, has been predicated on cooperation, in terms of shared or substantially similar doctrine, equipment and control arrangements. For the next several hours, the two submarines shadowed the Japanese armada and radioed vital information about its speed, heading, and makeup back to the Pacific Fleet. The assault would also take place beyond the range of land-based aircraft, hence all air support would need to come from US Navy aircraft carriers. Action of 24 July 1945 The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and formerly known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history. Darter and Dace , two American submarines, found Kurita's fleet while it was sailing along the north coast of … Oldendorf “crossed the T” on Nishimura’s formation, meaning that his ships were able to deliver a full broadsides attack with all of their big guns while Nishimura could only employ his forward weapons. The escort carrier USS Gambier Bay was sunk, becoming the only U.S. aircraft carrier of the war to be lost to naval gunfire, and the escort carrier USS St. The Battle of Leyte Gulf (a.k.a. Adm. William (“Bull”) Halsey’s Third Fleet covered the landings with carrier-based aircraft and guarded against attacks by the Japanese fleet. There was glory in it for all. These included Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar and other naval action in the general vicinity. On paper this was a formidable force, however, there were a number of major weaknesses, primarily the lack of trained aircrews. Ammunition arrived from the USA via Australia. Beginning at about 8:00 am and continuting for several hours, waves of Halsey’s planes descended on the Japanese carriers, and in short order, all four —Chitose, Chiyoda, Zuiho, and Zuikaku—had been sunk. The only Japanese carriers involved in the battle were in the northern decoy force. It was now overwhelmingly clear that the aircraft carrier, with its air wing, … On Dinagat and Homonhom, th… Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Japanese Navy activated its Operation SHO-1 defence plan as soon as the Allied assault forces were sighted on 17 October. The Allied offensive in the Pacific in 1944 was to climax with the Allied invasion of the Philippines. Leyte had a free undefended approach from the east and adequate anchorages, as well as good access to the other islands in the archipelago. A third of all fresh produce came from the USA, the rest from Australia. On September 21 Manila was struck by U.S. carrier planes for the first time, and Luzon was hit the following day. Kurita’s First Attack Force, having passed through the San Bernardino Strait, moved southward along the coast of Samar. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. 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