The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and by some criteria the
largest naval battle in history
The "largest naval battle in history" is a disputed title between adherents of varying criteria which include the numbers of personnel and/or vessels involved in the naval battle, the total displacement of the vessels involved and sometimes the si ...
, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fought in waters near the
Philippine
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
islands of
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
,
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
, and
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
from 23 to 26 October 1944 between combined
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
and
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
forces and the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
(IJN), as part of the
invasion of Leyte
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
, which aimed to isolate Japan from the countries that it had occupied in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, a vital source of industrial and
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
supplies.
By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer
capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet.
Strategic im ...
s (aircraft carriers and battleships) left than the
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
forces had total aircraft carriers in the Pacific, which underscored the disparity in force strength at that point in the war. Regardless, the IJN mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but it was repulsed by the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
's
Third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
and
Seventh Fleets.
The battle consisted of four main separate engagements (the
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea
The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...
, the
Battle of Surigao Strait
The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...
, the
Battle off Cape Engaño
The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fo ...
, and the
Battle off Samar
The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on October 25, 1944. It was the only major ...
), as well as lesser actions.
It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized ''
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'' attacks, and it was the last naval battle between
battleships
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
in history. The Japanese Navy suffered heavy losses and never sailed in comparable force thereafter since it was stranded for lack of fuel in their bases for the rest of the war and so it could not affect the successful Allied invasion of Leyte.
Background
The Allied campaigns of August 1942 to early 1944 had driven Japanese forces from many of their island bases in the south and the central Pacific Ocean, while isolating many of their other bases (most notably in the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
,
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km.
History
The first inhabitants o ...
,
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island.
These rainforest-co ...
,
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
,
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
, and
Wake Island
Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...
), and in June 1944, a series of American amphibious landings supported by
Fifth Fleet
The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...
's
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The tas ...
captured most of the
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
(bypassing
Rota). This offensive breached Japan's strategic inner defense ring and gave the Americans a base from which long-range
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...
bombers could attack the Japanese home islands.
The Japanese counterattacked in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invas ...
. The U.S. Navy destroyed three Japanese aircraft carriers, damaged other ships, and shot down approximately 600 Japanese aircraft, leaving the Japanese Navy with very little carrier-borne air power and few experienced pilots. However, the considerable land-based air power the Japanese had amassed in the Philippines was thought too dangerous to bypass by many high-ranking officers outside the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...
, including
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Chester Nimitz
Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in C ...
.
Formosa vs. Philippines as invasion target
The next logical step was to cut Japan's supply lines to Southeast Asia, depriving them of fuel and other necessities of war, but there were two different plans for doing so. Admiral
Ernest J. King
Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was an American naval officer who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH-CNO, he directed the Un ...
, other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Nimitz favored blockading Japanese forces in the Philippines and invading
Formosa (Taiwan), while
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
, wanting to fulfill the 1942 promise
"I shall return", championed an invasion of the Philippines.
While Formosa could also serve as a base for an invasion of
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, which MacArthur felt was unnecessary, it was also estimated that it would require about 12 divisions from the Army and
Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
. Meanwhile, the Australian Army, spread thin by engagements in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and various other Pacific islands, would not have been able to spare any troops for such an operation. As a result, an invasion of Formosa, or any operation requiring much larger ground forces than were available in the Pacific in late 1944, would be delayed until the defeat of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
freed the necessary manpower.
Decision to invade the Philippines
A meeting between MacArthur, Nimitz, and
President Roosevelt helped confirm the Philippines as a strategic target but did not reach a decision, and the debate continued for two months. Eventually Nimitz changed his mind and agreed to MacArthur's plan, and it was eventually decided that MacArthur's forces would invade the island of
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
in the central Philippines. Amphibious forces and close naval support would be provided by Seventh Fleet, commanded by
Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid
Thomas Cassin Kinkaid (3 April 1888 – 17 November 1972) was an admiral in the United States Navy, known for his service during World War II. He built a reputation as a "fighting admiral" in the aircraft carrier battles of 1942 and commanded t ...
.
Setup for the battle
The U.S. Seventh Fleet at this time contained units of the U.S. Navy and the
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
. Before the major naval actions in Leyte Gulf had begun, and were severely damaged by air attacks; during the battle proper these two cruisers were retiring, escorted by , for repairs at the major Allied base at
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...
, away.
Lack of unified command structures
U.S. Third Fleet
The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...
, commanded by Admiral
William F. Halsey Jr., with
Task Force 38
The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The task ...
(TF 38, the Fast Carrier Task Force, commanded by
Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher
Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during the latter half of ...
), as its main component, would provide more distant cover and support for the invasion. A fundamental defect in this plan was there would be no single American naval admiral in overall command. Kinkaid fell under MacArthur as Supreme Allied Commander Southwest Pacific, whereas Halsey's Third Fleet reported to Nimitz as C-in-C Pacific Ocean Areas. This lack of
unity of command
In military organisation, unity of command is the principle that subordinate members of a structure should all be responsible to a single commander.
United States
The military of the United States considers unity of command as one of the twelve ...
, along with failures in communication, was to produce a crisis and very nearly a strategic disaster for the American forces. By coincidence, the Japanese plan, using three separate fleets, also lacked an overall commander.
Japanese plans
The American options were apparent to the IJN.
Combined Fleet
The was the main sea-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Until 1933, the Combined Fleet was not a permanent organization, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units norm ...
Chief
Soemu Toyoda
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II.
Biography Early career
Toyoda was born in what is now part Kitsuki city, Ōita Prefecture. He graduated from the 33rd class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1905, ranked 26 ...
prepared four "victory" plans: ''Shō-Gō'' 1 (, ') was a major naval operation in the Philippines, while ''Shō-Gō'' 2, ''Shō-Gō'' 3 and ''Shō-Gō'' 4 were responses to attacks on Formosa, the
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
, and the
Kurile Islands
The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...
, respectively. The plans were for complex offensive operations committing nearly all available forces to a decisive battle, despite substantially depleting Japan's slender reserves of fuel oil.
On 12 October 1944, Halsey began
a series of carrier raids against Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands with a view to ensuring that the aircraft based there could not intervene in the Leyte landings. The Japanese command, therefore, put ''Shō-Gō'' 2 into action, launching waves of air attacks against Third Fleet's carriers. In what Admiral Halsey refers to as a "knock-down, drag-out fight between carrier-based and land-based air", the Japanese were routed, losing 600 aircraft in three days – almost their entire air strength in the region. Following the American invasion of the Philippines, the Japanese Navy made the transition to ''Shō-Gō'' 1.
''Shō-Gō'' 1 called for Vice Admiral
Jisaburō Ozawa
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. Ozawa has been noted for his unusual height, measuring in at over tall, although his exact height has not been reliabl ...
's ships—known as the "Northern Force"—to lure the main American covering forces away from Leyte. Northern Force would be built around several aircraft carriers, but these would have very few aircraft or trained aircrew. The carriers would serve as the main bait. As the U.S. covering forces were lured away, two other surface forces would advance on Leyte from the west. The "Southern Force" under Vice Admirals
Shoji Nishimura
A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/ ...
and
Kiyohide Shima
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Biography
A native of Miyazaki prefecture, Shima was a graduate of the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking 69th out of 148 cadets. As a midshipman, h ...
would strike at the landing area via the Surigao Strait. The "
Center Force" under Vice Admiral
Takeo Kurita
was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Kurita commanded IJN 2nd Fleet, the main Japanese attack force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history.
Biography Early life
Takeo Kurita ...
—by far the most powerful of the attacking forces—would pass through the San Bernardino Strait into the Philippine Sea, turn southwards, and then also attack the landing area.
Submarine action in Palawan Passage (23 October 1944)
(Note: This action is referred to by Morison as 'The Fight in Palawan Passage', and elsewhere, occasionally, as the 'Battle of Palawan Passage'.)
As it sortied from its base in
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
, Kurita's powerful "Center Force" consisted of five battleships (, , , , and ), ten heavy cruisers (, , , , , , , , and ), two light cruisers ( and ) and 15 destroyers.
Kurita's ships passed
Palawan Island
Palawan is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and fifth-largest by area and tenth-most populous island of the country, with a total population of 994,101 as of 2020 census. The north west coast of the island is alon ...
around midnight on 22–23 October. The American submarines and were positioned together on the surface close by. At 01:16 on 23 October, ''Darter''s radar detected the Japanese formation at a range of . Her captain promptly made visual contact. The two submarines quickly moved off in pursuit of the ships, while ''Darter'' made the first of three contact reports. At least one of these was picked up by a radio operator on ''Yamato'', but Kurita failed to take appropriate antisubmarine precautions.
''Darter'' and ''Dace'' traveled on the surface at full power for several hours and gained a position ahead of Kurita's formation, with the intention of making a submerged attack at first light. This attack was unusually successful. At 05:24, ''Darter'' fired a salvo of six torpedoes, at least four of which hit Kurita's
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
, the heavy cruiser ''Atago''. Ten minutes later, ''Darter'' made two hits on ''Atago''s
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
, ''Takao'', with another spread of torpedoes. At 05:56, ''Dace'' made four torpedo hits on the heavy cruiser ''Maya'' (sister to ''Atago'' and ''Takao'').
''Atago'' and ''Maya'' quickly sank. ''Atago'' sank so rapidly that Kurita was forced to swim to survive. He was rescued by the Japanese destroyer , and then later transferred to the battleship ''Yamato''.
''Takao'' turned back to Brunei, escorted by two destroyers, and was followed by the two submarines. On 24 October, as the submarines continued to shadow the damaged cruiser, ''Darter'' ran aground on the Bombay Shoal. All efforts to get her off failed, she was abandoned; and her entire crew was rescued by ''Dace''. Efforts to scuttle ''Darter'' failed over the course of the next week, including torpedoes from ''Dace'' and that hit the reef (and not ''Darter'') and deck-gun shelling from ''Dace'' and later, . After multiple hits from his
6-inch deck guns, the ''Nautilus'' commander determined on 31 October that the equipment on ''Darter'' was only good for scrap and left her there. The Japanese did not bother with the wreck.
''Takao'' retired to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, being joined in January 1945 by ''Myōkō'', as the Japanese deemed both crippled cruisers irreparable and left them moored in the harbor as floating anti-aircraft batteries.
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea (24 October 1944)
![Japanese battleship Musashi cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Japanese_battleship_Musashi_underway_in_1944_%28NH_63473%29.jpg)
Despite its great strength, Third Fleet was not well-placed to deal with the threat. On 22 October, Halsey had detached two of his carrier groups to the fleet base at
Ulithi
Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap.
Overview
Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...
to take on provisions and rearm. When ''Darter''s contact report came in, Halsey recalled
Davison's
Davison's of Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta was a department store chain and an Atlanta shopping institution. It was the major competition to Rich's (department store), Rich's and it took the Macy's name in 1986.
Founding
Davison's first opened i ...
group, but allowed Vice Admiral
John S. McCain, with the strongest of TF 38's
carrier group
A carrier battle group (CVBG) is a naval fleet consisting of an aircraft carrier capital ship and its large number of naval convoy, escorts, together defining the group. The ''CV'' in ''CVBG'' is the Hull classification symbol#Aircraft carrie ...
s, to continue towards Ulithi. Halsey finally recalled McCain on 24 October—but the delay meant the most powerful American carrier group played little part in the coming battle and Third Fleet was therefore effectively deprived of nearly 40% of its air strength for most of the engagement. On the morning of 24 October, only three groups were available to strike Kurita's force, and the one best positioned to do so—
Gerald F. Bogan
Gerald Francis Bogan (July 27, 1894June 8, 1973) was a United States Navy aviator and vice admiral who served in World War I and II.
Biography
Gerald Francis Bogan was born July 27, 1894, in Mackinac Island, Michigan to Dr. James H. Bogan (186 ...
's Task Group 38.2 (TG 38.2)—was by mischance the weakest of the groups, containing only one large carrier——and two light carriers.
Meanwhile, Vice Admiral
Takijirō Ōnishi
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II who came to be known as the father of the ''kamikaze''.
Early career
Ōnishi was a native of Ashida village (part of present-day Tamba City) in Hyōgo Prefecture. He graduated fr ...
directed three waves of aircraft from his
First Air Fleet
The , also known as the ''Kidō Butai'' ("Mobile Force"), was a name used for a combined carrier battle group comprising most of the aircraft carriers and carrier air groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the first eight months of the P ...
based on Luzon against the carriers of Rear Admiral
Frederick Sherman's TG 38.3 (whose aircraft were also being used to strike airfields in Luzon to prevent Japanese land-based air attacks on Allied shipping in Leyte Gulf). Each of Ōnishi's strike waves consisted of some 50 to 60 aircraft.
![USS Princeton (CVL-23) 1944 10 24 1523explosion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/USS_Princeton_%28CVL-23%29_1944_10_24_1523explosion.jpg)
Most of the attacking Japanese planes were intercepted and shot down or driven off by Hellcats of Sherman's combat air patrol, most notably by two fighter sections from led by Commander
David McCampbell
Captain David McCampbell (January 16, 1910 – June 30, 1996) was a United States Navy captain, naval aviator, and a Medal of Honor recipient. He retired from the navy in 1964 with 31 years of service.
McCampbell is the United States Navy's all ...
(who shot down a record nine of the attacking planes in this one action, after which he managed to return and land ''in extremis'' on because the ''Essex''s deck was too busy to accommodate him although he had run short of fuel).
However, one Japanese aircraft (a
Yokosuka D4Y
The is a two-seat carrier-based dive bomber developed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. Development of the aircraft began in 1938. The first D4Y1 was co ...
3 ''Judy'') slipped through the defences, and at 09:38 hit the light carrier with a armor-piercing bomb. Just prior to the bomb hitting the carrier ten fighter planes had landed on the flight deck from a previous mission and in the hangar deck six fully loaded and fueled
Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers were waiting for the next mission. One of the torpedo bombers was directly hit by this bomb as it pierced the ship and exploded, triggering the other five torpedo bombers to also explode. The bomb hit the area of the ship where not only most of the torpedoes were stored but also bombs that were not stored securely. The resulting explosion caused a severe fire in ''Princeton''s hangar and her emergency sprinkler system failed to operate. As the fire spread rapidly, a series of secondary explosions followed. The fire was gradually brought under control, but at 15:23 there was an enormous explosion (probably in the carrier's bomb stowage aft), causing more casualties aboard ''Princeton'', and even heavier casualties—233 dead and 426 wounded—aboard the light cruiser which was coming back alongside to assist with the firefighting. ''Birmingham'' was so badly damaged, she was forced to retire. Another light cruiser and two destroyers were also damaged. All efforts to save ''Princeton'' failed, and after the remaining crew members were evacuated, she was finally
scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
—torpedoed by the light cruiser —at 17:50. Of ''Princeton''s crew, 108 men were killed, while 1,361 survivors were rescued by nearby ships. USS ''Princeton'' was the largest American ship lost during the battles around Leyte Gulf, and the only fast carrier sunk in combat during the war. 17
Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters and 12 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers went down with ''Princeton''.
Planes from the carriers ''Intrepid'' and of Bogan's group attacked at about 10:30 scoring hits on the battleships ''Nagato'', ''Yamato'', and ''Musashi'', and badly damaging the heavy cruiser ''Myōkō'' which retired to Borneo via
Coron Bay
Coron Bay is a well-known recreational diving region in the Sulu Sea in the western Philippines, between the islands of Coron and Busuanga in the Calamian Islands. Most of Coron Bay is in the Coron Island Protected Area and is a traditional fish ...
. A second wave from ''Intrepid'', ''Essex'' and later attacked, with VB-15 Helldivers and VF-15 Hellcats from ''Essex'', scoring another 10 hits on ''Musashi''. As she withdrew, listing to port, a third wave from ''Enterprise'' and hit her with an additional 11 bombs and eight torpedoes. After being struck by at least 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes, ''Musashi'' finally capsized and sank at about 19:35.
In all, five fleet carriers and one light carrier of Third Fleet flew 259 sorties with bombs carried by Helldivers and torpedoes launched by TBF Avengers against Center Force on 24 October, but this weight of attack was not nearly sufficient to neutralize the threat from Kurita. The largest effort of the Sibuyan Sea attack was directed against just one battleship, ''Musashi'', which was sunk, and the cruiser ''Myōkō'' was also crippled by an aerial torpedo. Nevertheless, every other ship in Kurita's force remained battleworthy and able to advance. It would be the desperate action and great sacrifice of the much weaker force of six slow escort carriers, three destroyers, four destroyer escorts, and 400 aircraft at the
Battle off Samar
The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on October 25, 1944. It was the only major ...
, utterly lacking in credible weapons to sink armored ships, to stop Kurita. It also contrasts with the 527 sorties flown by Third Fleet against Ozawa's much weaker carrier decoy Northern Force on the following day.
Kurita turned his fleet around to get out of range of the aircraft, passing the crippled ''Musashi'' as his force retreated. Halsey assumed that this retreat signified that his threat was dealt with for the time being. Kurita, however, waited until 17:15 before turning around again to head for the San Bernardino Strait. As a result of a momentous decision taken by Admiral Halsey and some unclear communication of his plans, Kurita was able to proceed through the San Bernardino Strait during the night to make an unexpected and dramatic appearance off the coast of
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
the following morning, directly threatening the Leyte landings.
Task Force 34 / San Bernardino Strait
After the Japanese Southern and Center forces had been detected, but before it had been engaged or Ozawa's carriers had been located, Halsey and the staff of Third Fleet, aboard the battleship , prepared a contingency plan to deal with the threat from Kurita's Center Force. Their intention was to cover
San Bernardino Strait
The San Bernardino Strait ( fil, Kipot ng San Bernardino) is a strait in the Philippines, connecting the Samar Sea with the Philippine Sea. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south.
History
During th ...
with a powerful task force of fast battleships supported by two of Third Fleet's equally swift carrier groups. The battleship force was to be designated Task Force 34 (TF 34) and to consist of four battleships, five cruisers, and 14 destroyers under the command of Vice Admiral
Willis A. Lee
Willis Augustus "Ching" Lee Jr. (May 11, 1888 – August 25, 1945) was a vice admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. Lee commanded the American ships during the second night of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 14–15, 19 ...
. Rear Admiral Ralph E. Davison of TG 38.4 was to be in overall command of the supporting carrier groups.
At 15:12 on 24 October, Halsey sent an ambiguously worded
telegraphic
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
radio message to his subordinate task group commanders giving details of this contingency plan:
Halsey sent information copies of this message to Admiral Nimitz at Pacific Fleet headquarters and Admiral King in Washington, but he did not include Admiral Kinkaid (Seventh Fleet) as an information addressee. The message was picked up by Seventh Fleet anyway as it was common for admirals to direct radio operators to copy all message traffic they detected whether intended for them or not. Because Halsey intended TF 34 as a contingency to be formed and detached ''when'' he ordered it, by writing "will be formed," he meant the future tense, but he neglected to say when TF 34 ''would'' be formed or under what circumstances. This omission led Admiral Kinkaid of Seventh Fleet to believe Halsey was speaking in the present tense, so he concluded TF 34 ''had been formed'' and would take station off the San Bernardino Strait. Kinkaid's light escort carrier group, lacking battleships for naval action and set up to attack ground troops and submarines, not capital ships, positioned itself south of the strait to support the invasion force. Admiral Nimitz, in Pearl Harbor, reached exactly the same conclusion.
Halsey did send out a second message at 17:10 clarifying his intentions in regard to TF 34:
Unfortunately, Halsey sent this second message by
voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
, so Seventh Fleet did not intercept it (due to the range
limitations Limitation may refer to:
*A disclaimer for research done in an experiment or study
*A Statute of limitations
* Limitations (novel), ''Limitations'' (novel), a 2006 novel by Scott Turow
* A technical limitation
{{Disamb ...
of the ship-to-ship voice radio networks in use at the time) and Halsey did not follow up with a telegraphic message to Nimitz or King, or vitally, Kinkaid. The serious misunderstanding caused by Halsey's imperfect wording of his first message and his failure to notify Nimitz, King, or Kinkaid of his second clarifying message had a profound influence on the subsequent course of the battle as Kurita's major force almost overwhelmed Kinkaid's unprepared lighter force on the doorstep of the Leyte landings.
Halsey's decision (24 October 1944)
Third Fleet's aircraft failed to locate Ozawa's Northern Force until 16:40 on 24 October. This was largely because Third Fleet had been preoccupied with attacking Kurita's sizable Center Force and defending itself against the Japanese air strikes from Luzon. Thus the one Japanese force that wanted to be discovered – Ozawa's tempting decoy of a large carrier group, which actually had only 108 aircraft – was the only force the Americans had not been able to find. On the evening of 24 October, Ozawa intercepted a (mistaken) American communication describing Kurita's withdrawal; he therefore began to withdraw, too. However, at 20:00, Toyoda ordered all his forces to attack "counting on divine assistance." Trying to draw Third Fleet's attention to his decoy force, Ozawa reversed course again and headed southward towards Leyte.
Halsey fell for the Japanese decoy, convinced the Northern Force constituted the main Japanese threat, and he was determined to seize what he saw as a golden opportunity to destroy Japan's last remaining carrier strength. Believing Center Force had been neutralized by Third Fleet's air strikes earlier in the day in the Sibuyan Sea, and its remnants were retiring, Halsey radioed (to Nimitz and Kinkaid):
The words "with three groups" proved dangerously misleading. In the light of the intercepted 15:12 24 October "…will be formed as Task Force 34" message from Halsey, Admiral Kinkaid and his staff assumed, as did Admiral Nimitz at Pacific Fleet headquarters, that TF 34—commanded by Vice Admiral Lee—had now been formed as a separate entity. They assumed that Halsey was leaving this powerful surface force guarding the San Bernardino Strait (and covering Seventh Fleet's northern flank), while he took his three available carrier groups northwards in pursuit of the Japanese carriers. But Task Force 34 had not been detached from his other forces, and Lee's battleships were on their way northwards with Third Fleet's carriers. As Woodward wrote: "Everything was pulled out from San Bernardino Strait. Not so much as a picket destroyer was left".
Warning signs ignored
Halsey and his staff officers ignored information from a night reconnaissance aircraft operating from the light carrier that Kurita's powerful surface force had turned back towards the San Bernardino Strait and that, after a long blackout, the navigation lights in the strait had been turned on. When Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan—commanding TG 38.2—radioed this information to Halsey's flagship, he was rebuffed by a staff officer, who tersely replied "Yes, yes, we have that information." Vice Admiral Lee, who had correctly deduced that Ozawa's force was on a decoy mission and indicated this in a blinker message to Halsey's flagship, was similarly rebuffed.
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore, a ...
Arleigh Burke
Arleigh Albert Burke (October 19, 1901 – January 1, 1996) was an admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kenne ...
and Commander
James H. Flatley
Vice Admiral James Henry Flatley Jr. (June 17, 1906 - July 9, 1958) was a World War II naval aviator and tactician for the United States Navy (USN). He become a fighter ace credited with shooting down six enemy aircraft in aerial combat.
Early li ...
of Mitscher's staff had come to the same conclusion. They were sufficiently worried about the situation to wake Mitscher, who asked, "Does Admiral Halsey have that report?" On being told that Halsey did, Mitscher—knowing Halsey's temperament—commented, "If he wants my advice he'll ask for it" and went back to sleep.
The entire available strength of Third Fleet continued to steam northwards towards Ozawa's decoy force, leaving the San Bernardino Strait completely unguarded. Nothing lay between the battleships of Kurita's Center Force and the American landing vessels, except for Kinkaid's vulnerable escort carrier group off the
coast of Samar.
Battle of Surigao Strait (25 October 1944)
![Surigao Strait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Surigao_Strait.jpg)
The Battle of Surigao Strait is significant as the last battleship-to-battleship action in history. The Battle of Surigao Strait was one of only two battleship-versus-battleship naval battles in the entire Pacific campaign of World War II (the other being the
naval battle
Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large lan ...
during the
Guadalcanal Campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...
, where sank the ). It is also the most recent battle in which one force (in this case, the U.S. Navy) was able to "
cross the T
Crossing the ''T'' or capping the ''T'' is a classic naval warfare tactic used from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries in which a line of warships crosses in front of a line of enemy ships to allow the crossing line to bring all their guns ...
" of its opponent. However, by the time that the battleship action was joined, the Japanese line was very ragged and consisted of only one battleship (''Yamashiro''), one heavy cruiser, and one destroyer, so that the "crossing of the T" was notional and had little effect on the outcome of the battle.
Japanese Forces
Nishimura's "Southern Force" consisted of the old battleships (flag) and , the heavy cruiser , and four destroyers, , , and . This task force left Brunei after Kurita at 15:00 on 22 October, turning eastward into the
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...
and then northeasterly past the southern tip of
Negros Island
Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
into the
Mindanao Sea
The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, is a sea located between the Visayas and Mindanao islands in the Philippines. It lies south of Bohol and Leyte and north of Mindanao. Siquijor and Camiguin are its two major islands.
The major citi ...
. Nishimura then proceeded northeastward with
Mindanao Island
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of t ...
to
starboard
Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front).
Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...
and into the south entrance to the Surigao Strait, intending to exit the north entrance of the Strait into
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao Isl ...
, where he would add his firepower to that of Kurita's force.
The Japanese Second Striking Force was commanded by Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima and comprised heavy cruisers (flag) and , the light cruiser , and the destroyers , , , and .
The Japanese Southern Force was attacked by U.S. Navy bombers on 24 October but sustained only minor damage. The destroyer was the only ship sunk during this action.
Nishimura was unable to synchronize his movements with Shima and Kurita because of the strict radio silence imposed on the Center and Southern Forces. When he entered the Surigao Strait at 02:00, Shima was behind him, and Kurita was still in the Sibuyan Sea, several hours from the beaches at Leyte.
Engagement
As the Japanese Southern Force approached the Surigao Strait, it ran into a deadly trap set by Seventh Fleet. Rear Admiral
Jesse Oldendorf
Jesse Barrett "Oley" Oldendorf (16 February 1887 – 27 April 1974) was an admiral in the United States Navy, famous for defeating a Japanese force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II. He also served as commander of the American naval ...
had a substantial force comprising
*six battleships: , , , , , and , which carried 48 14-inch (356 mm) and 16 16-inch (406 mm) guns;
*four
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...
s (flagship), , , and
HMAS ''Shropshire'', which carried 35 8-inch (203 mm) guns;
*four
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s , , , and , which carried 54 6-inch (152 mm) guns; and
*28 destroyers and 39 motor torpedo boats (
Patrol/Torpedo (PT) boats) with smaller guns and torpedoes.
Five of the six battleships had been sunk or damaged in the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
and subsequently repaired or, in the cases of ''Tennessee'', ''California'', and ''West Virginia'', rebuilt. The sole exception was ''Mississippi'', which had been in Iceland on convoy-escort duty at that time. To pass through the narrows and reach the invasion shipping, Nishimura would have to run the gauntlet of torpedoes from the PT boats and destroyers before advancing into the concentrated fire of 14 battleships and cruisers deployed across the far mouth of the strait.
At 22:36, ''PT-131'' (Ensign Peter Gadd) was operating off
Bohol
Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...
when it made contact with the approaching Japanese ships. The PT boats made repeated attacks for more than three and a half hours as Nishimura's force streamed northward. No torpedo hits were scored, but the PT boats did send contact reports which were of use to Oldendorf and his force.
Nishimura's ships passed unscathed through the gauntlet of PT boats. However, their luck ran out a short time later, as they were subjected to devastating torpedo attacks from the American destroyers deployed on both sides of their axis of advance. At about 03:00, both Japanese battleships were hit by torpedoes. ''Yamashiro'' was able to steam on, but ''Fusō'' was torpedoed by and fell out of formation, sinking forty minutes later. Two of Nishimura's four destroyers were sunk; the destroyer ''Asagumo'' was hit and forced to retire, but later sank.
Sinking of ''Fusō''
The traditional account of the sinking of ''Fusō'' was that she exploded into two halves that remained floating for some time. However, ''Fusō'' survivor Hideo Ogawa, interrogated in 1945, in an article on the battleship's last voyage, stated: "Shortly after 0400 the ship capsized slowly to starboard and Ogawa and others were washed away," without specifically mentioning the bisection. ''Fusō'' was hit on the starboard side by two or possibly three torpedoes. One of these started an oil fire, and as the fuel used by IJN ships was poorly refined and easily ignited, burning patches of fuel could have led to the description from Allied observers of ''Fusō'' "blowing up". However, battleships were known sometimes to be cut into two or even three sections which could remain afloat independently, and Samuel Morison states that the bow half of ''Fusō'' was sunk by gunfire from , and the stern half sank off Kanihaan Island.
Battle continues
At 03:16, ''West Virginia''s radar picked up the surviving ships of Nishimura's force at a range of . ''West Virginia'' tracked them as they approached in the pitch black night. At 03:53, she fired the eight guns of her main battery at a range of , striking ''Yamashiro'' with her first salvo. She went on to fire a total of 93 shells. At 03:55, ''California'' and ''Tennessee'' joined in, firing 63 and 69 shells, respectively, from their guns.
Radar fire control allowed these American battleships to hit targets from a distance at which the Japanese battleships, with their inferior fire control systems, could not return fire.
The other three U.S. battleships also had difficulty as they were equipped with less advanced gunnery radar. ''Pennsylvania'' was unable to find a target and her guns remained silent. ''Maryland'' eventually succeeded in visually ranging on the splashes of the other battleships' shells, and then fired a total of forty-eight projectiles. only fired once in the battle-line action, a full salvo of twelve 14-inch shells. This was the last salvo ever fired by a battleship against another battleship in history, closing a significant chapter in naval warfare.
''Yamashiro'' and ''Mogami'' were crippled by a combination of 16-inch and 14-inch armor-piercing shells, as well as the fire of Oldendorf's flanking cruisers. The cruisers that had the latest radar equipment fired well over 2,000 rounds of armor-piercing 6-inch and 8-inch shells. ''Louisville'' (Oldendorf's flagship) fired 37 salvos—333 rounds of 8-inch shells. The Japanese command had apparently lost grasp of the tactical picture, with all ships firing all batteries in several directions, "frantically showering steel through 360°." ''Shigure'' turned and fled but lost steering and stopped dead. At 04:05 ''Yamashiro'' was struck by a torpedo fired by the destroyer , and suddenly sank at about 04:20, with Nishimura on board. ''Mogami'' and ''Shigure'' retreated southwards down the Strait. The destroyer was hit by friendly fire during the night battle, but did not sink.
The rear of the Japanese Southern Force—the "Second Striking Force" commanded by Vice Admiral Shima—had departed from
Mako
, better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television d ...
and approached Surigao Strait about astern of Nishimura. Shima's run was initially thrown into confusion by his force nearly running aground on
Panaon Island
Panaon Island is a small island in the Philippines, in the province of Southern Leyte. It lies south of Leyte, separated from Dinagat to the east, and Mindanao to the southeast by Surigao Strait. The Mindanao Sea lies to the southwest.
Panaon ...
after failing to factor the outgoing tide into their approach. Japanese radar was almost useless due to excessive reflections from the many islands. The American radar was equally unable to detect ships in these conditions, especially PT boats, but ''PT-137'' hit the light cruiser ''Abukuma'' with a torpedo that crippled her and caused her to fall out of formation. Shima's two heavy cruisers, ''Nachi'' and ''Ashigara'', and four destroyers next encountered remnants of Nishimura's force. Shima saw what he thought were the wrecks of both Nishimura's battleships and ordered a retreat. His flagship ''Nachi'' collided with ''Mogami'', flooding ''Mogami''s steering room and causing her to fall behind in the retreat; she was further damaged by American carrier aircraft the next morning, abandoned and scuttled by a torpedo from ''Akebono''.
First ''kamikaze'' attacks of the Pacific War
While the Battle off Samar was raging between the Japanese surface fleet and Taffy 3, Taffy 1's escort carriers were supporting the American surface ships after the Battle of Surigao Strait when daylight broke (the nighttime Surigao Strait action meant no carrier aircraft could participate until after dawn, during which the defeated Japanese southern fleet was in full retreat). As a result of Taffy 1 being so far south of Samar not many Taffy 1 airplanes participated in the Battle off Samar. While in the air southwest of Leyte Gulf the aircraft and ships of Taffy 1 were immediately ordered to assist Taffy 3 off of Samar but they had to return to the escort carriers to refuel and rearm. After the carrier aircraft returned from aerial attacks on the retreating Japanese naval forces from Surigao Strait the Japanese launched the first pre-planned ''kamikaze'' (suicide "special attack" planes) attacks of World War II against Taffy 1 from
Davao. The escort carrier was hit by a ''kamikaze'' first, killing 16 crewmen. A Japanese submarine also successfully launched a torpedo at ''Santee'', striking her starboard side. 4 Avenger torpedo bombers and 2 Wildcat fighters on ''Santee'' were destroyed in this attack. Emergency repairs saved ''Santee'' from sinking. The escort carrier was shortly afterwards hit by a ''kamikaze'', killing 71 sailors. ''Suwannee'' was hit by another ''kamikaze'' around noon on 26 October that caused even more damage and killed 36 more crewmen. This second ''kamikaze'' strike caused a large fire that was not extinguished until nine hours later. A total of 107 sailors were killed and over 150 were wounded on ''Suwannee'' in the ''kamikaze'' attacks on 25–26 October. 5 Avenger torpedo bombers and 9 Hellcat fighters on ''Suwannee'' were destroyed.
Results
Of Nishimura's seven ships, only ''Shigure'' survived long enough to escape the debacle, but eventually succumbed to the American submarine on 24 January 1945, which sank her off
Kota Bharu
Kota Bharu, colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mouth of the Kelantan River.
The t ...
,
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
, with 37 dead. Shima's ships did survive the Battle of Surigao Strait, but they were sunk in further engagements around Leyte. The Southern Force provided no further threat to the Leyte landings.
Battle off Samar (25 October 1944)
Prelude
Halsey's decision to take all the available strength of Third Fleet northwards to attack the carriers of the Japanese Northern Force had left San Bernardino Strait completely unguarded.
Senior officers in Seventh Fleet (including Kinkaid and his staff) generally assumed Halsey was taking his three available carrier groups northwards (McCain's group, the strongest in Third Fleet, was still returning from the direction of Ulithi), but leaving the battleships of TF 34 covering the San Bernardino Strait against the Japanese Center Force. In fact, Halsey had not yet formed TF 34, and all six of Willis Lee's battleships were on their way northwards with the carriers, as well as every available cruiser and destroyer of Third Fleet.
Kurita's Center Force therefore emerged unopposed from San Bernardino Strait at 03:00 on 25 October and steamed southward along the coast of the island of Samar. In its path stood only Seventh Fleet's three escort carrier units (call signs 'Taffy' 1, 2, and 3), with a total of sixteen small, very slow, and unarmored
escort carrier
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
s, which carried up to 28 airplanes each, protected by a screen of lightly armed and unarmored destroyers and smaller
destroyer escort
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships.
Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...
s (DEs). Despite the losses in the Palawan Passage and Sibuyan Sea actions, the Japanese Center Force was still very powerful, consisting of four battleships (including the giant ''Yamato'', six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eleven destroyers.
Battle
Kurita's force caught Rear Admiral
Clifton Sprague
Clifton Albert Frederick "Ziggy" Sprague (January 8, 1896 – April 11, 1955) was a World War II-era officer in the United States Navy.
Biography
Sprague was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and attended the Roxbury Latin School. He entere ...
's Task Unit 77.4.3 ('Taffy 3') by surprise. Sprague directed his carriers to launch their planes, then ran for the cover of a rain squall to the east. He ordered the destroyers and DEs to make a smoke screen to conceal the retreating carriers.
Kurita, unaware that Ozawa's decoy plan had succeeded, assumed he had found a carrier group from Halsey's Third Fleet. Having just redeployed his ships into anti-aircraft formation, he further complicated matters by ordering a "General Attack", which called for his fleet to split into divisions and attack independently.
The destroyer was the closest to the enemy. On his own initiative,
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Ernest E. Evans
Ernest Edwin Evans (August 13, 1908 – October 25, 1944) was an officer of the United States Navy who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle off Samar in World War II.
Biography
Evans, of Native American a ...
steered his hopelessly outclassed ship into the Japanese fleet at
flank speed
Flank speed is an American nautical term referring to a ship's true maximum speed but it is not equivalent to the term ''full speed ahead''. Usually, flank speed is reserved for situations in which a ship finds itself in imminent danger, such as c ...
. ''Johnston'' fired its torpedoes at the heavy cruiser ''Kumano'', damaging her and forcing her out of line. Seeing this, Sprague gave the order "small boys attack", sending the rest of Taffy 3's screening ships into the fray. Taffy 3's two other destroyers, and , and the destroyer escort , attacked with suicidal determination, drawing fire and disrupting the Japanese formation as ships turned to avoid their torpedoes. As the ships approached the enemy columns, Lt. Cdr. Copeland of ''Samuel B. Roberts'' told all hands via bull horn that this would be "a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival could not be expected." As the Japanese fleet continued to approach, ''Hoel'' and ''Roberts'' were hit multiple times, and quickly sank. After expending all of its torpedoes, ''Johnston'' continued to fight with its 5-inch guns, until it was sunk by a group of Japanese destroyers.
As they were preparing their aircraft for attack, the escort carriers returned the Japanese fire with all the firepower they had – one 5 in. gun per carrier. The officer in tactical command had instructed the carriers to "open with pea shooters," and each ship took an enemy vessel under fire as soon as it came within range. fired on a cruiser, and is believed to have registered five hits, one amid the superstructure that caused smoke. targeted a heavy cruiser, claiming a hit on the cruiser's No. 2 turret, with a second just below the first. sighted a cruiser, and claimed at least three hits. reported hits on multiple targets, two between the superstructure and forward stack and another on the No. 1 turret of a heavy cruiser.
Meanwhile, Rear Admiral
Thomas Sprague (no relation to Clifton) ordered the sixteen escort carriers in his three task units to immediately launch all their aircraft – totaling 450 planes – equipped with whatever weapons they had available, even if these were only machine guns or depth charges. The escort carriers had planes more suited for patrol and anti-submarine duties, including older models such as the FM-2 Wildcat, although they also had the TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, in contrast to Halsey's fleet carriers which had the newest aircraft with ample anti-shipping ordnance. However, the fact that the Japanese force had no air cover meant that Sprague's planes could attack unopposed by Japanese fighter aircraft. Consequently, the air counterattacks were almost unceasing, and some, especially several of the strikes launched from
Felix Stump
Felix Budwell Stump (December 15, 1894 – June 13, 1972) was an admiral in the United States Navy and Commander, United States Pacific Fleet from July 10, 1953 until July 31, 1958.
Early life and career
Stump was born in Parkersburg, West Virgini ...
's Task Unit 77.4.2 (Taffy 2), were heavy.
The carriers of Taffy 3 turned south and retreated through the shellfire. ''Gambier Bay'', at the rear of the American formation, became the focus of the battleship ''Yamato'' and sustained multiple hits before capsizing at 09:07. 4 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers went down with ''Gambier Bay''. Several other carriers were damaged but were able to escape.
Admiral Kurita withdraws
The ferocity of the American defense seemingly confirmed the Japanese assumption that they were engaging major fleet units rather than merely escort carriers and destroyers. The confusion of the "General Attack" order was compounded by the air and torpedo attacks, when Kurita's flagship ''Yamato'' turned north to evade torpedoes and lost contact with the battle.
Kurita abruptly broke off the fight and gave the order 'all ships, my course north, speed 20', apparently to regroup his disorganized fleet. Kurita's battle report stated he had received a message indicating a group of American carriers was steaming north of him. Preferring to expend his fleet against capital ships rather than transports, Kurita set out in pursuit and thereby lost his opportunity to destroy the shipping fleet in Leyte Gulf, and disrupt the vital landings at Leyte. After failing to intercept the non-existent carriers, which were much farther north, Kurita finally retreated towards San Bernardino Strait. Three of his heavy cruisers had been sunk, and the determined resistance had convinced him that persisting with his attack would only cause further Japanese losses.
Poor communication between the separate Japanese forces and a lack of air reconnaissance meant that Kurita was never informed that the deception had been successful, and that only a small and outgunned force stood between his battleships and the vulnerable transports of the invasion fleet. Thus, Kurita remained convinced that he had been engaging elements of Third Fleet, and it would only be a matter of time before Halsey surrounded and annihilated him. Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague wrote to his colleague
Aubrey Fitch
Aubrey Wray Fitch (June 11, 1883 – May 22, 1978) was an admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. A naval aviator, he held important aviation-related commands both at sea and on shore from the 1920s onward. He also served as ...
after the war, "I ... stated
o Admiral Nimitz
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
that the main reason they turned north was that they were receiving too much damage to continue and I am still of that opinion and cold analysis will eventually confirm it."
![USS St Lo (CVE-63) 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/St._Lo_First_Kamikaze_attack_sl1a.jpg)
Almost all of Kurita's surviving force escaped. Halsey and Third Fleet's battleships returned too late to cut him off. ''Nagato'' and ''Kongō'' had been moderately damaged by air attack from Taffy 3's escort carriers. Kurita had begun the battle with five battleships. On their return to their bases, only ''Yamato'' and ''Haruna'' remained battleworthy.
As the desperate surface action was coming to an end, Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi put his
Japanese Special Attack Units
During World War II, , also called ''shimbu-tai'', were specialized units of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army normally used for suicide missions. They included ''kamikaze'' aircraft, ''fukuryu'' frogmen, and several types of ...
into operation from bases on Luzon, launching ''kamikaze'' attacks against the Allied ships in Leyte Gulf and the escort carrier units off Samar. This was the second ever organized ''kamikaze'' attack by the Japanese in World War II after the ''kamikaze'' attack on Taffy 1 a few hours earlier off of Surigao Strait. The escort carrier of Taffy 3 was hit by a ''kamikaze'' aircraft and sank after a series of internal explosions. 6 Grumman FM-2 Wildcat fighters and 5 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers went down with ''St. Lo''. Three other Taffy 3 escort carriers, , and ''White Plains'', were also damaged in the same ''kamikaze'' attack.
Battle off Cape Engaño (25–26 October 1944)
![Zuikaku at Cape Engano](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Zuikaku_at_Cape_Engano.jpg)
Vice-Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa's "Northern Force", built around the four aircraft carriers of the
3rd Carrier Division (—the last survivor of the
six carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941—and the light carriers , , and ), included two
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
battleships partially converted to carriers ( and —the two aft turrets had been replaced by a hangar, aircraft handling deck and catapult, but neither ship carried any aircraft in this battle), three light cruisers (, , and ), and nine destroyers. Ozawa's carrier group was a decoy force, divested of all but 108 aircraft, intended to lure the American fleet away from protecting the transports at the landing beaches on Leyte island.
Ozawa's force was not located until 16:40 on 24 October, largely because Sherman's TG 38.3—which was the northernmost of Halsey's groups—was responsible for searches in this sector. The force that Halsey was taking north with him—three groups of Mitscher's TF 38—was overwhelmingly stronger than the Japanese Northern Force. Between them, these groups had five large
fleet carriers (''Intrepid'', ''Franklin'', ''Lexington'', and ''Essex''), five light carriers (''Independence'', , ''Langley'', ''Cabot'' and ), six modern
battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s (, , , ''New Jersey'', and ''Washington''), eight cruisers (two heavy and six light), and 41 destroyers. The air groups of the ten U.S. carriers present contained 600–1,000 aircraft.
![Lowering the flag on Zuikaku](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Lowering_the_flag_on_Zuikaku.jpg)
At 02:40 on 25 October, Halsey detached TF 34, built around Third Fleet's six battleships and commanded by Vice Admiral Lee. As dawn approached, the ships of Task Force 34 drew ahead of the carrier groups. Halsey intended Mitscher to make air strikes followed by the heavy gunfire of Lee's battleships.
Around dawn on 25 October, Ozawa launched 75 aircraft, the bulk of his few aircraft, to attack Third Fleet. Most were shot down by American combat air patrols, and no damage was done to the U.S. ships. A few Japanese planes survived and made their way to land bases on Luzon.
During the night, Halsey had passed tactical command of TF 38 to Admiral Mitscher, who ordered the American carrier groups to launch their first strike wave, of 180 aircraft, at dawn—before the Northern Force had been located. When the search aircraft made contact at 07:10, this strike wave was orbiting ahead of the task force. At 08:00, as the attack went in, its escorting fighters destroyed Ozawa's combat air patrol of about 30 planes. The U.S. air strikes continued until the evening, by which time TF 38 had flown 527 sorties against the Northern Force, sinking ''Zuikaku'', the light carriers ''Chitose'' and ''Zuihō'', and the destroyer ''Akizuki'', all with heavy loss of life. The light carrier ''Chiyoda'' and the cruiser ''Tama'' were crippled. Ozawa transferred his flag to the light cruiser ''Ōyodo''.
Crisis – U.S. Seventh Fleet's calls for help
Shortly after 08:00 on 25 October, desperate messages calling for assistance began to come in from Seventh Fleet, which had been engaging Nishimura's "Southern Force" in
battle in Surigao Strait since 02:00. One message from Kinkaid, sent in plain language, read: "My situation is critical. Fast battleships and support by air strikes may be able to keep enemy from destroying CVEs and entering Leyte." Halsey recalled in his memoirs that he was shocked at this message, recounting that the radio signals from Seventh Fleet had come in at random and out of order because of a backlog in the signals office. It seems that he did not receive this vital message from Kinkaid until around 10:00. Halsey later claimed he knew Kinkaid was in trouble, but he had not dreamed of the seriousness of this crisis.
One of the most alarming signals from Kinkaid reported, after their action in Surigao Strait, Seventh Fleet's own battleships were critically low on ammunition. Even this failed to persuade Halsey to send any immediate assistance to Seventh Fleet. In fact, Seventh Fleet's battleships were not as short of ammunition as Kinkaid's signal implied, but Halsey did not know that.
From away in Pearl Harbor, Admiral Nimitz had been monitoring the desperate calls from Taffy 3, and sent Halsey a terse message: "TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG FROM CINCPAC ACTION COM THIRD FLEET INFO COMINCH CTF SEVENTY-SEVEN X WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY FOUR RR
THE WORLD WONDERS
"The world wonders" is a phrase which rose to notoriety following its use during World War II when it appeared as part of a Code (cryptography)#Cryptanalysis of codes, decoded message sent by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief, U.S. ...
." The first four words and the last three were "padding" used to confuse enemy
cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...
(the beginning and end of the true message were marked by double consonants). The communications staff on Halsey's flagship correctly deleted the first section of padding but mistakenly retained the last three words in the message finally handed to Halsey. The last three words—probably selected by a communications officer at Nimitz's headquarters—may have been meant as a loose quote from
Tennyson's poem on "
The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to s ...
", suggested by the coincidence that this day, 25 October, was the 90th anniversary of the
Battle of Balaclava
The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...
—and was not intended as a commentary on the current crisis off Leyte. Halsey, however, when reading the message, thought that the last words—"THE WORLD WONDERS"—were a biting piece of criticism from Nimitz, threw his cap to the deck and broke into "sobs of rage". Rear Admiral
Robert Carney
Robert Bostwick Carney (March 26, 1895 – June 25, 1990) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as commander-in-chief of the NATO forces in Southern Europe (1951–1953) and then as Chief of Naval Operations (1953–1954) duri ...
, his chief of staff, confronted him, telling Halsey "Stop it! What the hell's the matter with you? Pull yourself together."
Eventually, at 11:15, more than three hours after the first distress messages from Seventh Fleet had been received by his flagship, Halsey ordered TF 34 to turn around and head southwards towards Samar. At this point, Lee's battleships were almost within gun range of Ozawa's force. Two and a half hours were then spent refuelling TF 34's accompanying destroyers.
After this succession of delays it was too late for TF 34 to give any practical help to Seventh Fleet, other than to assist in picking up survivors from Taffy 3, and too late even to intercept Kurita's force before it made its escape through San Bernardino Strait.
Nevertheless, at 16:22, in a desperate and even more belated attempt to intervene in the events off Samar, Halsey formed a new task group—TG 34.5—under Rear Admiral
Oscar C. Badger II
Oscar Charles Badger II (June 26, 1890 – November 30, 1958) was an admiral of the United States Navy who served in both World Wars, and, as a junior officer, received the Medal of Honor.
Early life and family
The grandson of Commodore Oscar C. ...
, built around Third Fleet's two fastest battleships—''Iowa'' and ''New Jersey'', both capable of a speed of more than —and TF 34's three cruisers and eight destroyers, and sped southwards, leaving Lee and the other four battleships to follow. As Morison observes, if Badger's group had succeeded in intercepting the Japanese Center Force it may have been outgunned by Kurita's battleships.
Cruisers and destroyers of TG 34.5, however, caught the —the last straggler from Center Force—off San Bernardino Strait, and sank her with all hands, including the survivors from ''Chikuma''.
Final actions
When Halsey turned TF 34 southwards at 11:15, he detached a task group of four of its cruisers and nine of its destroyers under Rear Admiral DuBose, and reassigned this group to TF 38. At 14:15, Mitscher ordered DuBose to pursue the remnants of the Japanese Northern Force. His cruisers finished off the light carrier ''Chiyoda'' at around 17:00, and at 20:59 his ships sank the destroyer ''Hatsuzuki'' after a very stubborn fight.
When Ozawa learned of the deployment of DuBose's relatively weak task group, he ordered battleships ''Ise'' and ''Hyūga'' to turn southwards and attack it, but they failed to locate DuBose's group, which they heavily outgunned. Halsey's withdrawal of all six of Lee's battleships in his attempt to assist Seventh Fleet had now rendered TF 38 vulnerable to a surface counterattack by the decoy Northern Force.
At about 23:10, the American submarine torpedoed and sank the light cruiser ''Tama'' of Ozawa's force. This was the last act of the Battle off Cape Engaño, and—apart from some final air strikes on the retreating Japanese forces on 26 October—the conclusion of the Battle for Leyte Gulf.
Weighing the decisions of Halsey
Criticism
Halsey was questioned for his decision to take TF 34 north in pursuit of Ozawa, and for failing to detach it when Kinkaid first appealed for help. A piece of U.S. Navy slang for Halsey's actions is ''Bull's Run'', a phrase combining Halsey's newspaper nickname "Bull" (he was known as "Bill" Halsey) with an allusion to the
Battle of Bull Run in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, where Union troops lost the battle due to poor organization and lack of decisive action.
Clifton Sprague—commander of Task Unit 77.4.3 in the Battle off Samar—was later bitterly critical of Halsey's decision, and of his failure to clearly inform Kinkaid and Seventh Fleet that their northern flank was no longer protected: "In the absence of any information ... it was logical to assume that our northern flank could not be exposed without ample warning." Regarding Halsey's failure to turn TF 34 southwards when Seventh Fleet's first calls for assistance off Samar were received, Morison writes:
Vice Admiral Lee said in his action report as Commander of TF 34: "No battle damage was incurred nor inflicted on the enemy by vessels while operating as Task Force Thirty-Four."
Halsey's defense
In his dispatch after the battle, Halsey justified the decision to go North as follows:
Halsey also argued that he had feared leaving TF 34 to defend the strait without carrier support as that would have left it vulnerable to attack from land-based aircraft, while leaving one of the fast carrier groups behind to cover the battleships would have significantly reduced the concentration of air power going north to strike Ozawa.
However, Morison states that Admiral Lee said after the battle that he would have been fully prepared for the battleships to cover the San Bernardino Strait without air cover, as each of the escort carriers of TF 77 had up to 28 planes on them, but little surface ship protection, from Kurita's traditional naval force, which lacked air support.
Potential mitigating factors
The fact that Halsey was aboard one of the two fast battleships (''New Jersey''), and "would have had to remain behind" with TF 34 while the bulk of his fleet charged northwards, may have influenced his decision, but it would have been perfectly feasible to have taken one or both of Third Fleet's two fastest battleships with some or all of the large carriers in the pursuit of Ozawa, while leaving the rest of the battle line off the San Bernardino Strait. Halsey's original plan for TF 34 was for four, not all six, of Third Fleet's battleships.
Halsey was certainly philosophically against dividing his forces. He believed strongly in the current naval doctrine of concentration, as indicated by his writings both before World War II and in his subsequent articles and interviews defending his actions. In addition, Halsey may well have been influenced by the recent criticisms of Admiral
Raymond Spruance
Raymond Ames Spruance (July 3, 1886 – December 13, 1969) was a United States Navy admiral during World War II. He commanded U.S. naval forces during one of the most significant naval battles that took place in the Pacific Theatre: the Battle ...
, who was criticized for excessive caution in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, allowing the bulk of the Japanese fleet to escape. Halsey's chief of staff, Rear Admiral
Robert "Mick" Carney, was also wholeheartedly in favor of taking all of Third Fleet's available forces northwards to attack the Japanese carriers.
Halsey also did not believe reports of just how badly compromised Japan's naval air power was, and had no idea that Ozawa's decoy force only had 100 aircraft. Although in a letter to Nimitz just three days before the Battle off Samar, Halsey wrote that Mitscher believed "Jap naval air was wiped out", which Spruance and Mitscher concluded from shooting down over 433 carrier based planes at the ''Marianas Turkey Shoot]', Halsey ignored Mitscher's insights, and later stated that he did not want to be "
Shuttle bombing, shuttle bombed" by Ozawa's force (a technique whereby planes can land and rearm at bases on either side of a foe, allowing them to attack on both the outbound flight and the return), or to give them a "free shot" at the U.S. forces in Leyte Gulf.
Halsey may have considered Kurita's damaged battleships and cruisers, lacking carrier support, as little threat, but ironically, through his own failures to adequately communicate his intentions, he managed to demonstrate that unsupported battleships could still be dangerous.
In his master's thesis submitted at the
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
, Lieutenant Commander Kent Coleman, argues that the division of command hierarchies of Third Fleet, under Halsey reporting to Nimitz, and Seventh Fleet, under Kinkaid reporting to General MacArthur, was the primary contributor to the near-success of Kurita's attack. Coleman concludes that "the divided U.S. naval chain of command amplified problems in communication and coordination between Halsey and Kinkaid. This divided command was more important in determining the course of the battle than the tactical decision made by Halsey and led to an American disunity of effort that nearly allowed Kurita's mission to succeed."
Losses
Due to the long duration and size of the battle, accounts vary as to the losses that occurred as a part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf and losses that occurred shortly before and shortly after. One account of the losses, by Samuel E. Morison, lists the following vessels:
American and Allied losses
The United States lost at least 12 warships during the Battle of Leyte Gulf:
*One light aircraft carrier:
*Two escort carriers: and (the first major warship sunk by a ''
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'' attack)
*Two destroyers: and
*Two destroyer escorts: and
*One PT boat: ''USS PT-493''
*Four other ships (including submarine ), along with , were damaged.
More than 1,600 sailors and aircrewmen of the Allied escort carrier units were killed. The losses in the Battle of Leyte Gulf were not evenly distributed throughout all forces. Very minimal Allied casualties occurred at the overwhelming Allied victories at the Battle of Surigao Strait and the Battle off Cape Engaño. At the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea the Japanese attack on the light aircraft carrier ''USS Princeton'' led to the loss of 108 killed on ''Princeton'' and 233 killed and 426 wounded on the light cruiser ''USS Birmingham'' due to secondary explosions on ''Princeton'' that caused severe damage on ''Birmingham''. 123 troops were killed and over 150 were wounded in the first pre-planned ''kamikaze'' attacks of World War II on Taffy 1's aircraft carriers near Surigao Strait. At the mismatched Battle off Samar alone 5 of the 7 ships of the combined actions were lost along with 23 aircraft lost and 1,161 killed and missing and 913 wounded, comparable to the combined losses at the Battle of Midway and Battle of Coral Sea. The destroyer ''Heermann'', despite her unequal fight with the enemy, finished the battle with only six of her crew dead. As a result of communication errors and other failures, a large number of survivors from Taffy 3 were unable to be rescued for several days, and died unnecessarily as a consequence. HMAS ''Australia'' suffered 30 officers and sailors dead, and another 62 servicemen wounded in a
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
-like attack 21 October 1944 at the start of the battle. At the Battle of Surigao Strait 39 U.S. troops were killed, 114 were wounded and one PT boat (USS ''PT-493'') was sunk.
On 24–25 October, in two American submarine battles that were related to Japanese naval convoys involved in the Battle of Leyte Gulf two U.S. submarines were lost in actions that led to the deaths of 1,938 U.S. troops. sank numerous ships in a large Japanese convoy that was on the way to reinforce Japanese troops in Leyte and Leyte Gulf. ''Tang'' then accidentally sank herself in a
circular run on the very last torpedo that she had in her arsenal. 78 men were killed while 9 survived and were captured by the Japanese. sank the unmarked
hell ship
A hell ship is a ship with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew. It now generally refers to the ships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army to transport Allied prisoners of ...
''
Arisan Maru
''Arisan Maru'' was a Type 2A freighter constructed in 1944 during World War II and was one of Imperial Japan's hell ships. The vessel, named for a mountain on Formosa, was initially used as a troop transport. The vessel was then turned over f ...
'', which was transporting American
POWs
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
from the Philippines to Formosa as a response to the Formosa Air Battle and the imminent invasion of the Philippines. 1,773 POWs died due to the rest of the Japanese convoy refusing to rescue them. This was the largest loss of life of U.S. troops at sea in history. ''Shark'' was sunk immediately by Japanese escort ships. All 87 crewmen on ''Shark'' died.
Japanese losses
The Japanese lost 28 warships during the Battle of Leyte Gulf:
*One fleet aircraft carrier: (flagship of the decoy Northern Forces and last of the original attacking Pearl Harbor carriers still afloat).
*Three light aircraft carriers: , , and .
*Three battleships: (former flagship of the
Japanese Combined Fleet
The was the main sea-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Until 1933, the Combined Fleet was not a permanent organization, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units norm ...
), (flagship of the Southern Force) and .
*Six heavy cruisers: (flagship of the Center Force), , , , , and .
*Four light cruisers: , , , and .
*Eleven destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , and .
Listed Japanese losses include only those ships sunk in the battle. After the nominal end of the battle, several damaged ships were faced with the option of either making their way to Singapore, close to Japan's oil supplies but where comprehensive repairs could not be undertaken, or making their way back to Japan, where there were better repair facilities but scant oil. The ''Nachi'' was lost to aerial attack while under repair at
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...
The cruiser ''Kumano'' and battleship ''Kongō'' were sunk retreating to Japan. Cruisers ''Takao'' and ''Myōkō'' were stranded, unrepairable, in Singapore. Many of the other survivors of the battle were bombed and sunk at anchor in Japan, unable to move without fuel.
Aftermath
The Battle of Leyte Gulf secured the
beachhead
A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. The ...
s of the
U.S. Sixth Army
Sixth Army is a theater army of the United States Army. The Army service component command of United States Southern Command, its area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central and South America and ...
on Leyte against attack from the sea. However, much hard fighting would be required before the island was completely in Allied hands at the end of December 1944: the
Battle of Leyte
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
on land was fought in parallel with an air and sea campaign in which the Japanese reinforced and resupplied their troops on Leyte while the Allies attempted to interdict them and establish air-sea superiority for a series of amphibious landings in
Ormoc Bay
Ormoc Bay is a large bay in the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The bay is an extension of the Camotes Sea. The city of Ormoc lies at the head of the bay and exports rice, copra and sugar.
The World War II Battle of Ormoc Bay took place fr ...
—engagements collectively referred to as the
Battle of Ormoc Bay
The Battle of Ormoc Bay was a series of air-sea battles between Imperial Japan and the United States in the Camotes Sea in the Philippines from 9 November-21 December 1944, at Ormoc, part of the Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World ...
.
The Imperial Japanese Navy had suffered its greatest loss of ships and crew ever. Its failure to dislodge the Allied invaders from Leyte meant the inevitable loss of the Philippines, which in turn meant Japan would be all but cut off from its occupied territories in Southeast Asia. These territories provided resources that were vital to Japan, in particular the oil needed for her ships and aircraft. This problem was compounded because the shipyards and sources of manufactured goods, such as ammunition, were in Japan itself. Finally, the loss of Leyte opened the way for the
invasion
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
of the Ryukyu Islands in 1945.
The major IJN surface ships returned to their bases to languish, entirely or almost entirely inactive, for the remainder of the war. The only major operation by these surface ships between the Battle for Leyte Gulf and the Japanese surrender was the suicidal sortie in April 1945 (part of
Operation Ten-Go
, also known as Operation Heaven One (or Ten-ichi-gō 天一号), was the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The resulting engagement is also known as the Battle of the East China Sea.
In April 1945, the ...
), in which the battleship ''Yamato'' and her escorts were destroyed by American carrier aircraft.
The first use of ''kamikaze'' aircraft took place following the Leyte landings. A ''kamikaze'' hit the Australian
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...
HMAS ''Australia'' on 21 October. Organized suicide attacks by the "Special Attack Force" (Japanese Special Attack Units) began on 25 October during the closing phase of the Battle off Samar, causing the destruction of the escort carrier ''St. Lo''.
J. F. C. Fuller
Major-General John Frederick Charles "Boney" Fuller (1 September 1878 – 10 February 1966) was a senior British Army officer, military historian, and strategist, known as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising pr ...
writes of the outcome of Leyte Gulf:
Memorials
![Battle of Surigao Strait Plaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Battle_of_Surigao_Strait_Plaque.jpg)
*At the
U.S. Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of ...
, in
Alumni Hall, a concourse is dedicated to Lt. Lloyd Garnett and his shipmates on , who earned their ship the reputation as the "destroyer escort that fought like a battleship" in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
*The ''Essex''-class aircraft carrier was named for the battle.
*The ''Ticonderoga''-class cruiser is named for the battle.
*The ''Dealey''-class destroyer escort was named in honor of Lt. Cmdr.
Ernest E. Evans
Ernest Edwin Evans (August 13, 1908 – October 25, 1944) was an officer of the United States Navy who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle off Samar in World War II.
Biography
Evans, of Native American a ...
, commanding officer of the .
*At
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is a federal military cemetery in the city of San Diego, California. It is located on the grounds of the former Army coastal artillery station Fort Rosecrans and is administered by the United States Department o ...
in San Diego, California, several monuments are dedicated to Taffy 3 and the sailors lost during and after the Battle off Samar
*The Battle of Surigao Strait Memorial, in Surigao City overlooking the strait, was opened by city government and private partners on the 75th anniversary of the battle, October 25, 2019.
See also
*
United States Navy in World War II
The United States Navy grew rapidly during World War II from 1941–45, and played a central role in the war against Japan. It also assisted the British Royal Navy in the naval war against Germany and Italy. The U.S. Navy grew slowly in the yea ...
*
Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II
The Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II, at the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, was the third most powerful navy in the world, and the naval air service was one of the most potent air forces in the world. During the first six m ...
*
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War.
The Japanese military acquired their first air ...
*
Leyte-Samar Naval Base
Leyte-Samar Naval Base was a large United States Navy base in the Philippines on the Islands of Leyte and Samar. The Base was built during World War II to support the many naval ships fighting and patrolling in the South West Pacific theatre of ...
*WWII carrier-versus-carrier engagements between Allied and Japanese naval forces:
**
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...
**
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...
**
Battle of the Eastern Solomons
The naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons (also known as the Battle of the Stewart Islands and, in Japanese sources, as the Second Battle of the Solomon Sea) took place on 24–25 August 1942, and was the third carrier battle of the Pacific ca ...
**
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific ( ''Minamitaiheiyō kaisen''), was the fourt ...
**
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invas ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
United States Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific) – Interrogations of Japanese Officials ominch Secret Information Bulletin No. 22*Orders of battle at NavWeaps.com:
Battle of the Sibuyan Seaby Tim Lanzendörfer
public domain documents from HyperWar Foundation
The Battle for Leyte Gulf Revisitedby Irwin J. Kappes
Japan's TA-Operation: A Blueprint for Disasterby Irwin J. Kappes
*
by A. P. Tully
Oral history interview with Edward Gilbert, a member of the Army Boat Regiment during the Battle of Leyte Gulf from the Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyte Gulf, Battle Of
Conflicts in 1944
1944 in the Philippines
Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II
Naval aviation operations and battles
History of Leyte (province)
History of Samar (province)
World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre
Naval battles of World War II involving Australia
Naval battles of World War II involving Japan
Naval battles of World War II involving the United States
October 1944 events
Sibuyan Sea