Leyte Gulf, Battle of

Leyte Gulf, Battle of (1944).Leyte Gulf—23–25 October 1944—the largest naval battle in history, was precipitated by the U.S. invasion of the Philippines during World War II. Carrying out the landings at Leyte were the amphibious ships of the Seventh Fleet commanded by Vice Adm. Thomas C. Kinkaid; providing cover against the Japanese Imperial Navy were the fast carriers and battleships of the Third Fleet under Adm. William F. Halsey. This divided American command, with no common superior nearer than Washington, afforded the weaker Imperial Fleet an opportunity.

Operation Sho‐I, a typically complex Japanese plan, called for closely coordinated movements by four separate forces. To lure Halsey's Third Fleet away, the Japanese dangled far to the north four aircraft carriers, which had lost most of their planes in June during the earlier Battle of the Philippine Sea. Meanwhile, Vice Adm. Takeo Kurita's central force, composed of the strongest gun ships, including the giant battleships Yamato and Musashi, was to pass through San Bernardino Strait and fall upon Kinkaid's transports and supply ships from the east. The Japanese southern force, composed of two weaker groups of gun ships, would advance through Surigao Strait and assail the American landing from the south.

The battle started badly for the Japanese when their central force was ambushed on 23 October by submarines, which sounded the alarm and sank two cruisers. Alerted to the approach of Kurita, Halsey's aviators concentrated on the Musashi, sinking that battleship and compelling the central force to reverse course. Halsey next sighted the Japanese carriers, and thinking that Kurita was in retreat, headed north with his entire force. Unobserved, Kurita soon doubled back and slipped through San Bernardino Strait.

Simultaneously, the Japanese gun ships making up the southern force approached Surigao Strait. They ran headlong into Kinkaid's warships: destroyers, cruisers, and six old battleships, five of which were veterans of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In history's last clash between battleships, the Japanese were routed early on 25 October at trifling cost to the Americans.

But at sunrise the same morning, the larger Japanese gamble seemed to have paid off. Kurita's ships fell on the few American vessels steaming to the east of Leyte Gulf: six small escort carriers with their spare destroyer screen. Tailored to the support of ground troops, these American vessels were ill‐prepared to deal with the largest ships in the Imperial Fleet. Yet off the island of Samar, American sailors fought for over two hours with such skill and bravery that Kurita, after losing three heavy cruisers to torpedoes, and believing he confronted Halsey's Third Fleet, ordered withdrawal. Having sunk only the escort carrier Gambier Bay and three smaller ships, Kurita limped back through San Bernardino Strait leaving untouched the vital American transports and landing craft at Leyte.

Overall, the American triumph was not unalloyed. Kurita's appearance off Leyte had compelled Halsey to break off his pursuit of the remainder of the Japanese northern force, although not before his aviators had sunk all four of the enemy carriers. The Japanese also won some successes with their land‐based aircraft. On 24 October, a dive‐bomber hit the torpedo storage area of the light carrier Princeton, setting off explosions that sank the ship. The next day, the first kamikazes of the war damaged five escort carriers and sank a sixth, the St. Lô.

Still, the battle was an overwhelming defeat for the Imperial Fleet. Of the 282 warships engaged (216 American, 2 Australian, and 64 Japanese), the Japanese lost 4 carriers, 3 battleships, 10 cruisers, and 11 destroyers. American losses totaled one light carrier, two escort carriers, and three destroyers. For all practical purposes, the Japanese navy had ceased to exist as an organized fighting force.
[See also Navy, U.S.: 1899–1945; World War II: Military and Diplomatic Course; World War II: U.S. Naval Operations in: The Pacific.]

Bibliography

C. Vann Woodward , The Battle for Leyte Gulf, 1947.
Samuel E. Morison , History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. 12: Leyte: June 1944–January 1945, 1963.
Edwin Hoyt , The Battle for Leyte Gulf, 1972.
Thomas J. Cutler , The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23–26 October 1944, 1994.

Malcolm Muir, Jr.