Battle of Leyte Gulf

Battle of Leyte Gulf
	Part of the Pacific War, World War II
	; The light aircraft carrier USS Princeton afire, east of Luzon, 24 October 1944.
Date	23–26 October 1944
Location	Leyte Gulf, The Philippines
Result	Decisive Allied victory
Belligerents
United States; Australia	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
William Halsey, Jr; (3rd Fleet); Thomas C. Kinkaid; (7th Fleet)	Takeo Kurita (Center Force); Shōji Nishimura † (Southern Force); Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force); Jisaburō Ozawa (Northern Force); Yukio Seki † (Kamikazes)
Strength
8 fleet carriers; 8 light carriers; 18 escort carriers; 12 battleships; 24 cruisers; 141 destroyers and destroyer escorts; Many PT boats, submarines, and fleet auxiliaries; About 1,500 planes	1 fleet carrier; 3 light carriers; 9 battleships; 14 heavy cruisers; 6 light cruisers; 35+ destroyers; 300+ planes (including land-based aircraft)
Casualties and losses
~2,800 dead; ; 1 light aircraft carrier,; 2 escort carriers, ; 2 destroyers,; 1 destroyer escort sunk ; 200+ planes	~10,500 dead; ; 1 fleet carrier, ; 3 light carriers; 3 battleships, ; 10 cruisers, ; 11 destroyers sunk ; ~500 planes

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, was the biggest naval battle in modern history. The battle was part of World War II, and happened in the seas near the Philippines island of Leyte. It took place from 23 October to 26 October 1944, between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. The Allies started the battle to cut the way between Japan and its colonies in South East Asia. Japan took its oil for fuel from that area. The Japanese gathered all the ships they had left to fight the Allied troops. However, they failed and lost many ships and aircraft.

The battle was the last big naval fight of World War II. Without fuel, the Imperial Japanese Navy never again sailed to battle. Most of their ships returned to Japan, and were inactive for the rest of the war.

The first use of kamikaze aircraft was during this battle. A kamikaze hit the Australian flagship HMAS Australia on 21 October. Many other suicide attacks by the "Special Attack Force" began on 25 October, and did great damage to the Allied ships.

Battle Of Leyte Gulf Media

The four main actions in the Battle of Leyte Gulf: 1 Battle of the Sibuyan Sea 2 Battle of Surigao Strait 3 Battle off Cape Engaño 4 Battle off Samar. Leyte Gulf is north of 2 and west of 4. The island of Leyte is west of the gulf.
Musashi departing Brunei in October 1944 for the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Yamato hit by a bomb near her forward gun turret in the Sibuyan Sea, 24 October 1944
USS Princeton explodes at 15:23
Musashi under aerial bombardment
The Battle of Surigao Strait
Battle for Leyte Gulf Strategic and Tactical Analysis, volume 5, declassified 1958 report
USS West Virginia firing on the Japanese fleet
Battle off Samar. Part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
St. Lo exploding after a kamikaze strike.