Battle of Leyte Gulf

Battle of Leyte Gulf
	Part of the Pacific War, World War II
	File:USS Princeton (CVL-23) 1944 10 24 1.jpg; 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
22x20px United States; 22x20px Australia	22x20px Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
23x15px William Halsey, Jr; (3rd Fleet); 23x15px Thomas C. Kinkaid; (7th Fleet)	23x15px Takeo Kurita (Center Force); 23x15px Shōji Nishimura † (Southern Force); 23x15px Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force); 23x15px Jisaburō Ozawa (Northern Force); 23x15px 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

Japanese battleship Musashi cropped.jpg

Musashi departing Brunei in October 1944 for the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Leyte map annotated.jpg

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.
Yamato hit by bomb.jpg

Yamato hit by a bomb near her forward gun turret in the Sibuyan Sea, 24 October 1944
Japanese light cruiser under attack during the Battle of Sibuyan Sea, 24 October 1944 (80-G-272551).jpg

Japanese cruiser Noshiro under attack.
USS Princeton (CVL-23) 1944 10 24 1523explosion.jpg

USS Princeton explodes at 15:23
Musashi under fire.jpg

Musashi under aerial bombardment
Surigao Strait.jpg

The Battle of Surigao Strait
USS West Virginia (BB-48) firing during the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.jpg

USS West Virginia firing on the Japanese fleet
Samar.jpg

Battle off Samar. Part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
USS Gambier Bay at the Battle off Samar.jpg

Gambier Bay under Japanese fire, probably from heavy cruiser Chikuma, faintly visible in the background

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Parkinson, Roger (March 1977). Encyclopedia of modern war. p. 132. ISBN 0-586-08321-9.

Other websites

WW2DB: Leyte Campaign
Animated History of The Battle of Leyte Gulf Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
Battle Experience: Battle for Leyte Gulf
Task Force 77 Action Report: Battle of Leyte Gulf
"Turkey Trots to Water" Archived 2006-04-26 at the Wayback Machine — detailed description of the battle from battleship.org
Orders of battle: Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, Cape Engaño, Samar.
"Glorious Death: The Battle of Leyte Gulf" by Tim Lanzendörfer
battle-of-leyte-gulf.com
The Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf by Robert Jon Cox
Leyte Gulf Naval Chess Game, a free, educational boardgame of the battle, to print off, assemble, and play
Return to the Philippines: public domain documents from ibiblio.org
The Battle for Leyte Gulf Revisited Archived 2005-11-26 at the Wayback Machine by Irwin J. Kappes
Timeline for USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413)
Japan's TA-Operation: A Blueprint for Disaster Archived 2012-12-05 at Archive.today by Irwin J. Kappes

[EncyclopediaOfModernWar-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Parkinson, Roger (March 1977). Encyclopedia of modern war. p. 132. ISBN 0-586-08321-9.

[1]