1944 October 23-26 Battle of Layte Gulf

Battle of Leyte Gulf

This article is about the naval battle. For the invasion of the island, see Battle of Leyte.

Battle of Leyte Gulf
Part of the Pacific War of World War II
The light aircraft carrier Princeton on fire, east of Luzon, 24 October 1944.
Date 23–26 October 1944 Location Leyte Gulf, Philippines Result Decisive Allied victory; Japanese military naval capabilities are crippled Territorial changes Allies liberate Leyte island, then the entire Philippine archipelago; crucial oil supply lines to Japan are crippled
Belligerents
United States  Australia	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
William Halsey, Jr. (3rd Fleet)  Thomas C. Kinkaid (7th Fleet)  Clifton Sprague (Taffy 3 / Task Unit 77.4.3)  Jesse B. Oldendorf (Task Group 77.2)  John Augustine Collins (Task Force 74)	Takeo Kurita (Center Force)  Shōji Nishimura † (Southern Force)  Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force)  Jisaburō Ozawa (Northern Force)  Yukio Seki  † (Kamikazes)
Strength
~800 ships in total. 8 fleet carriers 8 light carriers 18 escort carriers 12 battleships 24 cruisers 166 destroyers and destroyer escorts Many PT boats, submarines, and fleet auxiliaries About 1,500 planes	67+ ships in total 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 casualties; 1 light carrier, 2 escort carriers, 2 destroyers, 1 destroyer escort sunk 200+ planes	~12,500 dead; 1 fleet carrier, 3 light carriers 3 battleships, 10 cruisers, 11 destroyers sunk ~300 planes.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and formerly known as theSecond Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.

It was fought in waters near thePhilippine islands of Leyte, Samarand Luzon from 23–26 October 1944, between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but was repulsed by theUS Navy's 3rd and 7th Fleets. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered very heavy losses, and never afterwards sailed to battle in comparable force. The majority of its surviving heavy ships, deprived of fuel, remained in their bases for the rest of the Pacific War.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf consisted of four separate engagements between the opposing forces: theBattle of the Sibuyan Sea, theBattle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as other actions.

It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks. By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer aircraft than the Allied forces had sea vessels, demonstrating the difference in power of the two sides at this point of the war.