Battle of Leyte Gulf 1944: The Largest Naval Battle in History

"The fate of the Philippines would be decided at sea." In October 1944, as American forces returned to the Philippines, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a desperate operation to destroy the U.S. invasion fleet off Leyte. What followed from October 23–26 became one of the largest and most complex naval battles ever fought — spanning the Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, Cape Engaño, and the desperate stand off Samar. Battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and hundreds of aircraft collided across thousands of miles of ocean. This is the true story of the Battle of Leyte Gulf: Admiral Takeo Kurita’s powerful Center Force, Admiral William Halsey’s carrier fleet, the extraordinary resistance of Taffy 3, and the catastrophic losses that crippled Japan’s ability to wage major fleet warfare.

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