Battle of Leyte Gulf Part 1: Beginnings, Battle of Sibuyan Sea, and Battle of Surigao Strait. The Japanese crusier Haguro firing at attacking U.S. carrier planes duringthe Battle of Sibuyan Sea. 80-G-272555 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was one of the largest battles in history. It is a tale of desperate engagements, misguid- ed judgments, and squandered opportunities. Beginnings In October 1944, America was poised to retake the Japanese held Philippines, and thus fulfilling General McArthur’s famous promise that “I will return.” The first of many landings by McArthur’s force was planned at Leyte. Covering this invasion was the 7th Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid. Providing more distant cover was the massive 3rd Fleet under the command of Admiral William Halsey. Of these two fleets Halsey’s was the more powerful one. Under his command was the powerful Task Force 38 and its 8 fleet carriers, 8 light carriers, and almost 1,100 aircraft. In comparison Kinkaid “only” had access to 450 airplanes on 16 escort carriers, also known as “baby flattops.”1 The Japanese were not about to let the Philippines fall uncontested. Doing so would cut off Japan’s access to oil. As a result they had planned a complex operation, code- named Sho-1, with the aim of destroying McArthur’s Admiral William F. Halsey. landing force and thus forcing the American’s to abandon 80-G-205279 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Com- their invasion. mand. National Archives This was no easy task, by this point in the war Japan’s navy was markedly inferior to the American forces. The surviving Japanese carriers were practically useless, their air groups depleted from almost 3 years of war. Fur- thermore, many Japanese surface ships did not have Radar. Thus the Japanese aimed to divide the American fleets. The impulsive and aggressive Halsey would be drawn far away by the carriers of Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburō’s Northern Force. This should allow the Center Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, and the Southern Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura, to slip through and obliterate the weaker 7th fleet and sink McArthur’s invasion force. Submarine attacks and the Battle of Sibuyan Sea As the Center Force sortied from Lingga Roads (around Singapore), it was spotted by two American subma- rines, USS Darter (SS-227) and USS Dace (SS-247) on October 23, 1944. After several hours of stalking the submarines attacked, sinking two heavy cruisers and crippling a third.2 One of the cruisers sunk was the flag- ship, Atago, which sank so quickly that Kurita was left swimming. After he was fished out of the water, he transferred his flag to the battleship Yamato. Following this attack, the submarines were driven off by depth charge attacks from the escorting Japanese 1 Barrett Tillamn, “The Navy’s Aerial Arsenal at Leyte Gulf,” Naval History 34, No. 5 (2019). 2 “Nautilus I (SS-247),” Naval History and Heritage Command, March 19 2018, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histo- ries/ship-histories/danfs/d/dace.html destroyers. Attempting to regain contact, Darter ran aground, and after Dace took off her crew, was scuttled.3 Alerted by the submarines, Halsey readied his fleet for action, recalling Task Force 38.1 which had been en route to Ulithi. At 0837 the next day, Halsey ordered his carriers to launch their aircraft.4 Kurita’s force was mighty, consisting of the two Yamato class fast battleships, the older super-dreadnought Nagato, two Kongo class battlecruisers/ fast battle- ships, and various escorting cruisers and destroyers.5 However, with relatively weak Anti aircraft (AA) suites and no ap- preciable air cover, they were easy targets for the American targets. The Japanese battleship Musashi under air attack during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. By the end of the day, the battleship 80-G-281765 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command Musashi, who along with her sister ship National Archives Yamato were the largest battleships ever built, had been sunk. Furthermore, the battleships Yamato and Nagato, the heavy cruiser Myoko, and the light cruiser Yaha- gi all had been damaged.6 With such continuous and ferocious air attacks, Kurita believed that it was sui- cidal to continue and thus elected to turn around.7 This however, was only tempo- rary. Battle of the Surigao Strait That same day, aircraft from Enterprise sighted and attempted to attack the Jap- anese Southern Force. This force was centered around the two elderly battleships Fuso and Yamashiro and escorted by a screen of cruisers and destroyers. Late that night, this force attempted to transit the U.S Crusiers firing at the japanese force during the Battle of Surigao Strait. Surigao Strait and thus reach the support- 80-G-288494 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command. ing ships. Unbeknownst to them, they National Archive 3 Ibid., 4 “Leyte Gulf: The Pacific War’s Greatest Battle,” Naval History 23, No. 5 (2009). 5 James Hornfischer, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (New York, New York: Bantam Books 2004), 145. 6 Ibid., 149-153. 7 Ibid., 153. were running straight into a trap set by the 7th fleet. As they entered the strait, a force of American PT boats attacked. This attack was ineffective, however the reports by the boats provided valu- able intelligence to the flag officers of the 7th fleet. Next came the torpedo attacks from the American screening destroyers. The Japanese Southern was not so lucky this time around, Fuso was hit by two torpedoes and Yamashi- ro by one. Although Yamashiro was able to keep on going, a little more than half an hour after Fuso was hit, she spectacularly exploded and split in two.8 Worse was to come for the Japanese. At the other mouth of the strait, the participating cruisers and battleships of the 7th fleet had arranged themselves into lines perpendicular to the strait. This was a textbook “crossing the T” maneuver. As the Japanese force advanced up the strait, they could only USS West Virginia, one of the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor, firing at the Japanese fire their fore guns while the American during the Battle of Surigao Straight. 80-G-288497 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command. ships could pour broadsides into the National Archive hapless Japanese ships. Amongst the American battleships present were 5 battleships that had been sunk at Pearl Harbor. Like phoenixs they had been refloated and sent back stateside for refits, or in the case of the more heavily damaged ones, com- plete rebuilds. Some of these battleships had only returned to service a few months prior. Now they were ready to extract their revenge. By this point in the war, the Japanese were no longer the masters of night fighting. Unlike most American ships, the Japanese lacked radar and thus could not effectively return fire at night.As Yamashiro, bombarded by shells, stubbornly advanced, she could only fire blindly into the dark with her two fore turrets.9 In the end, the Japanese Southern Force was massacred, the only surviving ship was the destroyer Shigure. This battle is also notable as it was the last action between opposing battleships. Summary of the initial engagements Neither the battle of Sibuyan Sea or the Battle of the Surigao Strait went well for the Japanese, Admiral Kurita was forced to turn around by swarms of American aircraft and the Japanese Southern Force was largely reduced to sinking, burning ships. 8 Ibid., 135. 9 Ibid., 138..