By Ozawa drawing away Halsey's carriers, the path through the San Bernardino Straight was left open for Kurita's Center Force to pass through to attack the landings.
…forces seized offshore islets in Leyte Gulf, and on October 20 they landed four divisions on the east coast of Leyte.…
Oct 5, 2017 - Leyte During WWII.
Successfully running this gauntlet, Nishimura's ships were then set upon by destroyers which unleashed a barrage of torpedoes.
Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Leyte was commissioned in April 1946, too late to …
The Japanese responded to the American landings with Just after midnight on October 23, Kurita’s First Attack Force was discovered off Palawan by the U.S. submarines On October 24 Third Fleet carrier planes located and attacked the central force in the Sibuyan Sea and the southern force in the The Japanese C Force entered the Surigao Strait in the early hours of October 25 and was Oldendorf “crossed the T” on Nishimura’s formation, meaning that his ships were able to deliver a full broadsides attack with all of their big guns while Nishimura could only employ his forward weapons. At dawn on October 25, Ozawa launched a 75-plane strike against Halsey and Mitscher's carriers. To Halsey the Japanese carriers represented a target too inviting to ignore.
Despite winning the largest naval engagement in history, Halsey was criticized after the battle for racing north to attack Ozawa without leaving cover for the invasion fleet off Leyte.
Rescued from the water, Kurita transferred his flag to
The Allied victory secured the beachhead on Leyte and opened the door for the liberation of the Philippines. The largest of these was Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force, which contained five battleships (including the "super" battleships ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.
This plan called for the bulk of Japan's remaining naval strength to put to sea in four separate forces. Kinkaid was not aware of this as he believed Halsey had left one carrier group to cover the San Bernardino Straight. Kennedy Hickman is a historian, museum director, and curator who specializes in military and naval history. The effect was devastating.
Aware of American intentions in the Philippines, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, initiated plan Sho-Go 1 to block the invasion.
History at your fingertips In doing so, he had left the American amphibious forces on Leyte woefully unprotected.
As the Americans withdrew, Kurita again changed course around 5:15 PM and resumed his advance towards the San Bernardino Strait.
In the course of this assault USS
By the time of the engagement off Samar, it included four battleships—among them Kurita’s new flagship, the super battleship With no aerial reconnaissance of his own to determine the makeup of the enemy fleet, and unaware that Halsey had taken the bait and moved his ships away from Leyte, Kurita believed that he had engaged a significant portion of the Third Fleet.
As the battle was concluding, Halsey was informed that the situation off Leyte was critical. By this point, Halsey had shifted the Third Fleet to the north in pursuit of the Japanese decoy force.
Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 23–26, 1944), decisive air and sea battle of World War II that crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet, permitted U.S. invasion of the Philippines, and reinforced the Allies’ control of the Pacific. Elsewhere that day, the escort carrier USS With the bulk of the Seventh Fleet engaged with Nishimura at Surigao Strait, all that stood between Kurita and the landing beaches were the ships of Taffy 3—a naval task force that consisted of just six escort carriers, three destroyers, and four Kurita’s armada had been whittled down somewhat over the course of the previous days’ engagements, but it still remained one of the most powerful collections of surface ships to see action in the Pacific War. U.S. landing ships, tanks (LSTs), on the beach at Leyte Island in the Philippines, October 1944.U.S. Kurita's retreat effectively ended the battle.
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On the night of October 24/25, part of the Southern Force, led by Nishimura entered the Surigao Straight where they were initially attacked by Allied PT boats. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought October 23-26, 1944, during
Crippled by their losses, the Battle of Leyte Gulf marked the last time the Imperial Japanese Navy would conduct large-scale operations during the war. Under increasingly intense air attacks, Kurita reversed his course and retreated. Easily defeated by the American combat air patrols, no damage was inflicted.
Moving forward, the two sides clashed in four distinct engagements as part of the larger battle: Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, Cape Engaño, and Samar.
As the melee was turning in favor of the Japanese, Kurita broke off after realizing that he was not attacking Halsey's carriers and that the longer he lingered the more likely he was to be attacked by American aircraft.
Three Japanese cruisers, Three days after the battle, Nimitz would relate his disappointment in Halsey in a personal message to King: “It never occurred to me that Halsey, knowing the During the night of October 24–25 Halsey had moved the three battle groups of the Third Fleet north to meet the Japanese decoy force. Crossing the Japanese "T", Oldendorf's ships used radar fire control to engage the Japanese at long range.