Chapter 2 - The Great Carrier War

(Part 11)

The Battle of Leyte Gulf

By October 1944, Admiral Halsey had replaced Admiral Spruance as commander of the 5th Fleet, which was renamed the 3rd Fleet. Task Force 58, still under Admiral Mitscher, was now Task Force 38. On October 12, Task Force 38 attacked Japanese bases on Formosa. Over a period of several days, more than 600 Japanese planes were destroyed, against a loss of 75 American planes.

General MacArthur, with air cover from Admiral Thomas Kinkaid's 7th Fleet escort carriers, led an invasion of Leyte in the Philippines. Upon hearing of the American invasion of Leyte, the Japanese executed a plan to send three forces, approaching from different directions, to squeeze the American fleet. The Central Force, under Admiral Takeo Kurita, would approach from the west, while the Southern Force, under Admiral Shoji Nishimura, would approach from the south. Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's four carriers, with almost no aircraft compliment, would approach from the north as a diversion to draw the American carriers away from Leyte. The resulting battle was really a series of four separate naval engagements during the period of October 24 to 26, 1944.

Even before the opposing naval forces met in battle, on October 23 two American submarines sank two cruisers from Admiral Kurita's Central Force. The next day, Japanese planes based in the Philippines attacked the ships of the American invasion force in three waves of 50 to 60 aircraft. Hellcat's from the USS Essex shot down 15 of the first wave of attackers. Commander David McCampbell scored a record nine kills in a single sortie. He ended the War as the all-time top U.S. Navy ace, with a total of 36 kills. The second wave of Japanese attackers scored two bomb hits on the light carrier USS Princeton. Armed torpedo bombers on the carrier's deck added to the destruction which eventually sank the small carrier.

In the first of the four naval engagements, Admiral Mitscher launched a 250-plane attack on the Central Force, which was in the Sibuyan Sea north of Leyte. The attacks focused on the large battleship Musashi. Eight torpedo and four bomb hits only managed to slow the battleship, and it took another ten torpedoes and six bombs to finally sink her. The battleship Yamato and the rest of the Central Force continued towards the San Bernadino Strait.

In the second engagement, the Southern Force encountered the 7th Fleet's battleships in the Surigao Strait on October 25. The American battleships USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee, USS California, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, and USS Mississippi had been refloated from the botton of Pearl Harbor and repaired, and they found their revenge by sinking two Japanese battleships.

Earlier, Admiral Halsey had learned of the Japanese Northern Fleet, which was approaching with its four carriers. He took his fleet carriers north to meet the Japanese threat, leaving Admiral Kincaid's escort carriers to contend with the Admiral Kurita's Central Force. The escort carriers were divided into three groups, the largest being "Taffy 3" with the USS Fanshaw Bay, USS St. Lo, USS White Plains, USS Kalinin Bay, USS Kitkum Bay, and USS Gambier Bay. This carrier group, under command of Admiral Clifton Sprague, was the closest to the approaching Central Force. When they were near Samar, to the east of Leyte, the Japanese battleships opened up with their big guns and the small carriers had to make a hasty retreat. With the faster Japanese ships gaining on his carriers, Admiral Sprague used smoke screens and diversions by his escorting destroyers to try slow down the attackers. Even so, the USS Gambier Bay was sunk and the USS Kalinin Bay sufferred heavy damage from at least 16 hits.

The USS Gambier Bay CVE-73 and the Kalinin Bay CVE-68 were both Casa Blanca-class escort carriers

Further north, Admiral Halsey launched six attacks against the Northern Fleet's carriers, which were now off Cape Engano. In the first wave, the Chitose was sunk and the Zuikaku and Zuiho badly damaged. The second wave disabled the Chiyoda. The Zuikaku was hit again and sunk by the third wave, and the Zuiho was sunk by the fourth wave. Before turning back, Admiral Halsey sent a force of cruisers and destroyers against the remainder of the Northern Fleet. This force sank the Chiyoda and a destroyer.

The Zuiho and . . .

. . . the Chitose were among the Japanese carriers sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf

Fearing that the Americans would next consolidate their forces in an attack on the Central Force, Admiral Kurita broke off his attack on the escort carriers of "Taffy 3" and withdraw his battleships through the San Bernadino Strait. However, the battle was not yet over. The Japanese next turned to their final weapon of desperation -- the kamikaze. The first ship hit was the escort carrier USS Santee. Although she was also later hit by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine, her crew fought the resulting fires and saved their ship. The USS Suwanee also survived a kamikaze hit, but the USS St. Lo wasn't as lucky. The kamikaze penetrated her flight deck and set off her bomb and torpedo stores. The USS St. Lo was the first American ship to be sunk by a kamikaze.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf is considered to have been one of the greatest naval engagements in history. The Japanese Navy lost four carriers, three battleships, nine cruisers, and ten destroyers. More importantly, the first step in freeing the Philippines from Japanese control had been achieved.

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Last Updated: January 1, 2003