Where the hell is Leyte Gulf, anyway?! So where the hell is Leyte Gulf, anyway?!

The Battle of Leyte Gulf By: MIDN 1/C Diaz MIDN 2/C Thompson OC Underwood MIDN 4/C Laue

1944 Pacific Theater leading to LEYTE GULF Campaign Midn 1/C Diaz

09/15 Fri. 1st Marine Division land at Peleliu. 09/17 Sun. Army troops land on Angaur. 09/21 Thu. Aircraft from 12 carriers commence 2-day attack 09/24 Sun. Aircraft from 12 carriers attack aircraft, ground installations, and shipping. Timeline

09/28 Thu. Marines occupy Ngesebus and Kongauru Islands 10/08 Sun. Land-based aircraft from the Marianas Islands increase air strikes. 10/10 Tue. Aircraft from fast carrier task force bomb Japanese shipping and shore facilities. 10/11 Wed. Aircraft from two carrier task groups attack airfields and other enemy facilities. Timeline

10/12 Thu. Carrier-based aircraft from Third Fleet commence 5-day attack on Formosa and northern Luzon, P. I. 10/13 Fri. Peleliu Island in the Palau Islands is secured. 10/15 Sun. Aircraft from carrier task group bomb targets in the Manila area. 10/17 Tue. Aircraft from carrier task group bomb Japanese airfields. Army troops are landed on Suluan and Dinagat Islands. Timeline

10/18 Wed. Aircraft from three task groups attack Japanese installations and shipping Cruiser task group bombards enemy shore installations. Army troops land on Homonhon Island. 10/19 Thu. Vice Adm. Onishi of the Japanese Philippine First Air Fleet activates the Kamikaze Corps for suicide raids on U.S. Naval shipping. 10/20 Fri. Army forces land on Leyte, P. I. Timeline

Commander Third Fleet: Adm. Bill Halsey Commander Task Force 38: Adm. Mitscher Commander Southwest Pacific Theater: Gen. MacArthur CTG 38.1 Adm. McCain Wasp Hornet Monterey Cowpens CTG 38.2 Adm. Bogan Intrepid Hancock Bunker Hill Cabot Independence CTG 38.3 Adm. Sherman Essex Lexington Princeton Langley CTG 38.4 Adm. Davison Franklin Enterprise Belleau Wood San Jacinto United States Navy 3rd Fleet Organization

Japanese Organization Operation "Sho Go" Adm. Ozawa 2 Battleship Carriers 1 Heavy Carrier 3 Escort Carriers 3 Cruisers 8 Destroyers Adm. Kurita 5 Battleships 10 Heavy Cruisers 2 Light Cruisers 15 Destroyers Adm. Nishimura 2 Battleships 1 Cruiser 4 Destroyers Adm. Shima 1 Light Cruiser 4 Destroyers

10/23 Mon. Battle for Leyte Gulf (23-26 October) opens Leyte Gulf

Four major parts Battle of the Sibuyan Sea Battle of Surigao Strait Battle off Cape Engaño Battle off Samar Midn 2/C Thompson

Sibuyan Sea 5 Battleships, 12 cruisers, 13 destroyers Passed Palawan island just after midnight 23 OCT 2 cruisers destroyed, 1 damaged Darter grounded 24 OCT 0800 Japanese force enters Sibuyan sea 1030 US strikes with planes from USS Intrepid and USS Cabot

Sibuyan Sea

First Air Fleet is ordered to engage from Luzon 1530 Aft magazine of USS Princeton hit by armor piercing bomb 1715 Kurita turns Japanese fleet around 1750 Princeton sinks 1930 Musashi sinks

Surigao Strait United State’s Revenge…

Surigao Strait 3 battleships and 4 destroyers, 2 cruisers and 8 destroyers 6 battleships, 8 cruisers, 29 destroyers, and 39 PT boats Last battle between all gun warships

Cape Engaño 4 carriers, 2 converted battleships, 3 cruisers, and 9 destroyers 9 fleet carriers, 8 light carriers, 6 battleships, 17 cruisers, and 63 destroyers

Cape Engaño 1640 Ozawa’s force spotted 2000Toyodo Soemu orders all forces to attack Halsey was warned that it was a distraction, but disregarded the warning. Early on 25 OCT Ozawa launches 75 planes, but does little damage American planes make contact 0800 Defensive planes destroyed

Cape Engaño Attacks continued until the evening Sunk 3 carriers and a destroyer Engaged the converted battleships, but got word of Samar and left a small detachment to sink the damaged ships

Battle of Samar Kurito’s remaining forces pass through San Bernardino at escort carriers and 8 destroyers Escort carriers retreat east toward bad weather Destroyers sent to distract Japanese forces

Battle of Samar Destroyers did a good job disorienting the Japanese 3 Destroyers sunk, but bought enough time to launch planes Escort Carriers retreat to the south 0920 Kurito realizes that he is not attacking the third fleet and retreats north Began the battle with 5 battleships, by the end of the battle only one was combat worthy.

Battle Confusion

Japanese: Carrier Zuikaku (Aircraft) Light Carrier Chitose (Aircraft) Light Carrier Chiyoda(Aircraft) Light Carrier Zuiho(Aircraft) Battleship Fuso (Naval Gunfire) Battleship Yamashiro (Naval Gunfire) Battleship Musashi (Naval Gunfire) (26 Total) Casualties Japanese Forces: Sunk: Fleet Aircraft Carrier: 1 Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier: 3 Battleships: 3 Light Cruiser: 3 Heavy Cruiser: 6 Destroyer: 10 American Forces: Sunk: Light Fleet Aircraft Carrier: 1 Escort Aircraft Carrier: 2 Destroyer: 3

Immediate Effects End of Japanese Naval Power

Immediate Effects Terrible new tactic - KAMIKAZE

Kamikaze Attacks

Immediate Effects Stage set to invade Japan Iwo Jima (Feb 1945) Okinawa (April 1945) Fire bombing of Japanese mainland A-bombing of Japanese mainland (Aug 1945)

How does this effect us today? Air Power Before this battle, the US seriously underestimated the use of aircraft Today Every branch of the Armed Forces has transport, tactical and medical aircraft Midn 4/C Laue

Lessons Learned Not Prepared The US was forced to move ahead with the attack two months early, causing much disorganization and confusion Constant Training Before a deployment, a unit or a ship is constantly doing workups and is training Even if an emergency arises, today’s military is ready at a moments notice

Lessons Learned Lacked Good Intel Many terrain maps provided were off by almost 50% Due to the terrain, air recon was limited and ground scouts could only go so far ahead Intel Today This need led to the development of satellite recon, GPS, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)

Lessons Learned Part of the reason that Japan suffered such a definite defeat, was their Army and Navy had no coordination The US learned that full cooperation between all branches was necessary to complete the mission This is an integral part of the success of today’s military

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