Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Japanese: レイテ沖海戦, romanized: Reite oki Kaisen, lit. 'Leyte Open Sea Naval Battle') 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved.

By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital ships (aircraft carriers and battleships) than the Allied forces had total aircraft carriers in the Pacific, which underscored the disparity in force strength at that point in the war. After the catastrophic Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, senior Japanese military leaders understood that Japan's remaining naval forces were incapable of achieving a strategic victory against the Allies. However, the Japanese general staff believed that continuing to contest Allied offensives at sea was necessary, in order to both deter a future invasion of mainland Japan and to give the Japanese navy an opportunity to utilize its remaining strength. As a result, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to repulse the Allied invasion of the Philippines, but it was defeated by the U.S. Navy's Third and Seventh Fleets.

The battle consisted of four main separate engagements (the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Cape Engaño, and the Battle off Samar), as well as lesser actions. Allied forces announced the end of organized Japanese resistance on the island of Leyte at the end of December.

It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks, and it was the last naval battle between battleships in history. The Japanese navy suffered crippling losses and did not sail in comparable force for the remainder of the war, as most of its vessels were stranded in port for lack of fuel.