Leyte Gulf 1944 1

In October 1944, the US prepared to invade the Philippines to cut Japan off from its resource areas in Southeast Asia. The Japanese correctly predicted this, and prepared a complex operation to use the remaining strength of its navy to defend its possessions. This is the first in a two-part study of the October 23-26 Battle of Leyte Gulf, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Diversion Strike Force took part in two major actions during the course of the battle: the intense air attacks from US Navy carriers on October 24 (the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, which accounted for superbattleship Musashi), and the compelling action off Samar the following day. This book examines in detail why, following the Samar action, the Imperial Japanese Navy commander of the First Diversion Strike Force (Takeo Kurita) chose to ignore orders and break off the attack into Leyte Gulf-one of the two most controversial decisions of the entire battle. It also covers the Japanese planning for Leyte Gulf, and the strengths and weaknesses of the Imperial Japanese Navy in this phase of the war alongside the US Navy's planning and command arrangements.

In October 1944, the US prepared to invade the Philippines to cut Japan off from its resource areas in Southeast Asia. This is the first in a two-part study of the October 23-26 Battle of Leyte Gulf, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese.

This riveting, blow-by-blow account recounts the dramatic story of the fiercest naval battle in the history of warfare--the U.S.-Japanese conflict at Leyte Gulf. Published on the 50th anniversary of the event, this riveting history presents the true, inside story of the military loss that sounded the death knell for the Japanese Navy.

The blazing, hour-by-hour account of the bloodiest sea battle of World War II from acclaimed author Edwin P. Hoyt. By October, 1944, the Japanese Navy was driven to take a desperate action: to surprise the American forces at Leyte Gulf in the South Pacific. Special action photo edition.

Now publishing in paperback, this is a vivid narrative history of the final stages of the Pacific War, as the US Navy began to slowly approach the Japanese Home Islands against fearsome opposition, notably from the suicidal Japanese airmen: the kamikaze. The United States Navy won such overwhelming victories in 1944 that, had the navy faced a different enemy, the war would have been over at the conclusion of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. However, in the moment of victory on 25 October 1944, the US Navy found itself confronting a frightening enemy that had been unimaginable until it appeared. The kamikaze, 'divine wind' in Japanese, was something Americans were totally unprepared for – a shocking violation of every belief held in the West. The attacks were terrifying. Regardless of the damage inflicted on an attacking aeroplane, there was no certainty of safety aboard the ship until that aeroplane was completely destroyed, as the crew of the USS St. Lo tragically learned. From best-selling author Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, Tidal Wave combines expert research and first-person accounts to tell the story of the naval campaigns in the Pacific from Leyte Gulf to the end of the war – a period in which the US Navy would fight harder for survival than ever before.

Leyte Gulf was a key victory for the United States during World War II (1939-1945): its scale dwarfed previous sea conflicts and its result created an opportunity for the US forces to invade the Philippines. Four different battles - Leyte, Samar, Cape Engaño and the Surigao Strait - occurred almost simultaneously as part of a Japanese plan to claim a Trafalgar-style victory over US forces. Yet they were defeated in the battles on the surface, under the sea and in the air. This highly-accessible book describes the conflict's interweaving battles and the personalities of the commanders involved in what has been called 'the greatest sea battle of all'.