Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf is
considered to have been
the largest naval battle
of World War II and,
by some criteria, possibly
the largest naval battle
in history, with over 200,000
naval personnel involved.
It was fought in waters near
the Philippine islands of Leyte,
Samar, and Luzon, from 23–26
October 1944, between combined
American and Australian forces and the
Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), as
part of the invasion
of Leyte, which aimed to isolate
Japan from the countries
it had occupied in Southeast
Asia which were a vital
source of industrial and oil supplies.
By the time of the battle, Japan
had fewer capital ships
(aircraft carriers and battleships)
left than the Allied
forces had total aircraft carriers,
underscoring the
disparity in force strength at this
point in the war.
Regardless, the (IJN) mobilized
nearly all of its
remaining major naval vessels in an
attempt to defeat
the Allied invasion, but was
repulsed by the U.S. Navy's
Third and Seventh fleets.
Allied Planes(Bishops):
F4F
FM2
F4U-1
F4U-1A
F6F
P38L
SBD
TBM
Axis Planes(Knights)
A6M2
A6M3
A6M5
B5N
D3A
G4M1-11
KI-43
KI-61
KI-84
