The 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
SBD
TBM
Axis Planes(Knights)
A6M2
A6M3 Model 32
B5N
D3A
G4M1-11
