Four Days at Leyte Gulf Ended Japan's Navy for Good

Four Days at Leyte Gulf, 23 to 26 October 1944, ended the Imperial Japanese Navy as a fighting fleet. Thirty-two ships sailed into the Palawan Passage under the Sho-1 plan, and by the end of the fourth day Japan had lost four aircraft carriers, three battleships and ten cruisers. The Imperial Japanese Navy would never again send a fleet to sea to fight a battle. This documentary covers all four actions: the Sibuyan Sea and the sinking of the battleship Musashi, the night battle in Surigao Strait, the decoy carriers at Cape Engano, and Taffy 3's stand off Samar against Kurita's Center Force. It follows the Japanese plan from Lingga Roads to San Bernardino Strait, the divided American command, Halsey's signal about Task Force 34, and the American losses: Princeton, Gambier Bay, St. Lo, Hoel, Johnston and Samuel B. Roberts. It closes on fuel and on what was left of the Japanese fleet. Built from Naval History and Heritage Command material, U.S. Naval Institute accounts and published loss tables, with disagreements between sources stated plainly instead of hidden. It is the whole-campaign overview, not a single-battle replay. Subscribe for the definitive history of the United States in the Second World War — new documentaries every few days. #WW2 #WorldWarII #PacificWar #USNavy #WWIIHistory #LeyteGulf #BattleOfSamar #Taffy3 #MilitaryHistory #USAInWW2