The Last Battleship Battle Was Already Won Before the Battleships Fired

The Battle of Surigao Strait is remembered as history’s last great battleship duel - but the real story is far more fascinating. On October 25, 1944, Admiral Jesse Oldendorf’s battleships waited in darkness while American PT boats, destroyers, radar operators, and Combat Information Centers systematically tracked and shattered Admiral Shoji Nishimura’s Japanese Southern Force. This documentary reveals how radar, CIC coordination, torpedo ambushes, and an integrated naval kill chain transformed the night battle before USS West Virginia and the American battle line ever opened fire. Discover how the U.S. Navy learned from the disasters of Guadalcanal, mastered night warfare, and turned Surigao Strait into one of the most decisive naval traps of World War II. Sources: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/histo... https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/lead... https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-histo... https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-top... #WW2 #WorldWarII #SurigaoStrait #BattleOfLeyteGulf #PacificWar #USNavy #NavalHistory #MilitaryHistory #Battleship #WWIIHistory