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THE BATTLE OF LEYTE GULF 215

Luzon

Mindoro

Palawan

Panay

Mindanao

North Borneo

Brunei

Leyte

Samar

Pa

la

wa

n^

Pa

ss

ag

e

Sulu Sea

Leyte

Gulf

Sibuyan

Sea

South

China

Sea PACIFIC

OCEAN

San Bernardino

Strait

Brunei Bay

Surigao

Strait

Ormoc

Lingayen

Manila

P H I L I P P I N E S

US 7th Fleet

Japanese

Task force C

Japanese

Task force A

Japanese 2nd

Striking Force

Japanese

Northern Force

US Task

Group 38.3

US Task

Group 38.2

US Task

Group 38.1

Oct 25 Two Japanese

fleets sail north up

the Surigao Strait to

face a major US and

Australian onslaught.

Oct 25 The USS

Mississippi fires the

last salvos in history

from one battleship

against another.

Dec 11 The main

Japanese base at

Ormoc is attacked.

Oct 23–24 USS

Princeton is sunk by

Japanese aircraft

from Luzon.

Oct 25 US escort carrier

St. Lo is sunk by a kamikaze

pilot off Samar Island.

Oct 23–24

US aircraft

sink the

battleship

Musashi and

damage the

cruiser Myōkō.

INVADING THE PHILIPPINES

The US invasion of the Philippine

Islands began with an assault on

Leyte on October 20, 1944. After

securing the island, US forces gained

further footholds by December 25.

Japanese territory, 1944 Japanese fleets US fleets

KEY

SECURING LEYTE

OCTOBER 26–DECEMBER 25, 1944

Further landings consolidated the US positions

in Leyte, and by mid-December US aircraft

had eradicated all Japanese shipping in the area.

Organized Japanese resistance was overcome by

Christmas Day; the Americans now occupied

the whole of Leyte Island, and had a foothold in

neighboring Samar to the north.

6

US attack

US LANDINGS ON LEYTE

OCTOBER 20–25, 1944

Following an intensive naval bombardment of the

island, troops of the US 6th Army landed on the

eastern shore of Leyte on October 20. They were

supported by US and Australian vessels of the

7th Fleet. The landings met only light resistance

from the Japanese 16th Division, and the Allies

quickly established a beachhead.

1

US 7th Fleet

movements

US 6th Army landings,

Oct 20, 1944

INITIAL CLASHES OCTOBER 23–24, 1944

Japanese forces arriving to fight the US invaders

met with stiff opposition. As Admiral Kurita’s

Task Force A headed up the western coast of the

Philippines from its base in Brunei, US submarines

sank the Japanese cruisers Atago and Maya and

damaged another in the Palawan Passage. The

battleship Musashi was sunk and the cruiser

Myōkō crippled by aircraft from Task Force 38

in the Sibuyan Sea.

2

Japanese Task

Force A

Battle of Palawan

Passage, Oct 23, 1944

Japanese ships sunk

US air attacks

from carrier task

force

Battle of Sibuyan

Sea, Oct 23–24,

1944

Japanese Task

Force A

US escort carrier

group

Battle off Samar,

Oct 25, 1944

US ship sunk

THE BATTLE OFF SAMAR

OCTOBER 24–25, 1944

Japan’s Task Force A—a heavily armed group of

battleships, cruisers, and destroyers—passed

through San Bernardino Strait and surprised a US

escort carrier (small aircraft carrier) group sailing

north off Samar. The US group was massively

outgunned, but against the odds managed to sink

three Japanese cruisers before Admiral Kurita

withdrew. The US lost the escort carrier USS

Gambier Bay and three destroyers. A kamikaze

attack also claimed the escort carrier USS St. Lo.

3

2

3

1

4

5

6

TIMELINE

OCT 1944 NOV DEC JAN 1945

Oct 20 US 6th Army

lands on Leyte.

US_214-215_Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf.indd 215 19/03/19 7:28 PM