FACT: One of the U.S. Navy's Most Heroic Stands Was at Leyte Gulf

This is a fascinating bit of history to read about. If you had to pick one period/event in which it could be said that the tide had decisively turned against Japan during WWII, this would be it.

By the time of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the combination of Japanese naval attrition and the U.S. industrial base pumping out naval ships had reached the point where the Japanese had fewer naval vessels than the number of combined allied aircraft carriers alone.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf's purpose was to isolate Japan from all its occupied Southeast Asian countries, effectively starving the island nation of valuable war material, most important of which would be oil. Without a constant source of oil to supply fuel for their ships, Japan would be effectively hobbled in effectiveness for the rest of the war.

And indeed this is what happened. Without oil, the surviving Japanese naval forces could only perform limited naval engagements, unable to project any naval power any significant distance, with the majority of the remaining literally confined to port because they could not get underway.

Not only did this pretty much cede virtually all control of the Pacific arena to the Allied forces, it also made the remaining Japanese naval forces sitting ducks for numerous air attacks simply because we knew where they were going to be: in port, unable to get underway.

For Japan, an island nation, this was a crippling blow in the war.

PO1 Tony Holland Thanx for the share! I could not stop reading it. Awesome bravery, initiative and resourcefulness demonstrated at every level of operations on those American ships!

Great story. I believe I watched a show on AHC about this battle. Thanks for posting.