page_title: Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II
section_title: Leyte Gulf
hierarchical_section_title: Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II / Demise of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1944-45) / Leyte Gulf
caption_attribution_description: English: Japanese battleships at Brunei, Borneo, in October 1944, photographed just prior to the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The ships are, from left to right: Musashi, Yamato, a cruiser and Nagato.
context_page_description: The Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II, at the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, was the third most powerful navy in the world, and the naval air service was one of the most potent air forces in the world. During the first six months of the war, the Imperial Japanese Navy enjoyed spectacular success inflicting heavy defeats on Allied forces, being undefeated in every battle. The attack on Pearl Harbor crippled the battleships of the US Pacific Fleet, while Allied navies were devastated during Japan's conquest of Southeast Asia. Japanese naval aircraft were also responsible for the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse which was the first time that capital ships were sunk by aerial attack while underway. In April 1942, the Indian Ocean raid drove the Royal Navy from South East Asia. After these successes, the Japanese now concentrated on the elimination and neutralization of strategic points from where the Allies could launch counteroffensives against Japan's conquests. However, at Coral Sea the Japanese were forced to abandon their attempts to isolate Australia while the defeat at Midway saw them forced on the defensive.
context_section_description: Even after the disaster at Philippine Sea, the IJN was still a formidable force. Of the 12 battleships that were available at the beginning of the war in 1941–42, nine still remained operational, together with 14 out of the original 18 heavy cruisers. However, efforts to rebuild the carrier force were unsuccessful since the training given to new aviators was of a very low standard. Consequently, the new Unryū carriers never went to sea with a full air group. This left the Japanese with a ragtag collection of carriers, led by the Zuikaku, which was the sole survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack force. The Japanese were left with two choices, either to commit their remaining strength in an all-out offensive, or to sit by while the Americans occupied the Philippines and cut the sea lanes between Japan and vital resources from the Dutch East Indies and Malaya. The plan devised by the Japanese was a final attempt to create a decisive battle by utilizing their last remaining strength, the firepower of its heavy cruisers and battleships, which were to be all committed against the American beachhead at Leyte. The Japanese planned to use their remaining carriers as bait, in order to lure the American carriers away from Leyte Gulf long enough for the heavy warships to enter and destroy any American ships present.
  The Japanese assembled a force totaling four carriers, nine battleships, 13 heavy cruisers, seven light cruisers, and 35 destroyers. The main Center Force would pass through the San Bernardino Strait into the Philippine Sea, turn southwards, and then attack the landing area. Two separate groups of the Southern Force would strike at the landing area through the Surigao Strait, while the Northern Force with the Japanese carriers was to lure the main American covering forces away from Leyte. However, the carriers only embarked just over 100 aircraft, the equal to those on a single American fleet carrier; the Japanese were risking annihilation. The situation in 1944 revealed the weakness of the IJN. After departing from Brunei Bay on October 20, the Center Force was attacked by two American submarines which resulted in the loss of two heavy cruisers with another crippled. On the night of October 24–25, the Southern Force consisting of the two Fusō-class battleships escorted by a heavy cruiser and four destroyers, attempted to enter Leyte Gulf from the south through Surigao Strait. This action was fought at night, where an American force of six battleships, eight cruisers, 28 destroyers, and 39 PT boats ambushed the Japanese. Utilizing radar-guided torpedo attacks, American destroyers sank one of the battleships and three destroyers while damaging the other battleship. Naval gunfire finished off the second battleship and the heavy cruiser, with only a single Japanese destroyer surviving. Another group, part of the Southern Force, built around two heavy cruisers failed to coordinate its movements with the first and subsequently arrived at Surigao Strait in the middle of the encounter, made a haphazard torpedo attack, and retreated.
  That day, after entering the Sibuyan Sea, the Center Force was assaulted by American carrier aircraft throughout the whole day leaving another heavy cruiser forced to retire. The Americans then targeted the Musashi and sank it under a barrage of torpedo and bomb hits. Many other ships of the Center Force were attacked, but continued on. Convinced that their attacks had made the Center Force ineffective, the American carriers headed north to address the newly detected threat of the Japanese carriers. Off Cape Engaño, the Americans launched over 500 aircraft sorties at the Japanese force, followed up by a surface group of cruisers and destroyers. All four Japanese carriers were sunk, but this part of the Leyte plan succeeded in drawing the American carriers away from Leyte Gulf. On October 25, the final major surface action fought between the Japanese and the Americans fleets during the war, occurred off Samar when the Center Force fell upon a group of American escort carriers escorted by only destroyers
caption: Japanese battleships at anchor in Brunei
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