The  Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23-26 October, 1944
By: Thomas J. Cutler.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 343
ISBN-13: 9780060169497
Subjects: Leyte Gulf, Battle of, Philippines, 1944.
Description: On the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Thomas J. Cutler, author of the highly praised Brown Water, Black Berets, takes a fresh look at the greatest of all naval battles. Using materials not available to previous authors, Cutler captures the milieu, analyzes the strategy and tactics employed, and re-creates the experiences of the participants - from seaman to admiral - both Japanese and American.

To describe the Battle of Leyte Gulf as the "greatest of all naval battles" is no exaggeration. The American, Japanese, and Australian ships engaged in the battle numbered 282, and hundreds more were involved in related peripheral operations. Nearly two hundred thousand men participated, in a geographical area spanning more than a hundred thousand square miles.

Dozens of ships were sunk, including some of the largest and most powerful ever built, and thousands of men went to the bottom of the sea with them. Every facet of naval warfare - air, surface, submarine, and amphibious - was involved in this great struggle, and the weapons used included bombs of every type, guns of every caliber, torpedoes, mines, rockets, and even a forerunner of the guided missile.

.

But more than just the number of ships and men involved gave this battle its significance. Its cast of characters included such names as Halsey, Nimitz, MacArthur, and even Roosevelt. It introduced the largest guns ever used in a naval battle and a new Japanese tactic that would eventually kill more American sailors and sink more American ships than any other used in the war.

It was the site of the last clash of the dreadnoughts and the first and only time that an American aircraft carrier was sunk by gunfire. It was replete with awe-inspiring heroism, failed intelligence, sapient tactical planning and execution, flawed strategy, brilliant deception, incredible ironies, great controversies, and a plethora of lessons about operations.

. All this and more is captured in this exciting and revealing new book, written by an award-winning author and career naval officer.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [315]-327) and index.
Table of contents: title: Part 1 : Preludes.; title: Cincsowespac; title: Cominch; title: Cincpac; title: Comthirdflt; title: We will fight you all!; title: Part 2 : The return.; title: King Two; title: We sailed quietly east in the dark of night; title: Strike!; title: Part 3 : First blood.; title: Of sorties, submarines, and coffee; title: Dangerous ground; title: Part 4 : 24 October 1944.; title: TG 38.3; title: Sibuyan and Sulu Seas; title: Start them north; title: Part 5 : Night of 24-25 October 1944.; title: Exits and entrances; title: Midwatch in Surigao Strait; title: Curtain call; title: Friction and fog; title: Part 6 : 25 October 1944.; title: Charge of the Light Brigade; title: The world wonders; title: Divine wind; title: Part 7 : Aftermath.; title: Long nights; title: Epitaph