Leyte Gulf: The Greatest Battleship Fight Ever

TINK TINK‼️

YEA BATTLESHIPS WERE DONE AT PEARL HARBOR ... OHHH WAIT !!!

My uncle Ralph was killed on the USS Princeton October 24 1944 his body was never recovered🇺🇲

Halsey was reckless.

My uncle Thorny Sill was on the USS Gambier Bay that was sunk at this epic sea battle,I cherish the stories he told me about this historic day. It is unbelievable as to what these great fighting men went through.

Very weak

Excellent outline of biggest goof up in USN history.
Details matter, they explain the why. Last Stan of the Tin Can Sailors, by James Hornfisher, is an excellent read.

Excellent documentary on this sea battle. However in terms of the number of battleships involved, there were far more battleships at the WW1 Battle of Jutland. The British had 28 battleships and the Germans had 16 battleships, plus 5 pre dreadnought battleships and 6 large battlecruisers.

Halsey was an idiot....

Indeed, well said Miss.

No sympathies for the Japanese, the IJA massacred 300,000 Chinese for helping Doolittle Raiders that landed in China.

my father got radiated , from japan, then a MASH surgeon. in korea.hated the tv show.

Halsey was an EGOTISTICAL BUFFOON!!!🤡🤡🤡

Incredible story!!
So many mistakes from both sides tells us there was a lot of luck involved.

If only Halsey left his battleship force to guard the straight... then we would have indeed had the Greatest Battleship fight in history including the Iowas vs the Yamato.

Wonderfully Informative and thank you so much for saving these crucial facts of history!

What circumstances and forces resulted in Admiral Halsey keeping his position after he "took the Japanese bait"?

I love the faux dramatic music...

👉EVEN THE JAPANESE NAVY SALUTED THE MEN OF THE USS JOHNSON FOR BRAVERY.👈

Jutland is the greatest battleship fight, ever. I say that as an avid reader of Leyte Gulf lore. Whenever I think of Leyte Gulf, I think of Taffy 3. It's not just the David vs Goliath thing. But, there are numerous photos of Taffy 3's ordeal from making a stand against the IJN Center Force to being hit by the first widespread use of kamikazes. All books I read had more photos of Taffy 3 off Samar than Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, or Cape Engano. The photos made it much more real to me: seeing USS Gambier Bay burning and being straddled by shell salvoes, USS St. Lo (or maybe one of the other escort carriers) being struck by a kamikaze. The photos really hit home.

The greatest battleship battle ever was I the first world war.the battle of Jutland, where the Germans outfought the british,as they usually did when the scales were somewhat evenly balancrd...the british,americans and russians only won when they had a vast numerical superiority....

Dad loaded bombs and ammunition onto planes flying from the USS Ommaney Bay, CVE-79. They survived Leyte to get hit and sunk by kamikaze en route to Luzon.

For years i've been bitter at Halsey then i thought about what would of happened if task force 34 would of slugged it out big guns. How many Americans would of got killed in that battle? Probably more than at Samar, it would of been a tremendus battle.

Wouldn't the greatest battleship fight be between Japan and Russia in1905?

I say, again...
Why hasn't Hollywood ever made a movie of the Battle of Leyte Gulf? 🤔

Leyte Gulf may very well been the greatest battleship fight of World War II, but I believe you'll find that the greatest battleship fight EVER was in World War I at Jutland.
That said, this was a battle which should never have been fought. There was no reason to invade the Philippines. The war was not shortened by one day because of the fighting in the Philippines. Dougout Douglas McArthur said he wanted to sever the raw materials from the south from the Japanese home islands that needed those materials. The submarines of the Navy were doing an excellent job at that without an invasion. McArthur also said the Philippines would provide a springboard for the invasion of Japan. Uhhh, no. The Navy with the Marines were moving west toward Japan from the Gilberts and Marshalls to the Marianas where the actual springboard for the invasion would be Okinawa after Iwo Jima was taken to provide a base for escort fighters to protect the B-29's flying from Saipan, Guam and Tinian in the Marianas. McArthur wanted to invade the Philippines for one reason only -- he wanted to wade ashore and proclaim, "I have returned." It was the Central Pacific campaign with the Navy and Marines that won the war. The only thing McArthur had to offer was an enormous ego. Thousands of American soldiers, sailors and airmen died so McArthur could fulfill his promise to return after bugging out in the early days of the war.

Read his autobiography he was for him and only him,he thought he was God

Never seen that rank on American officer.. WHO is that guy

Who is cutler

We lost USS Lexington

Did the NAVY GET SUED PREVENT DIVERS ON WRECKS.. SUPREME COURT ORDERED NO DIVING ON WRECKS AMERICAN AND JAPANESE SHIPS.. CONSIDER THEM AS BURIAL GROUNDS

At the end of 1945 we had 9 5 star generals. Today we have 45 , all with giant budgets and pet projects.. that is why we spend a trillion $ a year..

looked good on paper anyhow whoopsy

History is full of the "greatest ". Spanish armada defeat was bigger and modern times nothing compares to Jutland.

You really need to read The Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors. That's the real story about the Center Force.

I thought that it was widely accepted and understood that Jutland was the greatest Battleship engagement ever.

True American heroes

... Taffy 3 will go down in history along side of the "300 Spartens" ...

Halsey was saved by Taffy-3 and the other Taffys around it. Even afterwards he maintained he would have done the same. Gross incompetence.

Halsey was a poor leader

There were far more heavy units present at Jutland than in this engagement. Still a good video.

God bless the men of Taffy 3. Legends.

Jutland? Trafalgar? Lepanto?

USS LOUISVILLE CA- 28 Heavy Cruiser
Greatest Sea Battle – Surigao Strait
Give Credit To The Cruisers Not the Battleships
From my diary and the Louisville Man of War Book this story should set the records straight
that the cruisers proved their weight in gold not the battleships like so many stories told.

It was October 24, 1944 aboard the flagship heavy cruiser U.S.S. Louisville CA-28 with the
7 th Fleet – Battleship/Cruiser Force Task Group 77.2 with Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf
aboard. I was a 20 year old seaman 1st class assigned to portside 20 mm anti-aircraft gun crew by turret B – 8 inch gun. I had a ring side seat to the greatest naval battle ever.

The U.S. Fleet consisted of:
6 Battleships
4 Heavy cruisers (Louisville CA-28 Flagship)
4 Light cruisers
24 Destroyers

At about 3:15 a.m. we stared to close in and were given the range of the Japanese ships. The
Louisville opened first at 3:50 a.m. with her 9 – 8 inch/55 cal. main battery guns. The second time she fired the 8 inch guns she scored a direct hit and other cruisers and battleships opened up – lighting up the night. The “Lady Lou” as she was known, main battery fired over and over shaking the 600 foot ship from bow to stern.
The Japanese ships were caught by surprise and were all a blaze. (Crossing the “T” with no way out for Japan).

At 4:00 a.m. a Japanese destroyer tried to make a run on us and our 5 inch/25 cal. and main
battery 8 inch guns opened up on it – sending death and destruction to sink it. When the battle
was over in 15 minutes the Japanese ship losses were:
2 Battleships
5 Cruisers
7 Destroyers

The U.S. ship losses were:
Destroyer Albert Grant hit but not sunk. (Hit by 6 inch shells)

During the battle the Louisville fired more main battery 8 inch shells than the total of all calibers fired by the (6) battleships – from (Man of War).
The Louisville fired (37) salvos – 9 – 8 inch guns fired for a total of (333) - 8 inch shells.
The “Lady Lou” was honored for this by Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf.





I felt I had to write this article from information from my diary and Man of War – U.S.S. Louisville CA-28 book because documentaries and stories like Sea Classics always seem to give most credit to the battleships. I and others who read my story will know what really happened. Give credit to the cruisers for the greatest sea battle.

The total shells fired per battleship:

Appendix
US Battleship Ammunition at Surigao Strait
Ship Capacity Total On-Board AP HC Rounds Expended
(all AP)
West Virginia 800 375 200 175 93
Maryland 800 685 240 445 48
California 1200 318 240 78 63
Tennessee 1200 664 396 268 69
Mississippi 1200 744 201 543 12
Pennsylvania 1200 453 360 93 Did not fire
Data from "Two Ocean War" by S.E. Morrison.

The Cruisers fired well over 2000 rounds of 6 inch and 8 inch shells.
U.S.S. Louisville fired 333 rounds of 8 inch shells.

I am 90 years old now and will always be proud to have served my country and duty on the U.S.S. Louisville with the great crew that we had and the many I still look forward to seeing at the reunions. God Bless our servicemen and women – past and present!

By: Enrico Trotta (Passed in 2017 at age 92)
Served aboard the USS Louisville CA- 28
From 1943-46 as a S1c
20 mm AA gun crew

My grandfather dad side, was here. He kept a journal through the time served. His words was "it was a hell of a sight" . I'm honored to be his grandson and grateful for all who's lives were lost. His journal is very graphic but it's a testament to Americans bravery, and love for each other.

Halsey should have been court martialed then relieved. Instead he was made a 5 star. Go figure.

General Douglas MacArthur the..."Imperius leader of the Southwest Pacific forces"? LOL, man.

Japan would have done better if they’d not created so many complex plans involving multiple forces converging from different directions while maintaining radio silence. They continually outsmarted themselves.