In October 1944, the liberation of the Philippines was about to begin. Seven hundred fifty transport ships and landing craft delivered a hundred thirty two thousand American troops to Leyte and surrounding islands. Japan, realizing that the loss of the Philippines meant the loss of the War, began closing in with their war ships from the North, South and West for a massive confrontation with the Allies. However the Japanese could no longer count on sufficient air power to provide support, having suffered catastrophic losses in earlier campaigns. (See Chapter #17 of this series - 'Turkey Shoot').
Little did the Japanese realize that they would be sailing into the jaws of an Allied trap by taking a route through the Surigao Straight. Waiting to take revenge, battleships recovered from the devastation of Pearl Harbor (The California, West Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee) were among the fleet that dealt a severe blow to the Japanese at Surigao.
With only one more opportunity left for Japan to secure the Philippines, the Japanese Fourth Fleet arrived from the North to act as a decoy and divert attention from two more fleets arriving from the South. The Japanese admiral knew it would be a suicide mission, and bluntly advised his sailors - "We will be sunk, that is our mission".
Just as the Battle of the Philippine Sea involving Guam and the Marianas broke the back of Japanese military aviation, the Battles at Leyte Gulf and Surigao ended it's status as a naval power. Suffering a loss of twenty six battleships in the Philippines, they would no longer be a threat on the high seas.
As an aside to this episode, there might have been an earlier mention in the series about America's use of PT Boats, but this was the first time I recall seeing them in action. For those interested, there's a fairly good movie coming out of 1945 starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery that tells the story of how PT Boats came to be used by the Navy. "They Were Expendable" takes place in and around the Philippines, with frequent mentions of place names that are also found in this documentary.
Little did the Japanese realize that they would be sailing into the jaws of an Allied trap by taking a route through the Surigao Straight. Waiting to take revenge, battleships recovered from the devastation of Pearl Harbor (The California, West Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee) were among the fleet that dealt a severe blow to the Japanese at Surigao.
With only one more opportunity left for Japan to secure the Philippines, the Japanese Fourth Fleet arrived from the North to act as a decoy and divert attention from two more fleets arriving from the South. The Japanese admiral knew it would be a suicide mission, and bluntly advised his sailors - "We will be sunk, that is our mission".
Just as the Battle of the Philippine Sea involving Guam and the Marianas broke the back of Japanese military aviation, the Battles at Leyte Gulf and Surigao ended it's status as a naval power. Suffering a loss of twenty six battleships in the Philippines, they would no longer be a threat on the high seas.
As an aside to this episode, there might have been an earlier mention in the series about America's use of PT Boats, but this was the first time I recall seeing them in action. For those interested, there's a fairly good movie coming out of 1945 starring John Wayne and Robert Montgomery that tells the story of how PT Boats came to be used by the Navy. "They Were Expendable" takes place in and around the Philippines, with frequent mentions of place names that are also found in this documentary.
