Afternoon of the Rising Sun : the Battle of Leyte Gulf / Kenneth I. Friedman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Friedman, Kenneth I.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Leyte Gulf, Battle of, Philippines, 1944.

Philippine Sea, Battle of the, 1944 (June 19-21).

Physical Description:

xx, 414 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Novato, CA : Presidio, [2001]

Summary:

By mid-October 1944, a vast amphibious armada was closing on the Philippines. Embarked on the 700 vessels of Admiral Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet were 200,000 men of the Sixth Army. Defending Kinkaid's invasion force was Adm. William "Bull" Halsey's Third Fleet. With more than 1,000 planes on its aircraft carriers, accompanied by 79 other warships including 6 of the new Iowa-class fast battleships, Halsey's fleet was more than capable of dealing with anything the enemy navy could throw at it.

The Japanese were desperate. American success in the Philippines would cut them off from the strategic raw materials to the south. In the face of this desperation, the Japanese Navy came up with a bold plan: the Combined Fleet would sortie to defeat the invasion. A decoy force including Japan's four remaining aircraft carriers would lure Halsey's fleet to the north, away from Leyte Gulf, and out of the battle. The Combined Fleet's remaining offensive forces, with superbattleships Yamato and Musashi among its forty-six capital ships, would join to destroy Kinkaid's fleet, marooning any Sixth Army troops that had managed to land. Remarkably, the Japanese came within a hair's breadth of pulling it off. Only the decisive leadership of RAdm. Clifton Sprague and the heroism of a handful of sailors manning Sprague's so-called jeep carriers combined to save the day.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the greatest battle of naval history. It marked the last chance the Imperial Japanese Navy would have during World War II to destroy a substantial portion of America's Pacific Fleet. The fate of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and sailors hung in the balance. What resulted was the end of Japan's formerly invincible Combined Fleet.

Remarkably, little has been written about this climactic battle of the war against Japan. In the historiography of World War II, which has heretofore been dominated by Eurocentric British historians fixated on the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Battle of Leyte Gulf has been largely overlooked. Author Friedman admirably remedies this oversight with a comprehensive, wonderfully written account of this crucial battle.

Contents:

Chapter 1 American Strategy 1

Chapter 2 The Japanese Get Ready 25

Chapter 3 A Promise Kept 60

Chapter 4 A Historic Event 73

Chapter 5 Landing the First Punch 79

Chapter 6 The Americans Lose a Great Lady 102

Chapter 7 Struggle in the Sibuyan Sea 109

Chapter 8 The Japanese Fight Back 136

Chapter 9 Making a Deadly Decision 154

Chapter 10 Crossing the "T" 190

Chapter 11 Band of Brothers 250

Chapter 12 A Morning to Remember 258

Chapter 13 Swarming Bees 283

Chapter 14 Deadly Delays and Unanswered Pleas for Help 300

Chapter 15 The Valley of the Shadow of Death 303

Chapter 16 A Mystery Looking for a Solution 331

Chapter 17 A Tragic Figure 358

Chapter 18 Cape of Fools 363

Chapter 19 The Harsh Prism of Historical Perspective 385

Philippine Islands ii

Japanese approach to the Philippines 46

Leyte Gulf area 61

Kurita's approach to the Philippines 80

Kurita in Palawan Passage 85

Kurita's path through the Sibuyan Sea 110

Placement of American carriers, Oct. 24, 1944 119

Kurita's antiaircraft formation in the Sibuyan Sea 122

Halsey makes his move, Oct. 24-25, 1944 180

Japanese Southern Force approaches Leyte 192

Position of Oldendorf's ships before the Southern Force's Approach 198

American PT boats' positions in Surigao Strait, Oct. 24, 1944 203

Nishimura enters Surigao Strait 210

Japanese battle formation 215

Coward's destroyers attack Force C 220

McManes's and Smoot's destroyers attack 223

The "T" is crossed 232

Shima follows Nishimura into Surigao Strait 240

Kurita threatens Leyte Gulf 253

Kurita's battle formation 255

Taffy 3's first critical and desperate minutes 277

Kurita moves in for the kill 280

Taffy 3's first destroyer attack 309

Taffy 3's increasingly precarious position 312

Taffy 3's second destroyer attack, Phase I 315

Taffy 3's second destroyer attack, Phase II 322.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 402-404) and index.

ISBN:

0891417567

OCLC:

47623787