Chapter 202 Volume Six Chapter Twelve Battle of Wright Gulf

Battle of Japan at sea Establishment of the British Pacific Fleet Growth of American naval power American tactics and defense of Japan Landings on Saipan June 15 Admiral Spruan wins a decisive victory on June 20 Capture of the Mariana Islands Tokyo Panic Advances to the Philippine Islands Air War for Taiwan October 20th U.S. Army Lands in Leyte Gulf The Japanese Commander-in-Chief decides to conduct a night battle to thwart Admiral Halsey and the enemy's trap Surigao Strait U.S. landings Dangers of Action Arrival of Suicide Bombers Vice Admiral Kurita Turns Back Twenty-seven Japanese Warships Destroyed January 9, 1945 Landing at Lingayen Bay Captured Manila The United States gained control of the South China Sea.

The naval war against Japan is now reaching its zenith.From the Bay of Bengal to the central Pacific, allied maritime power is increasingly gaining the upper hand.By April 1944, three British capital ships, two aircraft carriers, and some light ships had assembled in Ceylon.These were in turn reinforced by the American aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, the French battleship Richelieu, and a detachment from the Netherlands.A strong British submarine squad also arrived in February and immediately began to inflict losses on enemy shipping in the Straits of Malacca.Soon, two more British aircraft carriers arrived, and the Saratoga also returned to the Pacific Ocean.With these ships, Admiral Somerville can show his talents even more.His aircraft carriers attacked Sabung, on the northern tip of Sumatra, in April, and oil refineries and machinery factories in Surabaya, Java, in May.The operation lasted twenty-two days, and the fleet traveled seven thousand miles.In the months that followed, the Japanese sea route to Rangoon was cut off by British submarines and aircraft.

Admiral Somerville commanded the Eastern Fleet throughout the difficult years from March 1942 until he was succeeded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser in August 1944 .Soon, the former took over the former head of the British Naval Mission in Washington, formerly held by Admiral Noble.A month later, the progress of the war in Europe made it possible to reduce the Home Fleet to a single battleship and a number of auxiliary ships.The movement to the Far East picked up speed, and Admiral Fraser's fleet was joined by two modern battleships, HMS Howe and HMS King George V.On November 22, 1944, the British Pacific Fleet was formally established. The series of combat operations it participated in will be discussed in another chapter later.

In the Pacific, American force formation and production are making strides, and on a staggering scale.A single example would suffice to illustrate the scale and success of the US effort.At the height of the battle for Guadalcanal in the autumn of 1942, there were only three American aircraft carriers at sea; fifty a year later; and more than a hundred by the end of the war.This achievement is comparable to the no-nonsense increase in aircraft production.The advance of these vast forces was motivated by an active strategy and a well-planned, novel, and effective tactic.The tasks facing them are extremely difficult.

A chain of island groups stretches from Japan south across the Pacific Ocean to the Marianas and Carolines for almost 2,000 miles.Many of these islands were fortified by enemy fortifications and had some good airfields, and the southernmost point in the chain was the Japanese naval base at Truk.Behind these shield-like archipelagos are Taiwan, the Philippines, and China, and under the cover of these islands are supply routes for the more advanced enemy positions to and from. Therefore attacking or bombing the Japanese mainland became impossible.This chain must be broken first.It would take too long to conquer and subdue each of the fortified islands, so the U.S. military moved forward by leaps and bounds.They seized only the more important islands and bypassed the others, but their present sea power was so great and so rapidly increasing that it was possible for them to establish their own lines of communication while destroying those of the enemy, Immobilizing and powerless the defenders on the bypassed islands.Their method of assault was equally successful.First, there is a heavy bombardment before the attack by aircraft from the aircraft carrier, then a heavy and sometimes continuous bombardment from the sea, and finally an amphibious landing and a shore struggle.When an island is captured and garrisoned by troops, land-based aircraft move in to repel enemy counterattacks.At the same time, they supported the next forward attack.Fleets lined up in echelons for battle.While one group of fleets was engaged in battle, another group was preparing for a new leap forward.This requires a great deal of resource power, not only for the current operations, but also for the establishment of bases along the line of advance.The Americans took it easy.

The two-pronged attack of the United States across the Pacific Ocean has been described in previous volumes, and when the account of this aspect began again in June 1944, this offensive had already made great progress.In the southwest, General MacArthur's capture of New Guinea was nearing completion; in the center, Admiral Nimitz had also advanced gradually toward a series of fortified islands.Both forces were concentrating on the Philippines, and the contest for that area would soon lead to the destruction of the Japanese fleet.The Japanese fleet has been greatly weakened, and there is a shortage of aircraft carriers, but Japan's hope of continued survival is pinned on the victory of the naval battle.In order to preserve her strength against the dire, life-threatening perils, her main fleet had been withdrawn from Truk, and was now divided between the East Indies and her home waters, but circumstances soon forced her out. challenge.In early June, Admiral Spruance dispatched planes from the aircraft carrier to bomb the Mariana Islands, and on the 15th he landed on the fortified island of Saipan.If he takes Saipan and the adjoining islands of Tinian and Guam, break through the outer edges of the enemy's lines.This was a dire threat, and the Japanese fleet decided to thwart it.That day, their five battleships and nine aircraft carriers were spotted sailing east near the Philippines.Spruance had plenty of time to deploy.His main purpose was to protect the landings on Saipan.He did just that.He then assembled his ships, fifteen of which were aircraft carriers, and waited for the enemy just west of the island.

On June 19, aircraft from the Japanese aircraft carrier attacked the fleet of the American aircraft carrier from all directions, and the air battle continued day and night.The Americans lost a little, but destroyed so many Japanese air squadrons that their aircraft carriers had to retreat. That night, Spruance searched for the vanished enemy, but to no avail.It was long after noon on the twentieth before he realized that they were some two hundred and fifty miles away.In a flurry of attacks just before sunset, American pilots sank an aircraft carrier and severely damaged four aircraft carriers, as well as a battleship and a heavy cruiser.On the first day, American submarines had sunk two large aircraft carriers.At that time, it was impossible to continue the attack, and the remnants of the enemy fleet struggled to escape, but its departure sealed the fate of Saipan.Although the defenders fought bitterly, the U.S. troops continued to land and continue to gather troops. By July 9, all organized resistance finally came to an end.Neighboring Guam and Tinian were also captured, and by early August the United States had complete control of the Marianas.

The fall of Saipan was a great shock to the Japanese Supreme Command and indirectly led to the resignation of the Tojo government.The enemy's apprehensions were well founded. This fortress is only a little over thirteen hundred miles from Tokyo.They once thought it was impenetrable, but now it is lost.Their southern defenses had been cut off, and American heavy bombers had since won first-rate bases from which to bomb the Japanese mainland.For a long time, American submarines have been sinking Japanese merchant ships off the coast of China, and now they are opening the way for other warships to join the attack.If the Americans push a little further, Japan will be cut off from oil and raw materials.The Japanese fleet was still strong, but unbalanced, with destroyers, aircraft carriers, and aircrews so weak they could no longer fight effectively without aircraft from ground bases.Lack of fuel not only hampered training but also prevented the concentration of ships in one place, so that by the end of the summer most of the heavy ships and cruisers were placed near the oil supplies of Singapore and the East Indies, while the few remaining The aircraft carriers remained in home waters, where their new air groups were completing their training.

The situation of the Japanese Army was not much better.Although the number is still strong, it is scattered in all directions in China and Southeast Asia, and some of them fend for themselves on remote islands that cannot be supported.Some of the more sober minds of the enemy's leaders began to explore some means of ending the war; but their military machine was too powerful for them to feel powerless.The Supreme Command dispatched reinforcements from Manchuria and ordered the troops in Taiwan and the Philippines to fight to the end.In these places and at home, the troops must stand firm.The Japanese Navy Ministry is equally determined.If a looming battle for the islands was lost, oil from the East Indies would be cut off.They argued that what was the use of saving the ship without fuel.With the determination to die and the hope of victory, they decided to put the whole fleet into battle in August.

On September 15, the Americans took another step closer.General MacArthur captures Morota Island, halfway between the western tip of New Guinea and the Philippine Islands; Admiral Halsey, now in command of the U.S. Navy, secures an advancing base for his fleet in Palau .These simultaneous advances are critically important.Meanwhile, Halsey continued to probe the enemy defenses with all his might.In this way he hoped to provoke a sea battle in which he might destroy the Japanese fleet, especially its few remaining aircraft carriers.The next leap would be to target the Philippine archipelago itself, and America's plans have now taken a dramatic turn.Up to that time our Allies had planned to attack Mindanao (Mindanao), the southernmost island of the Philippines, and aircraft from Halsey's aircraft carrier had attacked Japanese airfields there and on the island of Luzon to the north.They destroyed a large number of enemy aircraft, and in the engagement of the battle it turned out that the Japanese defense on Wright Island was unexpectedly weak.The small but now-famous island, which sits between the larger but strategically less important Mindanao (Mindanao) and Luzon land masses, has become a prominent US target.On September 13, while the Allies were still talking in Quebec, Admiral Nimitz, on Halsey's suggestion, urged an immediate attack on the island.MacArthur agreed, and within two days the Joint Chiefs of Staff made a decision to launch the offensive on October 20, two months earlier than originally planned.This is how the Battle of Wright Gulf came about.

The Americans began the campaign on October 10 with an air raid on airfields between Japan and the Philippines.The destructive and repeated bombings aimed at Taiwan aroused extremely fierce resistance. From the 12th to the 16th, large-scale and protracted air battles took place between aircraft carrier-based aircraft and land-based aircraft. The Americans inflicted heavy losses on the enemy in the air and on the ground, and their own losses were relatively small, and their aircraft carrier fleet also withstood powerful air attacks from land-based aircraft.The air battle had a decisive outcome.Before the battle at Wright Gulf, the enemy's air force had been shattered.Many of the aircraft carriers of the Japanese Navy, which had been assigned to the aircraft carriers of its fleet, were sent to Taiwan for reinforcements regardless of future needs, and were destroyed there, so that in the imminent super sea battle, the Japanese aircraft carriers were only equipped with at most A hundred half-trained drivers. In order to understand the engagement which follows, it is necessary to study the accompanying drawings.The two large islands of the Philippines, Luzon in the north and Mindanao (Mindanao) in the south, are separated by a group of smaller islands, of which Wright Island is the key and center.This central archipelago is penetrated by two navigable straits, both of which were destined to govern the famous battle.The strait to the north is San Bernardino, and the strait to the south, about two hundred miles directly to Wright, is the strait of Surigao.We already know that the Americans intended to take Wright and that the Japanese were determined to fight it and destroy the American fleet.Its plan is simple and reckless.General MacArthur's four divisions were about to land on Wright Island under the cover of the artillery and aircraft of the American fleet. That was all they knew or guessed.Lure this fleet away and lure it to a place far to the north for a secondary battle. This is the first step.However, this is just an introduction.As soon as the main American fleet was lured away, two powerful Japanese fleets would sail into the strait, one passing through San Bernardino and the other through Surigao, and congregate towards the landing site.All eyes will be on the coast of Wright, all guns will be aimed at the beach, and the only heavy ships and large aircraft carriers capable of withstanding the onslaught at that time, but these ships are still chasing the decoy in the far north fleet.The plan came very close to success. On October 17, the Japanese commander-in-chief gave his fleet the order to sail.The Supreme Commander, Vice Admiral Ozawa led the enemy fleet to lure directly from Japan and headed for Luzon.This is a mixed fleet including aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers.Ozawa's mission was to appear on the east coast of Luzon Island, fight the US fleet, and lure it away from the landing site in Wright Gulf.His aircraft carrier lacks both planes and pilots, but that's okay.They are just bait, and bait is arranged to get you hooked.At the same time, Japan's main attack fleet was dispatched to the two straits. The larger, or what might be called the center forward, came from Singapore, consisting of five battleships, twelve cruisers, and fifteen destroyers, under the command of Vice-Admiral Kurita, advancing towards Bernardino, rounding the Viet Sa The Falklands entered Leyte; the smaller or Southern Force, divided into two groups, totaling two battleships, four cruisers, and eight destroyers, sailed through Surigao. On October 20, U.S. troops landed on Wright Island.At first everything went well.Resistance ashore was weak, and a bridgehead was soon established, and General MacArthur's forces began to advance.They were supported by MacArthur's U.S. Seventh Fleet under Admiral Kinquette, whose older battleships and smaller aircraft carriers were well suited for amphibious operations.Farther to the north, Admiral Halsey's main fleet was deployed to shield them from attack from the sea. At this time I was on my way home from Moscow, but Field Marshal Brooke and I, realizing the importance of what was going on, sent the following telegram: Prime Minister and Chief of the Imperial General Staff to General MacArthur October 22, 1944 Hearty congratulations on your excellent offense in the Philippines. I wish you all success! However, the crisis has not yet arrived.On October 23, an American submarine spotted the Japanese center forward (Vice Admiral Kurita) off the coast of Borneo, and sank two of its heavy cruisers, one of which was Kurita's flagship, and damaged the other. ship.The next day, October 24, aircraft from Admiral Halsey's aircraft carrier joined the attack.The massive battleship Musashi, armed with nine 18-inch guns, was sunk, and the other ships were badly damaged, and Kurita turned back. The reports brought back by the American aircrew were optimistic, but mostly misleading.Halsey concluded, not without reason, that the battle, or at least the round, had been won.He knew that another, or enemy southern force, was approaching the Surigao Strait, but he also judged correctly that it could be repulsed by Kincaid's Seventh Fleet. One thing, however, disturbed him.During the day, he was attacked by Japanese naval planes.Although many of them were shot down, his aircraft carrier USS Princeton was also severely damaged and had to be abandoned.He deduced that the planes probably came from the aircraft carrier.It was extremely unlikely that the enemy fleet would move without an aircraft carrier, but none were spotted.The main Japanese fleet led by Kurita has been found and is obviously retreating, but Kurita has no aircraft carrier, and the Southern Force does not have one.There must be an aircraft carrier fleet, which must be found.He therefore ordered a search northward, and in the late afternoon of October 24, his pilots suddenly spotted Vice Admiral Ozawa's decoy fleet heading towards the Coming south.Four aircraft carriers, two battleships with launch decks, three cruisers and ten destroyers!Here, he concluded, was the source of the trouble and the real goal.He and his chief of staff, Admiral Carney, had reason to believe that if he could destroy these carriers now, the power of the enemy fleet to interfere with future operations would be irretrievably shattered.This is a dominant factor in his mind, and it will certainly be particularly beneficial for MacArthur to attack Luzon in the future.Halsey failed to realize how vulnerable they were, nor did he know that most of the air strikes he had experienced were not from aircraft carriers at all, but from local airfields in Luzon.Kurita's center forwards were in retreat.Kincaid was able to deal with the southern force and protect Wright's landing. The way was cleared for a final blow, so Halsey ordered his entire fleet to sail north in order to destroy Vice Admiral Ozawa the next day.Halsey thus fell into the trap.That same afternoon, October 24, Kurita turned east again, heading once more toward the San Bernardino Strait.There was nothing stopping him now. At that time, Japan's southern team was approaching the Surigao Strait, and they split into two groups that night.A fierce battle ensued, with ships of all types, from battleships to coastal light craft, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. [1] The first wave of enemy ships was annihilated by Kincquet's fleet, which was converging at the northern exit of the strait under the excellent command of Rear Admiral Odendorff; But was driven away.Everything seems to be going well, but the Americans have to compete with Vice Admiral Kurita.While Kincaid was fighting in the Surigao Strait, and Halsey was chasing the decoy fleet farther north, Kurita had sailed unchallenged through the San Bernardino Strait in darkness, and on October 25 In the early morning of the 1st, it launched an attack on an escort aircraft carrier fleet that was supporting General MacArthur's landing operation.The ships were caught off guard and moved too slowly to evade or re-arm aircraft immediately to repel the surprise attack from the sea.In two and a half hours, these light ships of the United States had to bravely fight and retreat under the cover of smoke.They lost two aircraft carriers, three destroyers, and over a hundred aircraft, one of which was hit by suicide bombers; however, they managed to sink three enemy cruisers and damage many others. 【２】 [1] Among the ships were two Australian warships, the cruiser HMS Shropshire and the destroyer HMS Alonta. 【2】Japanese suicide bombers make their first appearance in Operation Wright.The Australian cruiser Australia cooperated with Kinkate's fleet and was attacked by a suicide bomber a few days ago. There were some casualties, but the damage to the hull was not serious. Aiding distant water cannot save nearby fire.Kinkate's heavy ships, far south of Leyte, ran out of ammunition and fuel after defeating the southern fleet.Halsey was still farther away from his ten carriers and all the fast battleships, so that although another fleet of carriers he had sent to refuel was now being recalled, it would not be reachable for a few hours.Victory seemed to be in Kurita's hands.There is no way to prevent him from sailing the fleet into Wright Bay and destroying MacArthur's two sacrificed fleets. However, Kurita turned back again.Why he did this is still unknown.Many of his ships had been bombarded and dispersed by Kincaid's light escort carriers, and he knew at the time that the Southern Force had been badly damaged.He had no information about the good fortune of the northward decoy fleet, nor did he know where the main American fleet was.The signals he heard made him think that Kinkate and Halsey were pinching him with overwhelming force, and that MacArthur's transport had managed to escape.Now fighting alone, with no other to support him, he abandoned his venture with so little prospect of success.So many sacrifices had been made for it, and its prize was at hand, and instead of trying to make a straight for Wright, he turned away and headed for the San Bernardino Strait again.He hoped to make a final stand against Halsey's fleet en route, but even this he could not get.Responding to Kinkate's repeated appeals for help, Halsey did rush back with his battleships, leaving two groups of aircraft carriers to continue the pursuit to the north.During the day, these aircraft carriers destroyed all four of Ozawa's aircraft carriers.However, by the time Halsey himself arrived in San Bernardino, it was too late.The two fleets never met.Kurita escaped.The next day, Halsey and MacArthur's planes pursued the Japanese vice admiral, sinking a cruiser and two destroyers.This is the end of this battle.It is very possible that Kurita has become dizzy under the pressing situation.For three days, he had been attacked repeatedly and suffered heavy losses. His flagship was bombed and sunk just after setting off from Borneo.Let him be judged by those who have been subjected to similar ordeals. The Battle of Leyte Gulf was decisive.The Americans themselves achieved victory over the Japanese fleet at the cost of three aircraft carriers, three destroyers, and one submarine.The battle lasted from October 22 to October 27, and a total of three enemy battleships, four aircraft carriers and twenty other warships were sunk.Henceforth, the only effective naval weapon left to the enemy was the suicide bomber.As an instrument of desperation it is still deadly, yet it brings no hope of victory. So far, the result is no doubt, we hastened to send our congratulatory message. prime minister to president roosevelt October 27, 1944 Please accept my sincerest congratulations on behalf of His Majesty's Government on the magnificent and enormous victory won by the United States Navy and Air Force in the recent great campaign against Japan. We were also very pleased to learn that a squadron of His Majesty's Australian Cruiser Fleet had the honor of taking part in this memorable event. The magnitude of the losses of both sides in this battle can be measured from the attached table: total losses Japan three battleships one fleet aircraft carrier three light aircraft carriers six heavy cruisers four light cruisers nine destroyers one submarine United States 1 fleet light aircraft carrier 2 escorting aircraft carriers 3 destroyers 1 submarine This victory will be long cherished in American history.Besides valor, skill, and daring, it had a more vivid and far-reaching effect on future warfare than any victory we have ever seen.It presented a campaign that relied more on air superiority than artillery.I tell the story literally because at this time the troubled world of Europe knew little of it.probably the single most important conclusion to be drawn from the study of these events is that coordinated operations such as those now taking place between MacArthur and Halsey are in dire need of replacing the concept of mastery by cooperation with unity of command .The Americans learned this lesson, and in planning their final operations against the Japanese mainland they intended to entrust supreme command either to Admiral Nimitz or to General MacArthur alone. Any given time will be appropriate. In the weeks that followed, the battle for the Philippines expanded and developed.By the end of November nearly 250,000 American troops had landed on Wright, and by mid-December Japanese resistance had been crushed.MacArthur stepped up his main force and soon landed without resistance on the island of Mindoro, just over a hundred miles from Manila.On January 9, 1945, another four divisions landed in Lingayen Bay, north of Manila, and opened up a new situation. Three years ago, this was the battlefield of Japan's large-scale invasion.Carefully placed measures to confuse the enemy keep the enemy guessing where the next blow will fall.But the attack always took the enemy by surprise, and met only slight resistance.Resistance became tenacious until the Americans rushed towards Manila, but they landed in two more places on the West Bank, thus encircling the city.The enemy fought a desperate defense which lasted until the beginning of March, when the last remnants were wiped out.The number of Japanese dead among the ruins was calculated to be 16,000.Suicide plane attacks caused considerable damage, sixteen ships were hit in one day.The cruiser Australia suffered another bad luck and was hit five times in four days, but continued to fight.However, this method of desperately trying to get away with it cannot stop the activities of the fleet.In mid-January, Admiral Halsey's several aircraft carriers sailed undisturbed into the South China Sea, cruising extensively along the coast and attacking various airfields and ships as far west as Saigon.On January 16, it caused widespread damage to Hong Kong and caused an oil fire in Canton. While fighting on the islands continued for months, control of the South China Sea has passed to the victors, and with it control of the sources of oil and other supplies Japan depends on.