[cannons firing]
NARRATOR: By October 1944, the American
and Japanese aircraft carrier forces
have been slugging it out for three years.
[gunfire]
And now, following the recent clash over the Philippine Sea
in which 400 planes were lost, the enemy's carrier force
is a shadow of its former self.
Their carriers at this point are empty.
They have vessels, but they don't have planes or pilots
to put on those vessels.
NARRATOR: Just over 100 planes remain to distribute
amongst the surviving carriers.
Even so, the Japanese Navy has another skilled and menacing
combat arm.
JONATHAN PARHALL: The remaining strength
of the Japanese navy at this point
is in its battleships and its heavy cruisers.
They still have a very formidable array
of heavy gun warships that they can bring to bear.
NARRATOR: Among the warships are Japan's two
super battleships, the monsters Musashi and Yamato.
The biggest battleships ever built.
They were massive battleships.
863 feet long, 172 foot beam, weighing 72,000 tons.
The Yamato and the Musashi both had a main battery
of nine 460 millimeter guns.
That's 18.1 inches.
The largest naval guns used in combat.
They're extremely heavily armored, yet relatively fast.
Very powerful, graceful warships.
And they're able to sustain a level of punishment
that was considered inconceivable even
at the beginning of the war.
NARRATOR: Japanese admirals must now
rely on these large surface warships
to stop the American advance through the Pacific.
They believe the best way to do it is to disrupt
the American beach landings.
It's recognized at this point in the war
that it's important to hit the American invasion forces.
So the point of attack for the Japanese battleships,
for the first time, is not their American opposite numbers,
but it's rather the beachhead itself, and the transports,
and the logistical apparatus that
are supporting this invasion.
NARRATOR: On the opposite side of the equation,
the American carrier forces are holding their own--
so far.
They still have plenty of carriers and aircraft.
US admirals also have battleships
and cruisers at their disposal.
They feel they have enough strength
at this point in the war to finally target the Philippines.
Taking the Philippines will place US forces between Japan
and its navy's oil supply in Indonesia.
But any attempt at landing in the Philippines
will be hotly contested.
Japanese occupiers will defend this crucial ground
to the death.
The American strategy for taking back the Philippines
calls first for the capture of the centrally
located island of Leyte.
It's felt that Leyte needs to be captured so that we can
put air bases into operation.
And then we'll extend our air umbrella over further portions
of the Philippines, and go on eventually
to the liberation of Luzon, which
contains the capital of Manila.
NARRATOR: Japan's battleships and cruisers will steam north
toward Leyte from Singapore.
The warships will split into two groups, one
for sailing through the Sulu Sea and Surigao Strait,
and approaching Leyte Gulf from the south.
The other half sailing through the Sibuyan Sea
and San Bernardino Strait, and coming
down on Leyte from the north.
JONATHAN PARHALL: They have a southern and a northern pincer
composed of battleships and cruisers that will hopefully
meet up off of the island of Leyte,
and there crush the invasion convoys.
NARRATOR: When Japanese and American forces collide,
the numbers of ships involved, and the hundreds of miles
separating major battle areas will distinguish the struggle
for Leyte Gulf as the largest naval battle
in the history of mankind.
[explosion]
[gunfire]