Leyte Gulf - Battle of the Sibuyan Sea - Animated

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October 1944 - Three dangerous Japanese fleets set sail to attack the American, Australian and Mexican forces landing on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. One of the fleets is spotted transiting the Sibuyan Sea and is attacked by US Submarines and the air wings of US Navy Aircraft Carriers in the region.
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[@TheOperationsRoom]

Play World of Warships here: wo.ws/3ZCAEeS Thank you World of Warships for sponsoring this video. During registration use the promo code WARSHIPS to receive a huge starter pack including a bunch of Doubloons, Credits, Premium Account time, and a FREE ship after you complete 15 battles! The promo code is only for new players who register for the first time on the Wargaming portal.

[@EvoraGT430]

WOWS now has so many planes, torpedoes and submarines, you will feel like the Musashi if you play surface ships......don't bother.

[@yakovbrod9992]

I always wonder how is the anti air so ineffective?

[@theragingjewishhippi]

Hey, would you be open to more sponsors? I run a ww2 shop and I'd like to sponsor you.

[@user-hp5bc5cy2l]

CLIFFHANGER ENDING!

[@jameslrbrand2002uk]

@@yakovbrod9992 it didn't used to be but well Wargaming nerfed it because of the whinging carrier players at Tier 5 USS Texas was an absolute beast.

[@MCFernando82]

The Mexican contribution was in the form of El 201 Escuadrón de Pelea; the 201st Figther Squadron. 25-30 planes, mainly P-47D, and about 400 men between pilots, ground crews, staff etc. To this day is the only unit of the Mexican Armed Forces that has fought in a foreign theater of war.

[@Wolfeson28]

Thank you for mentioning this. I'd never heard of a Mexican unit being part of this battle before, and I was wondering what that contribution was.

[@user-oh6eg4ny3h]

There was a Brazilian unit the “smoking snakes”🐍 🚬 that fought effectively in Italy during ww2

[@recoil53]

@@user-oh6eg4ny3h In P-51's IIRC.

[@earlhuff7847]

Alot of countries contributed throughout the war with hardly a mention sometimes. Thanks for reminding me the Mexicans did help in this

[@quantumsniper9433]

​@@earlhuff7847There were also quite a number that joined in late 1944/1945 when the war was basically lost for germany/japan just so they could be on the winning side and maybe get some stuff out of it

[@VictorSilva-qf2tu]

Musashi took 19 torpedoes and still took hours more to sink. It's impressive.

[@crimeon1782]

While still maintaining a decent speed, which would result in heavier flooding, it could’ve been longer had it the chance to slow down

[@sayhallo3769]

Yeah, the Americans really helped her counterflooding operations lol

[@scottgiles7546]

@@sayhallo3769 It seems someone was taking notes as they did better on the Yamato....

[@antoniocarrascosa6060]

Y un montón de bombas

[@Warmaker01]

@@sayhallo3769 Yes. The USN saw what happened with Musashi and learned from it. When it came time to sink Yamato in April 1945, far less ordnance was expended to sink her compared to Musashi. Yamato was eating focused hits mostly to one side, whereas Musashi was getting hit all around. The focused attacks overwhelmed damage control and counterflooding efforts on Yamato.

[@tayzonday]

I learn about so many World War II battles from this channel, I swear I missed a sequel, like “World War II: Reloaded” 🍿

[@DiviAugusti]

I always appreciate a Tay Zonday sighting in geopolitics/history video comments.

[@Donuthan]

@@DiviAugusti Or police gopro videos, can't forget those

[@hayd3ni307]

Chocolate rain

[@Ihavpickle]

Tay, you're a cutie patootie. Thank you for being in the comment section of random geopolitical videos

[@Interdictiondeltawing]

the legendary chocolate rain guy appeared ❤️🔥🔥

[@DiviAugusti]

“American, Australian, Philippino, and Mexican units will take part in the liberation of the Philippines.” What a squad that is.

[@just9911]

Imagine how awesome a party that group could throw…

[@migol1527]

The Aztec Eagles!

[@ANG-249]

Mexicans liberating the Sea Mexicans

[@warrenklein7817]

Australian Army was excluded by MacArthur, to remain in New Guinea and takeover in Solomons. RAAF and RAN are not excluded.

[@CesarinPillinGaming]

I was wondering the same. I have no information that any Mexican army set foot anywhere. Supposedly they only offered help via cargo ships and some air units with obsolete ships.

[@alexanderf8451]

This really shows why carriers ultimately made battleships impossible to use. Musashi had incredible range and power with its guns but never even had the chance to see the carriers that destroyed it.

[@fakshen1973]

19 torpedo hits in exchange for a handful of pilots and small aircraft. You cannot sustain that exchange as an island nation reliant on imports.

[@XMysticHerox]

A big part of it was how relatively ineffective AA was at the time.

[@Cailus3542]

Not impossible to use, exactly, just more difficult. The problem for the Japanese was that the Pacific is perfect for carrier operations: ideal weather, vast expanses of ocean, etc. In the Atlantic, North Sea and Med, battleships were much more effective. In the Pacific, against a country that had an absurd number of carriers, the Japanese battleships were almost helpless.

[@gimmethegepgun]

@@Cailus3542 Yet no one saw any need to build a battleship after WW2 (HMS Vanguard was the last, launched in 1944 and commissioned in 1946), and only the 4 Iowa-class survived past 1962, but plenty of carriers were built.

[@Cailus3542]

@@gimmethegepgun Nobody built any new battleships because there was no need. The US had ten fast battleships, the British had five, and the French had two. They were all relatively new (the oldest only came into service in 1940) and, since the Soviets had no surface navy to speak of, all perfectly adequate going into the 1950's. Two technologies doomed battleships: jet aircraft and missiles. Jets were much more difficult to defend against, as were missiles. More, missiles outranged any battleship gun and could be mounted on a much cheaper platform. Even then, battleships weren't entirely useless, but became more so as time passed.

[@CanopyFlyer150]

The Birmingham was NOT the first ship that came along side the Princeton to render aid. Two other smaller ships, whose names escape me at the moment, attempted to assist one after the other, but were battered by the larger Princeton. Birmingham was built on the same hull (Cleveland class) as the Princeton (Independence Class), so she could remain alongside without being battered about. My uncle was aboard the Birmingham and was killed in the Princeton blast. Family history says he died on a hospital ship afterward, but there is some doubt about the truth of that.

[@S0RGEx]

Irwin (DD-974) and Morrison (DD-560)

[@jacqueschouette7474]

My sainted father was on the Birmingham. Like most of the other men not involved in fighting the fire, he was watching damage control fight the fires until something told him to go below. After he did so, the Princeton blew up. During the war, the Birmingham was damaged by a kamikaze off Okinawa and hit by bombs off Bougainville, but my father always said that the closest the ship ever got to sinking was when the Princeton blew up.

[@garystu9878]

@@S0RGExAlso, USS Gatling (DD-671)

[@earlhuff7847]

I do find errors occasionally in their videos but I think it is because they generalize sometimes. The important or key moments in the battle have great detail and are accurate but the smaller or not as important parts are generalized. At least that is what I have attributed it to. Still the best animation and explanations of battles on You Tube

[@failtolawl]

false

[@VictorSilva-qf2tu]

It's incredible how much the animation has evolved in this channel.

[@XCrimsonPyroX]

Ikr...even back then i was impressed. These guys just keep improving!

[@Mithinco]

Right?! The mapping got more detail

[@RoyalOps1222]

My Grandpa was in this fight, he was a TBF Avenger pilot. He was onboard the St. Lo as it was struck by the kamikaze, he was wounded but saved a few sailors from the ensuing fires. Thanks for giving this battle some airtime.

[@b.a6525]

cap

[@creatorsfreedom6734]

sadly nothing more than a janitor

[@mikeymike9926]

No he wasn’t

[@ramblingsofadash5159]

Never stop. Besides Montemayor you are by far the most in depth battle channel on KZbin (sorry bazbattles :c). Even as a huge WW2 buff, you still show me things I have forgotten or never heard of battles of ww2. Seriously thank you. You are doing the world a service by educating people. Please never stop educating people.

[@Warmaker01]

Yeah. Montemayor also does fantastic stuff but he rarely puts out videos. I view his stuff as soon as it goes live.

[@si2foo]

@@Warmaker01 yeah his are just the best

[@si2foo]

bazbattles really is meh for this kind of thing.

[@questionmark05]

If you like naval history, Drachinifel is very good. World War two in real time, is good for overall ww2 history.

[@WilliamLaurenson]

Kings and Generals does good stuff too. They have an entire playlist on the pacific theatre and it is currently still being updated.

[@Warmaker01]

The actions and performance of the Japanese aviators in the halfway mark of the video is a stark contrast to earlier in the war where the IJN air force was experienced and competent. But the combat of 1942 did a horrible number of attrition against them and their expertise went away. 1942 saw 3 Carrier Duels: Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz Islands all happened that year. Navy pilots flying out of Rabaul, flying the long distance to Guadalcanal and back suffered heavy losses. It was so bad for IJN aviation that they spent 1943 and half of 1944 to replace their losses. But then the Battle of the Philippine Sea happened in mid-1944, the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" where Japan lost an absurd amount of aircraft and aircrew losses. The losses are so extensive that Japanese naval aviation would no longer be a key factor anymore for later in the war... The US just didn't know it at the time. It was so bad that no Japanese carrier would operate with a full air group for the rest of the war. So by the time we get to late 1944 where the Battle of Leyte Gulf happens, the performance of these pilots aren't a surprise anymore.

[@Wolfeson28]

The different approaches of both navies to their experienced pilots played a huge role in that transition. In the USN, many of their most experienced pilots, such as squadron commanders, were rotated out of frontline roles after those early 1942 battles and sent home to train the waves of new pilots. So by 1943/44, the USN was fielding huge numbers of new squadrons, filled by pilots who had received those hard-won combat lessons from their veteran instructors, and commanded by other veterans of those early battles who had moved up the ranks since then. On the other hand, experienced Japanese pilots were almost never rotated home - variations of "fly until you die" became common sayings among those pilots. So those flyers were never able to pass on their experience to new pilots, who in turn were being rushed through shorter and shorter training programs in a desperate attempt to provide the necessary numbers to replace losses.

[@laflaca4362]

Honestly it's kind of sad lol like part of me is hopeful that they put up somewhat of a fight, but they just get annihilated

[@abdiganiaden]

The hubris from Japanese supremacy ideology blinded them so much they threw away their men like they are mosquitoes

[@julianlora_]

The Japanese forces' general mentality of dishonor or die lost them more casualties than was necessary.

[@warwatcher91]

Bad part is that they didn't even get a break in 1943. The carriers may have been out of action, but their air groups weren't. In 1943, on multiple occasions they were sent in to reinforce their land based counter parts in the Solomon Islands. They fought hard, but died in the process. the dive and torpedo bombers. The fighters didn't fare much better. The Japanese Carrier Air Groups had to be rebuilt twice before 1944 even rolled around. Philippine Sea was just the logical endpoint.

[@nicksmth33]

Everytime i hear this story i always think about the 2 little ships USS Johnston and USS Samuel B Robert’s and how hard those little tough guys fought. They did the job the best they could. Nobody can disagree! Edit | Yes the air attack did an amazing job and was most damaging to the fleet. i just enjoy the imagination of seeing 2 tiny brave ships just firing their asses off against massive behemoths.

[@M167A1]

Since they entered the depths there have been zero Godzilla attacks. Word on the street is he's hiding out in the Himalayas and won't go near the water.

[@axly27]

The anniversary of the Battle of Samar is Oct 25th. Coming up quick. Maybe there's another Operations Room video due out about then?!

[@lovelessissimo]

Thanks to Drach, they will be immortal.

[@Canadianvoice]

I think about how Japan had to basically deal with those odds every single battle

[@jackthedragon612]

The destroyer and destroyer escort that fought like battleships.

[@giotto_4503]

One of my favorite naval battles in history. The sheer firepower shown in this battle was immense.

[@ialsoagree1634]

My favorite fact about this entire engagement is that the engagement with Southern Force, the Battle of Surigao Strait - which was the last engagement between battleships in history - involved multiple battleships that had been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. USS West Virginia was sunk in shallow water, USS Maryland was damaged by Japanese bombs, USS Tennessee received minor damage, USS California sank when it's electrical system failed and it could not pump out water from 2 torpedo hits, and USS Pennsylvania suffered only minor damage as she was in dry dock at the time and not in Battleship Row. Those 4 battleships represent 4 of the 5 US battleships that engaged Southern Force.

[@250R1983lover]

Also allowed the liberation of Layte to take place. We must not forget!

[@Weegee246]

It really does show how much Americas air supremacy played in their victory against Kurita. The Destroyers of Taffy 3 did a legendary job defending their Jeep Carriers in the face of overwhelming odds but they couldn't have driven off Kurita's Fleet without the support off the carriers and pilots they were helping to defend.

[@OneEyedJack01]

Taffy 3 made the ultimate sacrifice that wouldn't have been necessary if Halsey hadn't abandoned the landings in his reckless pursuit of glory and carrier hunting.

[@TheSchultinator]

​@@OneEyedJack01It's Halsey's action here and sailing his fleet through *2* typhoons that really make me question his abilities, at least by late war.

[@abdiganiaden]

@@OneEyedJack01 taking out carriers is way more valuable in strategic level, who cares about ground game before that’s accomplished

[@recoil53]

@@TheSchultinator I don't question his abilities at all. I believe his abilities topped out at Task Group commander. Admiral King saved him by saying it would be bad for US morale to court marshal Halsey, but the solution to that is to send him on a tour of the US to raise money for war bonds.

[@Weegee246]

That's is true. Kurita's fleet likely wouldn't have gotten as far as they did without Ozawa's decoy force luring TF38 up north to Cape Engaño. Halsey just couldn't resist the urge to hunt down those decoy carriers for the sake of glory.@@OneEyedJack01

[@ShastaDoktorG]

At 9:56, you mention that a Hell Diver from the Intrepid spotted the ships in the Sebuyan Sea. This was my grandfather (tail gunner) and his pilot. He took photographs of the undamaged Yamato. I thought they dove on it and missed, but that may have been later. Regardless, for the photos he took (that still survive and are published) and for other actions in Leyte, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. It is one of my most prized possessions and touring the Intrepid in New York is on my bucket list. Thanks for the vid.

[@jamesw1313]

Much respect to your Grandfather, all those men went out and got the job done.

[@gavinoutlaw6950]

Knowing that Samar and Surigao Strait vids are coming makes me so happy. Well done!

[@SerRompalot]

I eagerly await Samar, those destroyers fought like battleships that day.

[@laisy961]

@@SerRompalot I still love the fact one Japanese battleship captain (Kongo's I think) insisted they were fighting against battleships that day until he was corrected. (And he is also the one to call them "destroyers who fought like battleships" IIRC)

[@ronnelson7828]

Darter did not "fire all ten of it's bow torpedoes". Six bow torpedoes, then four stern torpedoes. Ten torpedoes in total.

[@KhabarovVictor]

@7:04 "Darter fires all TEN of its BOW torpedoes" Later fires +4 aft ones I think there is a mistake. Gato-class had 10 torpedoes loaded in total, 6 bow and 4 aft, not 10 bow and 4 aft

[@CaseyCollier]

The Battle off Samar is my favorite naval battle of WWII. No questions asked. I'm sure other people may favor other battles in the war for their significance, but to me, the story surrounding those tin can sailors is still my favorite. I can't get it out of my mind when someone brings up Leyte Gulf.

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

It is nothing short of remarkable how much punishment Musashi endured before succumbing. She took more hits/near misses than all eight Pearl Harbor Battleships combined did in that attack. That she maintained much of her speed throughout the damage while a fair amount of her crew survived her sinking is also a testament to her endurance and the skills of her commander.

[@laisy961]

Her size probably helped too, since there were more compartments to contain the flooding, delaying her sinking.

[@Cailus3542]

The Yamato-class battleships are arguably the toughest warships ever built, even to modern day. I can't imagine any other ship that could take such a pounding, not even Vanguard or the Bismarck's. The Yamato's had flaws, especially in terms of technology, but Japanese engineering managed something special with those two ships.

[@apersondoingthings5689]

@@Cailus3542 USS Nevada and us battle ships enter the chat

[@failtolawl]

@@apersondoingthings5689 No.

[@apersondoingthings5689]

@@failtolawl bro, Nevada survived two nukes in which it was the main target. The ship shrugged it off and more. It was literally immortal. The thing survive two nukes, many torpedoes, 16 super heavy ap shells, multiple attempt scuttling, they had to basically deconstruct the ship in order to sink it. Even then she just refused to go down for a while

[@SoloRenegade]

It actually makes sense how the center force later reacts to Taffy 3 from this perspective. The force has been harassed constantly all the way to target, 3 cruisers lost, one super battleship lost, being continuously attacked by air power coming from their target area. Why then would it be so surprising that they later mistake the US escort carriers and destroyers for the main US fleet as they are surely weary and cautious after the beating they've been subjected to all the way to target?

[@desertdude8274]

Yeah. Even if they decided to press on the Carrier fleets can just launch a couple more strikes and it wouldn't even slow down the USN even a little bit.

[@thenumbah1birdman]

The main issue is that due to weather issues, Ozawa's message that he had successfully lured away Halsey did not reach Kurita until late into the engagement off Samar. Without this knowledge Kurita assumed he was facing one of Halsey's CV groups.

[@SoloRenegade]

@@thenumbah1birdman good point

[@artbrann]

and based on how spread out they were, even if they completely wiped out Taffy 3, Taffy 1 and 2 were close enough that their planes were in the fight and their destroyers and destroyer escorts could well have been the next wave

[@thenumbah1birdman]

@@artbrann Haruna had actually sighted Taffy 2 and had begun to target their escorts when Kurita gave the order to head north to regroup. Kurita did not know a second carrier group had been taken under fire due to communication issues.

[@dennyjack3rd]

Mexico in ww2? Had to pause and read up about them. Awesome!

[@migol1527]

Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana, 201st Squadron, the Aztec Eagles.

[@mek1429]

probably a mistake about USS Darter firing “10 bow torpedoes” since Gato class subs only have 6 bow tubes

[@diestormlie]

But they also have four aft tubes; so firing the bow tubes, immediately rotating 180° and firing the aft tubes would give a combined salvo size of ten torpedos. Edit: But yes, '10 Bow Torpedos' is in error, unless they weld some torpedos to the exterior. :P

[@AptMantis2278]

@@diestormliehe says darter then turns to fire 4 aft tubes

[@daniellarge9784]

Total 10. 6 bow and 4 aft. He was in error saying 10 bow torpedos. No big deal. We all understood. Great presentation.

[@andrewvanatta1569]

A minor correction at 7:05 is needed. USS Darter had six bow torpedo tubes, not ten.

[@usaf4ever1824]

I cannot wait for the Surigao Strait video. The last naval gun fight, the last crossing of the "T", Americans beating the Japanese at their own game (night fighting), Pearl Harbor survivor ships getting their revenge, etc.

[@Xblue72X]

I can't wait for the Battle off Samar. Taffy 3 and its destroyers are one of the greatest stories of WW2.

[@danielpetrucci8952]

Samuel B Roberts lays 33,000 feet down in the Pacific Ocean may she rest in peace

[@dantauche7917]

US air pilots were/(are?) Absolute legends. 2 8 kill days for McCandles alone. That is astounding. Salute to you sir

[@_Wombat]

I really just feel for the Japanese guys in those planes. You just know they had absolutely no chance. And they knew it.

[@kitkun7669]

@@_Wombat I know it's war and it's likely they would have found the nerve to engage if they hadn't been shot down, but... damn. Fear made them entirely defenseless.

[@binbiwashere8739]

So many ships, so many islands and so much firepower! This is a way too big battle in to cover in a single video! I'll be waiting for the episode 2! You're doing awesome!!

[@1207rorupar]

3:18 yesss! Mexican Expeditionary Air Force 201st Squadron!

[@malickfan7461]

Thank you so much for making this! I’ve always wanted someone to make an animation of this battle.

[@christophermeekhof2194]

Thank you for spreading history to the public in a way they, and I, can more easily understand. If I may suggest, and I may not be alone here, can you possibly put date/time stamps on your videos? You already make these events in history fairly easy to follow, but seeing the dates and times can also help link your separate animations. Thank you!

[@asteropax6469]

The Princeton and Birmingham were half sisters. The Birmingham was a Cleveland class light cruiser while the Princeton was an Independence class light carrier. The Independence class were Clevelands whose hulls were redesigned during construction into carriers.

[@oliverhughes610]

For those curious, there was a Mexican fighter squadron (the 201st) that served on the land campaign. They didn't start combat operations until June 1945, though, months after this battle. The panic and withdrawal of those first Japanese aircraft from Luzon are a perfect example of the impact of proper leadership and experience. They had more than enough aircraft to overwhelm the Americans there if they were organised properly. Although the Japanese AA guns were hilariously ineffective, the loss of the 3 heavy cruisers in the submarine action prior does also make one wonder of the impact of their guns - they had some 250 between them. Perhaps at least a few more casualties on the planes that pummelled Musashi into oblivion.

[@dajuanvariste4751]

Babe! Wake up..operations room posted 😤

[@yanks0308]

I’ve been waiting for this exact video for like 3 years now

[@Nmille98]

It feels like every major IJN offensive post-1943 relied on surprise and was immediately spotted by a submarine.

[@blueninja5260]

As a bruneian, i did not realize the legendary yamato was at brunei bay before

[@mbhinkle]

Wow, TheOperationsRoom's videos just keep getting better and better. Beautiful maps, graphics, and excellent narrating .

[@thecheezybleezy7036]

I appreciate the use of real-time animations in play with the map. It adds a nice sense of depth. Consistently on par 👌

[@NotTheCIA1961]

You can really feel the hype when the torpedos are coming in.

[@geofreycrow9663]

Those last words from the captain of the Musashi. Badass

[@computertoucher7557]

Idk why but I feel like I have a crippling addiction to this channel😂😂😂. Everytime I see a post, I disregard the rest of my priorities and watch this.

[@lukeubamos7446]

We deserve another episode on this one. Looking forward to it!

[@rougehawk]

6:25 REALLY cool diving animation!

[@ramondemesa4057]

I've been waiting so long for an animated analysis of this battle!! Thank you so much!.

[@canaanclb]

And thus begins one of the most epic naval battles of the ages. Glad to finally see you do this!

[@vitamarmite]

The fact musashi took such a beating is a testment to how well she was built.

[@modest_spice6083]

Hardly took down any aircraft, which is a testament on how shit its and its escort ships' anti-air defenses were.

[@abdiganiaden]

Battleships we’re obsolete by then, just a waste of resources on giant hunk of useless metal.

[@alexanderf8451]

The irony of the last great battleships and dreadnoughts is that they were obsolete before they were even built even if no one knew it. Over in the European theater Bismark was crippled by Swordfish torpedo bombers, biplanes!

[@yoseipilot]

@@abdiganiaden No, not really. They need carrier’s as escort, it can take hit and bombed these Islands faster at the same time. Also shooting down these enemy aircraft as well.

[@BarryAllen__1A23]

​@@yoseipilotYes really. Aircraft carriers can do many things a battleship cant. CV's can establish air dominance, can threaten an enemy fleet in ranges that neither fleets can see each other and most importantly they can bomb key targets much more accurate and much farther than the BB's can. They are indeed a waste of resources as soon as the CV's came into service.

[@wyattengel6725]

I must say, I've never seen a Hellcat fly backwards before (10:53) but I do find that funny ^^ luv the vids!

[@xaraxen]

Some say Hellcats can indeed do that

[@masacio]

Thank you for finally covering Leyte Gulf. I've been waiting to see your in depth, unit by unit coverage of this naval batter. I hope we see the rest of it in the next or following videos, no matter how many they take. Thank you again.

[@lazygameratn9863]

Ever since I started watching The Operations Room, I have been hoping to see them cover Leyte Gulf, especially Samar, and finally the day has come. Excellent first video, and looking forward to the rest, as well as the videos on The Intel Report!

[@samadams2203]

Imagine the battle if TF 34 had been left at the San Bernadino Strait.

[@mbryson2899]

Admiral Lee could have scalped another battleship or three.

[@ph89787]

@@mbryson2899he’d be responsible of the near single-handed extinction of the Kongo-Class Battleships/Battlecruisers.

[@alexanderf8451]

The world wonders.

[@issacfoster1113]

New Jersey Vs Yamato duking it out

[@apersondoingthings5689]

@@issacfoster1113 that’s not much of a fight, the New Jersey would have done nothing. The aircraft would have ripped Yamato apart before

[@nanionichan2110]

Been waiting for this! Greetings from Leyte, leyte.

[@tonybruce24]

As a Filipino, these WW2 Pacific videos go hard!

[@failtolawl]

This is a battle which is just so complex and large scale that this really is the best way to learn about it, thank you for your time and effort.

[@Philip_of_Santos]

I appreciate that you mention that the Philippines was an 'imperial possession' of the United States since they were hailed as liberators when MacArthur and his forces arrived in Leyte in October 1944. This is not surprising since the Filipinos have high regard for the Americans since the latter have already promised the Philippines its independence through the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 and adapted or influenced by the U.S. way of life, primarily through the use of the English language in public school education. In addition, the Filipinos, at that time, had a deep hatred for the I.J.A. due to the atrocities they committed during their three-year occupation. Back to the term "imperial possession," I remember my professor at U.S.T. in Manila (a nationalist prof compared to me) argued that we, Filipinos, should not label MacArthur’s return not as liberation but a reconquest of the Philippines by the U.S. from the Japanese. Anyhow, that's my short take and Cheers from the Philippines, and I will continue to support this channel till the very end.

[@modest_spice6083]

IMO it's a liberation alright. The Americans gave us total independence in 1946, fulfilling their promise. That would never happen under Japanese rule.

[@Philip_of_Santos]

@@modest_spice6083 that’s why I said it was my perspective of my prof, I’m not that dumb to believe that crap

[@Crushnaut]

11:00 VF 15 and 44 moonwalking into battle

[@russell7852]

Im happy to he a supporter in the subscription to the discord channel. I didnt give any input but the community picked an excellent battle to have animated.

[@TheIndianalain]

I read a lot about the campaign for Leyte Gulf in general and the battle of Sibuyan sea in particular, but watching an animated depiction of it put my comprehension of the events to another level. Great stuff! Can't wait for the next episodes, the battle of Surigao strait and the desperate and incredibly brave defense of Taffy III at the battle off Samar!

[@yakovbrod9992]

I always wonder how is the anti air so ineffective? Thumb up if you ever wondered the same thing!

[@submachinegun5737]

Hitting the aircraft was super hard. All the issues of marksmanship with range, leading the target, etc. and also the fuses would have to be manually timed in order to detonate near the plane. Even then the planes were designed to survive the fire pretty well and could take a few good hits to down. The use of the proximity fuse by the US helped a lot but still the amount of rounds it took to kill one plane was huge.

[@kassthered8452]

The Japanese had famously terrible AA, meanwhile the Americans where slinging out radar guided proximity detonation rounds xD

[@legoeasycompany]

@@submachinegun5737 there's also that Japan lacked that intermediate AA that other navies had like the Bofor's 40mm. AA works best when you can saturate an area with overlapping fields of fire and the more overlap the higher the chances of hits, the 25mm and 127mms couldn't do so and there a bit of a gap between their ranges that leaves wide areas open. The Shattered Sword book about midway has a really good indepth description on the issues IJN AA had

[@sayhallo3769]

Japanese were inaccurate and had no radar guiding their AA

[@yakovbrod9992]

@@kassthered8452 how did Japanese AA compare to Germans?

[@JDWidhalm]

My grandfather fought as part of Taffy 2 off to the West of Taffy 3 in the Battle off Samar. Knowing that it, as well as Surigao are clearly coming with your level of production and research is a dream coming true. Thank you for filling the void that the History Channel used to be able to engage

[@siennavanlife9502]

Was literally playing World of Warships a few minutes ago in Musashi, thinking about this battle... then saw that about the same time, you posted this!! Too cool!

[@WushuMR2]

I've wanted SOMEONE to do a video on this battle for so long! Thank you!!!

[@larcoal2963]

Incredible narrative. Thanks once again.

[@kostakatsoulis2922]

Hell yeah battle off Samar operations room breakdown FINALLY!!!!! Btw those are some absolutely awesome shellburst animations, and the Musashi rolling was impeccavle, too! Only gets better every video!

[@Draythur]

love the new sinking animations, you continue to set a new standard here on youtube, splendid work!

[@Gry101]

The Balao and Gato class subs only had a TOTAL of 10 torpedo tubes. Six in the bow and four in the stern. Neither Darter or Dace have 10 tubes in the bow.

[@tng2057]

Thanks for the video. Leyte Gulf Battles must be told by map animation as they are so complicated and spread out and I think this one is the first of such kind. I think for the IJN Southern Force you forgot to mention the ‘Shima Fleet’ which was in parallel to the Mitsumura Fleet. Hope the part 2 video would cover this.👏 ERROR: Mitsumura shall read Nishimura.😮

[@user-ey4ob3oc6u]

As a veteran of Silent Service II, I am deeply disappointed that you didn't show U.S.S. Dace, an old favourite from many long stalking hours shadowing fleets like this, & on radar too at times, firing the stern tubes! This is in the manner of so many encounters of my own! Also, what a dream setup, but it also demonstrates just how rampant U.S.A. subs' were this late in the war. Sitting around chatting on megaphones indeed!

[@reyesmarlon5805]

Thank you for this great coverage of the Sibuyan Sea and Palawan Passage battles. Waiting for the next installments. Surigao Strait, Samar, and Cape Engano. And how the world wondered.

[@718Insomniac]

Just wow! First time hearing about this battle. How about that lone Japanese bomber going for a solo run! I wonder what he was thinking. Did he get seperated? Was he pissed off? Was this a "last flight" for him? He took out a Carrier by himself! What are the odds?! That encounter really stuck with me. Amazing work and content! Big props as always.

[@_Wombat]

It's crazy isn't it. The contrast between that and Musashi who took an inordinate amount of hits to sink. What also surprised me was the death-toll on the Birmingham, that must have been a crazy large explosion, I assume it was the pressure wave which killed most.

[@718Insomniac]

@@_Wombat yeah, that over pressure must of been a killer knock out. And seriously, 19 bombs on one battleship! If that isn't considered a "boss" battle, I don't know what is. Im happy we get to learn of these unimaginable events that are either pure luck, or some insane skills. Like that Japanese bomber must of been wearing plot armor that day. Haha, cheers man.

[@klekaelly]

The Japanese were known for their dedication and self-sacrifice. I'm just amazed that one bomb was able to destroy the entire ship!

[@JackRabbitSlim]

Yeah I wonder whatever became of that plane and its pilot/s? To be the only aircraft to reach the carrier group, to then single handedly sink an entire aircraft carrier with one bomb, such a thing deserves recognition. Did they ever get to learn of their success, did they make it back to their base, were they awarded medals for what they did?

[@718Insomniac]

@@JackRabbitSlim yeah man, so many questions. Crazy set of events. It was a really big "score" for that pilot after all. Did he get recognized for it. Does he even know what he did?! Haha. Mostly I wanna know how he felt, what was he thinking, and why was he alone.

[@mapachin_escenarios3]

Hermano, me gusta crear escenarios personalizados en Empire Earth, tus videos son una fuente de información muy valiosa ❤

[@shannonsullivan1968]

The Yamato had to have been beyond impressive! Thank you for this video. Sure opened my eyes to the expansiveness of the battle.

[@autophaga4068]

The torpedo hits part are kinda satisfying to watch. It's not like reading plain article on topic matter.

[@Warmaker01]

The real kicker is that after Kurita decided to cancel his withdrawal and push on again, scouts from USS Independence spotted them and reported them. Yet the command hierarchy of the USN at Leyte Gulf failed to take that new report into account and pound Center Force again with another airstrike. And somehow, a Japanese surface force devoid of air cover and reconaissance, shows up to play at Samar. With the absolute superiority of the US Navy in this battle, that should have never happened.

[@thenumbah1birdman]

It was far too late for the US to launch an airstrike on Kurita by the time USS Independence had spotted them (it was dark out-Independence only spotted them because it was one of the few CVs that could do nighttime operations)-an airstrike wouldn't have been needed anyway had Halsey stopped 'playing by the book' and split his forces then and left Ching Lee to do what he did best at San Bernardino Strait, instead of splitting his forces after a perceived slight from Nimitz and thereby missing the chance to totally annihilate either force he was engaged with during the battle. Kinkaid should have also been more vigilant instead of relying on eavesdropping for his assurances on Halsey.

[@Thirdbase9]

Am i Leyte?

[@infamousfalcon588]

This took me a minute

[@shotsfired_dk]

Damn you... 3 minutes and I was still beat to it... as it happens this means I was Leyte too

[@mishmosh1984]

Better Leyte than never

[@hansolo8225]

@@shotsfired_dk3 Minutes Leyte? Thats a Gulf of time.

[@danielpetrucci8952]

I'm super Leyte

[@richardwhite3041]

You have a massive mistake in this video. The USS Darter only had a total of 10 torpedo tubes; 6 forward and 4 aft. She couldn’t launch “her 10 forward tubes” at the Japanese.

[@Rohilla313]

Thanks for uploading this excellent presentation My late uncle used to give me lectures about this titanic battle when I was barely ten years old. I once met a group of naval cadets who were studying at Annapolis and they told me they never heard of this battle. I was flabbergasted.

[@sebastiancorleone]

Better Leyte than never 😮😅

[@hawkerhellfire9152]

Taffy 3 next?👀

[@thenumbah1birdman]

Surigao next.

[@joeschenk8400]

Great telling of this phase of the battle, I can't wait for what is coming next. WELL DONE!

[@nsein001]

I have been waiting for this battle to be shown on this channel. Thank you.

[@JGD_CZE]

I really hope to see more Leyte Gulf videos. Maybe even my second most favourite ship battle (after Midway) - Battle Off Samar

[@stoogemoedude]

Is this a new series on leyte gulf?

[@lagboi4539]

I hope it is. Wasn't there 4 different battles in Leyte Gulf?

[@matthewhecht9257]

@@lagboi4539 Yes unless you count Palawan Passage (which they already covered) as 5.

[@stoogemoedude]

​@@lagboi4539ya: Sibuyan, surigao, cape engano, and samar.

[@lagboi4539]

@@stoogemoedude Thanks! I was only familiar with Battle of Samar and now with Battle of Sibuyan Sea. I'll look into the others too.

[@stoogemoedude]

​@matthewhecht9257 eh you could probably lump Palawan and Sibuyan together

[@undeniablelogic1963]

USS Darter, a Gato-class Sumbarine, was fitted with six forward torpedo tubes rather than the ten stated here.

[@wolftamer5463]

Another fantastic episode. I hope this means we’re getting a full battle of Leyte Gulf series.

[@bdh985]

What an amazing car and an even more amazing drive! Honestly, the sights, sounds and even emotions and excitement of driving this treasure were perfectly demonstrated in this video! Thanks for this absolute treat, Jodie!

[@Knuck_Knucks]

Ha. Wrong video I'm thinking... 😂

[@syferpolski4344]

Or a bot gaining reputation @@Knuck_Knucks

[@derksforeal7960]

Feels like one of your first videos again, with better production tho. Looks good, feel like we’ve come a long way but still rooted in what y’all do best. Keep it up 👍 cheers🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@TheMumbles]

I just finished readying up about the battles around Leyte and saw this video Thank you and well done

[@spartangerm2122]

I've been dying to see you guys cover the Leyte Gulf battles! It's one of those historical battles that you hear so much about the details remain so fuzzy. I can't wait to see how you guys cover this and the Battle of Samar!

[@chilaxin09]

That day on Musashi must’ve been absolute hell for that crew.

[@SpecialOtterations]

Damn three years late, I could have used this for college in my war history class haha

[@michaelgabriel7919]

I absolutely love your productions. I'm a amateur historian... and I have watched more than a few of your videos... and I've been impressed every time. There are a lot of similar works out here on the web... but few can compare with your work.

[@Kolya65]

Congratulations on reaching 1 million subscribers! I absolutely adore your channel. Keep up the amazing work!

[@urbypilot2136]

I was a highschool student in Leyte back when the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of Leyte was commemorated. There was a lot of activities in our town in Leyte, as it was historically the center of Imperial Japanese Army operations in Leyte back in WW2. One of the largest beach heads was made on our town in October 1944.

[@JonathanLundkvist]

I was wondering where The Intel Reports companion video was. Glad to see it!

[@garrettsattem4799]

My Great Grandpa Grant was on the Princeton when it was scuttled. He survived, but it is so surreal to have a family member be part of history like this.

[@OBJ317]

Just finished. You never cease to amaze me. Thanks again guys.

[@Ian-dq1tl]

im currently doing a school project on pacific engagements during wwii, thank you so much for these well-timed videos

[@god-of-logic99]

Bro i always wanted this kind of video for the battle if leyte gulf, your awesome!

[@Reignor99]

1:17 the beeping from incoming torpedoes increased my heartrate

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

This is awesome, can't wait to see the later episodes. Had a great uncle onboard HMAS Shropshire during the battle. The yanks apparently loved having her in the fleet due to the advanced radar onboard. She had been gifted from the UK to Australia to replace HMAS Canberra.