All language subtitles for BIGGEST NAVAL BATTLE OF WWII (Part 1)_ The Battle of Leyte Gulf _ Battle 360 _ History (720p).English

[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]