However, Japan drew up the plans for one final sea battle which could have tipped the balance in its favour. It was a simple manoeuvre by what remained of the Japanese navy but might have been enough to defend
Left: All eyes turn skywards when a Kamikaze aircraft is spotted in the vicinity. Below: Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa was defeated by superior US tactics.
Bottom: The scale of the US seapower is illustrated in this picture of Task Force 58 in the Pacific.
Above: Vice-Admiral William Halsey looks out to sea and draws up a winning strategy for the American fleet.
Shipping lane to the south would be completely cut off so that the fleet, if it should come back to Japanese waters, could not obtain its fuel supply. There would be no sense in saving the fleet at the expense of the the loss of the Philippines.’
In essence, Japan’s ploy was to use what was left of the carrier fleet as a decoy to lure the main thrust of the American navy away from the Philippines. Once the large ships were out of the way, a two-pronged attack from the sea was planned on Leyte, the small island in the centre of the Philippines on which the Americans had already began an assault.
The operation began badly for the Japanese. One arm of the fleet earmarked to blast Leyte was itself fired on by American submarines on 23 October, well before it reached its destination. Three cruisers were
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