Battle of Leyte Gulf
1944 CE · Philippines
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought in 1944 CE in Philippines between United States and Australia vs the Empire of Japan; decisive Allied victory; the largest naval battle of the Second World War.
Battle of Leyte Gulf: quick facts
- Date
- 1944 CE
- Location
- Philippines
- Belligerents
- United States and Australia vs the Empire of Japan
- Commanders
- William Halsey and Thomas Kinkaid vs Takeo Kurita and Jisaburō Ozawa
- Result
- decisive Allied victory; the largest naval battle of the Second World War.
- Era
- 🪖 World Wars
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Leyte Gulf?
The largest naval battle in history by tonnage involved nearly 300 ships across four separate engagements around the Philippine Islands. Japan committed virtually its entire remaining fleet in a desperate gamble to destroy the American invasion force, deploying kamikaze attacks for the first time. The American victory was decisive: Japan lost four carriers, three battleships, and numerous other warships, effectively ending the Imperial Japanese Navy as a fighting force.
Did you know?
Leyte Gulf was so large it is actually counted as four separate battles: the Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, Samar, and Cape Engano, fought simultaneously across an area the size of France.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Leyte Gulf on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.