Battle of Leyte Gulf

The four engagements in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

The battle off Samar.

US Armada moving towards Leyte Island

USS Princeton on fire, east of Luzon, 24 October 1944.

USS Princeton (CVL-23) afire at about 1004 hours on 24 October 1944, soon after she was hit by a Japanese bomb during operations off the Philippines. This view shows smoke rising from the ship's second large explosion, as USS Reno (CL-96) steams by in the foreground. Photographed from USS South Dakota (BB-57)

Task Force 38 aircraft attack the Japanese battleship HIJMS Musashi (foreground) and a destroyer in the Sibuyan Sea (24 October 1944)

Japanese battleship HIJMS Yamato in action with U.S. carrier planes, as she transited the Sibuyan Sea (24 October 1944)

Yamato under attack in the Sibuyan Sea.

The Japanese aircraft carriers Zuikaku, left, and (probably) Zuiho come under attack by dive bombers early in the battle off Cape Engaño.

The crew of Zuikaku salute as the flag is lowered, and the Zuikaku ceases to be the flagship of the Japanese Navy.

The Yamato and a heavy cruiser, possibly Tone or Chikuma, in action off Samar.

Japanese cruiser Chikuma under aerial attack during Battle off Samar

The Japanese destroyer Akizuki burning in the battle off Cape Engaño.

U.S. escort carrier Gambier Bay is straddle by Japanese heavy cruiser gunfire during the Battle off Samar.

frame|A 60th Anniversary ceremony in Tacloban, Philippines, on October 20, 2004

Japanese Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura, killed in the Battle of Surigao Strait.