Leyte Gulf - Battle of the Sibuyan Sea - Animated

it's 8:05 a.m. on the 22nd of October 1944 a large Fleet of 32 warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy is leaving brunai Bay Bound for the Philippines archipelago this is the most powerful Japanese surface Fleet to ever sail into combat with five battleships 10 heavy Cruisers two light Cruisers and 15 destroyers under the command of vice admiral Teo karita towering over the rest of the formation are the super battleships Yamato and M their massive 18.1 in guns at the ready these Mighty warships will spearhead the last major offensive of the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States they are on route to the late Gulf where they are about to take part in What some consider to be the largest naval battle in military history but first a quick word from our sponsor World of Warships a free-to-play online multiplayer PC game where you can command the hardest hitting World Wars 1 and 2 two warships including Musashi and Yamato eating a variety of ship classes from battleships to submarines recruit legendary commanders upgrade your vessels and stake your claim to Naval Supremacy with or against an active community of players around the world in varied thrilling and immersive battles with a constant flow of new in-game content every month it's also available on consoles the visuals are stunning with over 40 maps to play and dynamic weather effects that affect the battle there are over 5 100 vessels to choose from it's the perfect game to relax and take your mind off things download World of Warships for free using the link in the description during registration use the code warships to get exclusive rewards including a bunch of dubloons credits premium account time and a free ship after you complete 15 battles jump in for Naval Combat on the oceans today Kor warships are just one Cog in a massive plan which represents the final attempt of the Japanese empire to stay off total defeat when the war in the Pacific began Japan reigned Supreme as the dominant Naval power in the Pacific region however the decisive defeat at Midway in 1942 permanently crippled the Imperial Navy which was soon worn down by successive campaigns of attrition 4 months earlier in June of 1944 the once vaunted Japanese Naval Aviation arm was essentially wiped out during the largest carrier engagement ever the battle of the Philippine Sea although the the bulk of Japan's remaining aircraft carriers managed to escape the Imperial Navy is on its last legs as the Allies draw closer to the home Islands after capturing the Mariana Islands the United States sets its Heights on retaking the Philippines its former Imperial possession under general Douglas MacArthur supreme commander of the Southwest Pacific Theater of operations the US Navy's thirdd Fleet under the command of Admiral bull Hy will begin operation King 2 with a landing on the central island of late on the 20th of October 1944 Admiral Thomas King kade's 7th Fleet will provide direct support for The Invasion forces while H's more powerful third Fleet will defend against any attacks from the Imperial Japanese Navy American Australian Filipino and Mexican forces will take part in the liberation of the Philippines the Japanese Supreme War Direction Council knows the next Allied offensive is imminent combined fleet commander Admiral to Yoda draws up four shogo or Victory plans each detailing how the Japanese fleets will respond to an attack operation show one the contingency plan to defend the Philippines is activated on the 18th of October after US army rangers land on several small islands in the late Gulf in preparation for the main Allied assault show one is a high-risk High reward plan the remaining strength of the Imperial Navy is split into three prongs Northern Force Under the command of of vice admiral gaburo aawa Center Force Under vice admiral karita and Southern Force led by vice admiral shoi nishimura the entire operation hinges on asawa's Northern Force which comprises Japan's last combat worthy aircraft carriers however the northern force is intended as a decoy the idea is to use the carriers as bait to draw Admiral H's third Fleet away from the late Gulf if everything goes according to plan the Center and Southern forces will Converge on the American Landing beaches together and wreak havoc in the Allied rear many of the Japanese officers tasked with carrying out this Mission are not confident they will succeed but they all agree it must be attempted no one is more unhappy than Admiral aawa who is considered Japan's most competent naval officer his four carriers have been drained of most of their air WIS and will only carry 108 aircraft into the coming battle but as our intend ends on carrying out his task no matter how impossible the odds on the 20th of October the first Allied troops hit the beaches of late fulfilling General MacArthur's promise to return 2 Days Later Admiral Kit's Center force and Admiral nishamura Southern Force leave brunai Bay and head for the Philippines led by moushi and Yamato Center Force represents the most powerful Japanese unit in the operation and will cover the shortest distance to the latest Gulf through the saan sea before transiting the San Bernardino straight Nish shimura's force will swing to the South to attack through the surgal strait aa's decoy force will leave Southern Japan on the 24th in the hope of drawing off the Powerful Third Fleet just after midnight on the 23rd of October K's Center Force warships are passing to the west of the island of Palawan other notes to the Japanese the Palawan passage is being watched by multiple multiple American submarines two of them USS data and USS da are surfaced within yards of each other and its captains are chatting through megaphones when data's radar detects unidentified vessels at 1:16 a.m. her Skipper Commander David mlto shouts to his counterpart on Dace we have radar contact let's go data and Dace Clos their distance to the Japanese Center force on the surface before submerging to Periscope depth mlin opts for an attack at dawn so he can properly identify the vessels and the two submarines continue to stalk their prey throughout the hours of Darkness staying just ahead of the enemy warships more importantly the submarines report the sighting to the US Pacific Fleet as the sun rises Commander mlto decides that now is the time to attack K's Center force is split into two columns USS data will attack the port column first while Dace will wait to hit the the starboard column at 5:24 a.m. data fires all 10 of its bowel Torpedoes from close range at the leading to cow class Heavy Cruiser she then swings hard to port to fire the stern torpedo tubes as data is turning four loud rumbles shake the submarine she has hit K's Flagship The Heavy Cruiser ataro which erupts into flames 10 minutes later data fires a spread of four Torpedoes from her rear tubes at a sister ship to cow Commander mlto orders Up Periscope and can't believe his luck he recalled the sight of a lifetime the cruiser was a mass of bellowing black smoke from number one turret to the stern bright orange Flames shot out from the side along the main deck from the bow to the after turret teal takes two direct hits while ataro capsizes and sinks just 18 minutes after she was struck Admiral karita is forced to swim before he is rescued and moves his flag to Yamato although she will survive taka is badly damaged and must be escorted back to brunai now it's time for USS da to play her part she lines up a shot on The Heavy Cruiser Maya and fires six Torpedoes like data Dace swings to port to expose her rear torpedo tubes for another attack but before she finishes her turn four of the Torpedoes strike the Maya which immediately explodes the crew of da listen to the sounds of Maya's magazines detonating sending her to the bottom in only 5 minutes destroyers move in to pick up survivors and launch depth charges against the two American submarines but both data and Dace Escape without damage they will stalk the wounded TOA until data runs around 2 days later and is abandoned the battle of the Palawan passage results in two Japanese heavy Cruisers sunk and another crippled over 1,000 Japanese Sailors are killed an operation show one is off to an ominous start although the center Force has suffered a setback Kit's warships continue East into the saan sea USS data's contact report reaches Admiral horsey early in the morning on the 24th of October and the third Fleet prepares for battle at 6:00 a.m. vice admiral Mark Mitch's task force 38 launches Scout aircraft to search for the Japanese mitcher is still Furious after the bulk of the enemy Fleet escaped ruction at the hands of task force 38 then known as task force 58 at the Battle of the Philippine Sea his first carrier force is the most powerful Naval unit in the world and he along with Admiral horsey are obsessed with destroying the Japanese Navy once and for all at 7:46 a.m. a hell diver Scout aircraft from the USS in trapid spots the wakes of large ships south of mindoro Island Center Force has been found again however the the Japanese will strike first on this day from 8:00 a.m. the ships of rear Admiral Frederick Sherman's task group 38.3 detect three separate waves of between 40 and 60 unidentified aircraft each approaching from the West a Hy rubbe call goes out to warn of an imminent enemy strike and the combat Air Patrol of 12 hellcats protecting task group 38.3 is quickly reinforced by 42 fighters from the carriers Lexington Langley Princeton and Essex among these are seven hellcats of vf15 from Essex led by Commander Dave mccampbell who already has 21 kills to his name so far in the Pacific War the American fighters fly off to meet the attackers which are land-based aircraft from Luzon Commander mccampbell leads the seven hellcats from Essex to intercept the third and largest wave of 60 aircraft while the other American fighters engage the first and second waves at 8:33 a.m. vf15 attains visual on the formation approximately 30 Japanese zero and Oscar Fighters are flying at 14,000 ft while the torpedo aircraft and bombers are maintaining course at a lower altitude although his aircraft are outnumbered almost 9 to one mccampbell directs a pair of hellcats to attack the bombers while he and the rest of the Squadron climb to dog fight the fighters however a miscommunication leads to the exact opposite result five of the vf15 hellcats dive on the bombers leaving mccampbell and his wingman Lieutenant Roy rushing alone to face the zeros and Oscars mccampbell and rushing climbed to 25,000 ft to meet the Japanese Fighters the Japanese formation is caught by surprise and immediately runs for home exposing their rear to the hellcats the two American Pilots get to work shooting them out of the sky the Japanese Pilots seem completely leaderless and their paralysis makes mccampbell and rushing's jobs easy one after another are set on fire and plummet into the sea after only a few minutes mccampbell has shot down four Fighters while rushing tallies two the Japanese formation finally gains their bearings and assume a defensive formation called the lbur circle the zeros and Oscars form a large Circle which allows them to provide Mutual support for each other the two hellcats tried to penetrate the formation but are driven off after a few passes they decide to climb and loiter above the circle waiting for the fighters to run out of fuel as mccampbell would later put it we climbed to light a cigarette and await further developments meanwhile the other fighters from Essex have also forced the bombers to retreat and are picking them off one by one after a few more passes the Japanese Fighters get low on fuel and are forced to break up with the Enemy strung out mccampbell and rushing pounce on the zeros and Os again joined by another vf15 Hellcat the three Pilots Massacre the Japanese aircraft mccampbell shoots down another five Fighters bringing his total for the day to an astonishing Nine Kills rushing ends the dog fights with six Fighters shot down and altogether via 15's seven hellcats destroyed 24 of the 60 enemy aircraft along with the five kills he scored on the 19th of June during the Mariana's turkey shoot command mccampbell becomes the only American Airman in history to achieve Ace in a day status twice he will be awarded the Medal of Honor the rest of the task group 38.3 Fighters are similarly successful at defeating the enemy raids and it looks as if the task group will get away unscathed however just as the combat Air Patrol is returning to their carriers at 9:38 a.m. a single Judy dive bomber breaks through the cloud cover and catches the American anti-aircraft Gunners off guard the Judy drops is 550b bomb on the light carrier USS Princeton the bomb penetrates four decks and explodes inside the ship's Bakery the blast also ignites fuel in the hangar Bay which soon detonates stored aerial Torpedoes despite the Raging fires the Princeton's crew continues damage control operations while the light Cruiser USS Birmingham pulls alongside to help with firefighting approximately 30 minutes earlier at 9:10 a.m. while the dog fights were still ongoing the fleet carrier USS Intrepid and the light carrier USS Cabot launched 21 hellcats 12 hell divers and 12 Avenger torpedo aircraft against the Japanese Center Force after Admiral Hy received the report of enemy warships sailing through the saan sea he flashed a short order to his task group commanders strike repeat strike good luck however third fleet's carriers are too spread out to to launch a large coordinated strike instead task groups 38.2 3 and 4 will take turns attacking Center force with smaller groups of aircraft throughout the day at 10:26 a.m. the 45 strike aircraft from task group 38.2 locate the main enemy Fleet with visibility perfect and no enemy aircraft providing air cover Intrepid and Cabots bombers launch into the attack Center forces battleships and Cruisers are arranged in two columns flanked by a screen of Destroyers the hell divers and Avengers are greeted by a hail of enemy fire especially from Yamato and moushi which boast 319 anti-aircraft guns between the two of them the two super battleships also fire san shikan shells are the incoming attackers these rounds are fired from the 18.1 in gun turrets and contain shrapnel and incendiary anti-aircraft shells which shower the target airspace with flaming debris however despite the heavy volume of fire the Japanese anti-aircraft Weaponry isn't greatly effective and the pilots considered the shaniki Dan shells to be little more than amusing fireworks the strike aircraft pressed the attack as at Hell divers Target moushi the mighty warship is struck by an armor-piercing bomb which fails to penetrate the 11 in of Steel plating on the roof of turret number one however four Avengers launch a torpedo attack from the starboard side two of the aircraft are shot down but the other two managed to launch their Torpedoes one impacts Musashi a mid ships and despite her armored belt she takes on 3,000 tons of water and develops a list at the same time Yamato takes a bomb hit but this causes little damage however the Heavy Cruiser mioko is struck by a torpedo which damages the starboard propeller unable to keep up she is forced to limp back to Japan for repairs an hour and a half later another strike of 30 aircraft from Intrepid arrives overhead noticing that moushi has a slight list the American aircraft gang up on her eight more hell divers scream in and score two direct hits one which penetrates two decks and detonates above the port engine Rune Musashi loses power to her inboard propeller and her speed drops from 27.5 knots to 22 nine Avengers launch an anvil attack on the wounded ship with four approaching from the starboard side and five from the port the port side Avengers score three hits one of which forces the abandonment of the Portside engine room the super battleship is now starting to fall behind the rest of centerforce as her crew counter floods her to keep her from capsizing at 1:30 p.m. 54 aircraft from the fleet carriers Lexington and Essex spot Center force and once again Focus their attention on moushi 29 dive bombers and torpedo aircraft line up on her while two Hellcat Fighters strafe the massive super structure causing casualties on the deck the Relentless hell divers hit her with four more bombs near the forward turrets while the Avengers score four hits on the starboard side extensive flooding further reduces Musashi's speed to 20 knots while her bout is down 13 ft Yamato is hit by another bomb and the battleship nagato is struck by two but they are not seriously damaged a larger strike of 69 aircraft from task group 38.4 dives into the attack at 255 p.m. this time nine hell divers from USS Enterprise score four direct hits on misashi which is now listing heavily to starboard noticing this The Avengers launch an attack from this direction and three more Torpedoes slam into her cutting her speed to just 13 knots with fires raging on board and and the list rapidly increasing moushi is in a desperate shape yet there will be no reprieve as yet another 37 aircraft from Intrepid Cabot and the fleet carrier USS Franklin are on route to deliver the killing blow meanwhile American damage control parties continue to work tirelessly to extinguish the fires aboard USS Princeton their efforts appear to pay off by 300 p.m. the Flames have been mostly contained but unb notes to the crew the fire is creeping towards the stern torpedo magazine just when it looks like she will survive a massive explosion blows Princeton apart at 3:23 p.m. the light Cruiser Birmingham suffers extensive damage having been alongside to assist in damage control effort with the Flames out of control Princeton is scuttled 2 hours later altogether 341 American servicemen are killed of which 233 are from the Birmingham the the final American attack finds Center Force at 3:15 p.m. and the strike aircraft immediately get to work pounding the crippled Musashi while heavy anti-aircraft fire shoots down three Avengers and three hell divers the rest line up to finish her off 12 hell divers plant seven bombs on mhi's Deck while the nine Avengers take advantage of her reduced speed to score eight torpedo hits by this point she has taken 18 bomb hits and 19 Torpedoes a punishment that no ship in the world can survive the US strike group withdraws while Admiral karita decides to leave the stricken moushi to her fate and presses on towards the San Bernardino Strait without her by this time the Japanese Southern Force has also been spotted and attacked by US Navy aircraft but only one Destroyer is sunk and the rest of the group is not seriously impeded with the sun setting over the Philippines both sides take stock of the situation after sailing East for another hour rear Admiral karita decides that it is hopeless for Center Force to continue the operation in the face of overwhelming American Air power although he had been promised fighter cover from bases on LZ on only four Japanese zeros have arrived to provide combat Air Patrol furthermore karita has no idea whether the other two prongs are still in the fight because of radio silence imposed on the operation thus a 4:30 p.m. karita orders centerforce to reverse course and Retreat out of range of enemy aircraft an American Scout aircraft spots the enemy Fleet retiring to the West just as another important Discovery is made 10 minutes later a US third Fleet Scout reports that he has spotted enemy aircraft carriers to the north vice admiral aa's decoy force with this news Admiral Hy believes the decisive moment has arrived where he can finally destroy Japan's last carriers earlier in the day Hy and his subordinates had created task force 34 a powerful formation of four fast battleships five Cruisers and 18 destroyers the purpose of this force was to block the sand berardino straight against centerforce should it attempt to break into the latay Gulf but after the report that Center force is retiring oie feels confident that the San Bernardino Strait is safe because Japan has always based its most powerful striking forces around its aircraft carriers the northern Force appears to be the main threat he prepares to chase the enemy Fleet to the north at this time K's Center force is sailing past the morly wounded moushi which continues to take on water Captain Kenichi K is attempting to beach the ship on the nearest Island and karita dispatches a Heavy Cruiser and two destroyers to escort her nonetheless it's soon becomes apparent that the dying bam moth won't make it to sh at 7:15 p.m. K orders the crew to abandon ship and hands his final combat report to his executive officer intending on going down with the ship when the EXO refuses and states he would like to join the captain Kato angrily responds my responsibility is so great it can't even be compensated by death and I must share the ship's fate but the executive officer is responsible for taking the crew to safety and getting them aboard a second and third Masashi to avenge today's battle the EXO leaves and at 7:36 p.m. Musashi rolls over and sinks taking 1,023 men to the bottom with her despite the loss of one of his most powerful warships karita is suddenly feeling more confident about his chances to breach the late Gulf for some reason no more American aircraft have come to attack Center Force he also feels an obligation to at least attempt to rendevu with the southern Force if they are still advancing towards the late Gulf at 6:14 p.m. karita orders his warships to reverse course and head for the San Bernardino straight even without Musashi Center Force still represents the most powerful surface Squadron in Japanese Naval History they head east hoping to put the massive guns of Yamato and the three remaining fast battleships to good use 250 Mi to the southeast the southern force is approaching the sural strait as nightfalls over the Philippines beyond the straight are the American Landing beaches on latay with the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro leading the way Admiral nura's formation is a formidable adversary yet the Japanese are sailing right into a trap as six US Navy battleships and scores of heavy Cruisers await their unsuspecting foes the last naval battle fought by The Guns of battleships is about to begin download World of Warships for free using the link in the description during registration use the code warships to get exclusive rewards including a bunch of dubloons credits premium account time and a free ship after you complete 15 battles these videos are possible thanks to our amazing patrons we can't thank you enough for your support welcome to all our new patrons this month and a special thanks to our patron of the week Chris R who has been a longtime supporter of our Channel our favorite Patron comment on this week's video comes from Morgan who says I was unaware that Mexican forces played a part here great video if you'd like to become a part of our Patron community and get access to Patron exclusive benefits follow the link in the description below our patrons get early access to our videos completely out and sponsor free you'll be able to hear what we're up to behind the scenes and you'll have the chance to submit questions for our new Q&A videos

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 811,275

Keywords: Time-Lapse, History, Second World War, ww2, Documentary, Aircraft Carrier, Pearl Harbour, aircraft, animated, war, the pacific, grumman f-6f hellcat, grumman, hellcat, f6-f, uss enterprise, us navy, imperial japanese navy, mitsubishi zero, zero, helldiver, battle of leyte gulf, battle of the sibuyan sea

Id: hIrBqsn0WCY

Length: 25min 59sec (1559 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 16 2023