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Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf
By mid-October 1944, a vast amphibious armada was closing on the Philippines. Embarked on the 700 vessels of Admiral Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet were 200,000 men of the Sixth Army. Defending Kinkaid's invasion force was Adm. William Bull" Halsey's Third Fleet. With more than 1,000 planes on its aircraft carriers, accompanied by 79 other warships including 6 of the new Iowa-class fast battleships, Halsey's fleet was more than capable of dealing with anything the enemy navy could throw at it.
The Japanese were desperate. American success in the Philippines would cut them off from the strategic raw materials to the south. In the face of this desperation, the Japanese Navy came up with a bold plan: the Combined Fleet would sortie to defeat the invasion. A decoy force including Japan's four remaining aircraft carriers would lure Halsey's fleet to the north, away from Leyte Gulf, and out of the battle. The Combined Fleet's remaining offensive forces, with super battleships Yamato and Musashi among its forty-six capital ships, would join to destroy Kinkaid's fleet, marooning any Sixth Army troops that had managed to land. Remarkably, the Japanese came within a hair's breadth of pulling it off. Only the decisive leadership of RAdm. Clifton Sprague and the heroism of a handful of sailors manning Sprague's so-called jeep carriers combined to save the day.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the greatest battle in naval history. It marked the last chance the Imperial Japanese Navy would have during World War II to destroy a substantial portion of America's Pacific Fleet. The fate of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and sailors hung in the balance. What resulted was the end of Japan's former invincible Combined Fleet.
The Japanese were desperate. American success in the Philippines would cut them off from the strategic raw materials to the south. In the face of this desperation, the Japanese Navy came up with a bold plan: the Combined Fleet would sortie to defeat the invasion. A decoy force including Japan's four remaining aircraft carriers would lure Halsey's fleet to the north, away from Leyte Gulf, and out of the battle. The Combined Fleet's remaining offensive forces, with super battleships Yamato and Musashi among its forty-six capital ships, would join to destroy Kinkaid's fleet, marooning any Sixth Army troops that had managed to land. Remarkably, the Japanese came within a hair's breadth of pulling it off. Only the decisive leadership of RAdm. Clifton Sprague and the heroism of a handful of sailors manning Sprague's so-called jeep carriers combined to save the day.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the greatest battle in naval history. It marked the last chance the Imperial Japanese Navy would have during World War II to destroy a substantial portion of America's Pacific Fleet. The fate of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and sailors hung in the balance. What resulted was the end of Japan's former invincible Combined Fleet.
- GenresHistoryWorld War II
414 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 7, 2023
Anecdotal recounting of the three day WWII naval battle of Lyete Gulf in the Philippines starting on 23 October 1944.
My dead tree version had 414 pages. It had a US 2001 copyright. This book included: notes, maps, photographs and an Index.
Kenneth I. Friedman is an American author and amateur historian of WWII in the Pacific. He’s written three books. This is the first book I’ve read by the author.
This was an intermediate-level military history on the last significant naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the US Navy (USN). Some knowledge of naval military history in the waning days of WWII would be helpful. In particular, a reader needs to already be familiar with mid-20th century naval combat, particularly air-sea operations. In addition, previous knowledge of IJN and USN ships and aircraft would be helpful.
The Battle of Leyet Gulf was the last major surface action between ‘big gun’ battle fleets of the modern period, although aircraft still played a large part in the battle. The weakened and reduced IJN battle fleet sortied to disrupt and prevent the Allied re-taking of the Philippine Islands, starting with the invasion of Leyet Island. The IJN had been stripped in combat of its naval air arm in earlier battles of the war. Their fleet consisted primarily of the, at the time, technologically obsolescent, heavily armed, surface combatant warships. They faced the numerically superior USN fleet with its aircraft carriers and aircraft, along with a still large component of surface warships. Through a combination of: strategy, luck, ‘fog of battle’, miscommunication, and both faulty and correct leadership decisions, large numbers of IJN and USN surface units fought the last battleship-to-battleship and largest surface naval action of the war.
This book focused on each of the four naval battles: Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, Battle of Surigao Strait, Battle off Samar and Battle off Cape Engaño that made-up the larger battle. The landing on Leyte was only incidental. The author was very much of the guns, smoke, and bugles school of military history. Major historical figures were all accounted for. In addition, he included a large amount of first-person, recounts, with literary embellishments, exclusively from American veterans of the engagement. This put the reader shipboard in the late October 1944 South China and Philippines Seas.
From a military history standpoint, this was not an original work. With the exception of the first-person recounts, there was little, if any, new research providing new strategic or operational insight. The Secondary Sources used were a relatively short list, with many of them being ‘popular’ histories.
Frankly, stylistically, I was disappointed. The presentation felt amateurish. For example, the maps were a re-rendering from more authoritative works, using PowerPoint™ and not with standard naval tactical symbols. The author was not familiar with descriptive military vocabulary, and used it incorrectly. There was also not a consistent movement in the narrative from the general to the detailed.
The conclusions and observations were banal. More than once, I caught details that were historically incorrect. The author made gross assumptions on the reader’s familiarity with period military aircraft and warships that were crucial to understanding the action. His rendering of the veteran’s accounts was in places overwrought. And the narrative was not kind nor balanced with regard to the IJN. There are better books to read on the waning days of the naval war in the Pacific.
Folks interested in a better book on the subject and period might be interested in The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 (which contains the Battle of Leyte Gulf) and its companions Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 and Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945.
My dead tree version had 414 pages. It had a US 2001 copyright. This book included: notes, maps, photographs and an Index.
Kenneth I. Friedman is an American author and amateur historian of WWII in the Pacific. He’s written three books. This is the first book I’ve read by the author.
This was an intermediate-level military history on the last significant naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the US Navy (USN). Some knowledge of naval military history in the waning days of WWII would be helpful. In particular, a reader needs to already be familiar with mid-20th century naval combat, particularly air-sea operations. In addition, previous knowledge of IJN and USN ships and aircraft would be helpful.
The Battle of Leyet Gulf was the last major surface action between ‘big gun’ battle fleets of the modern period, although aircraft still played a large part in the battle. The weakened and reduced IJN battle fleet sortied to disrupt and prevent the Allied re-taking of the Philippine Islands, starting with the invasion of Leyet Island. The IJN had been stripped in combat of its naval air arm in earlier battles of the war. Their fleet consisted primarily of the, at the time, technologically obsolescent, heavily armed, surface combatant warships. They faced the numerically superior USN fleet with its aircraft carriers and aircraft, along with a still large component of surface warships. Through a combination of: strategy, luck, ‘fog of battle’, miscommunication, and both faulty and correct leadership decisions, large numbers of IJN and USN surface units fought the last battleship-to-battleship and largest surface naval action of the war.
This book focused on each of the four naval battles: Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, Battle of Surigao Strait, Battle off Samar and Battle off Cape Engaño that made-up the larger battle. The landing on Leyte was only incidental. The author was very much of the guns, smoke, and bugles school of military history. Major historical figures were all accounted for. In addition, he included a large amount of first-person, recounts, with literary embellishments, exclusively from American veterans of the engagement. This put the reader shipboard in the late October 1944 South China and Philippines Seas.
From a military history standpoint, this was not an original work. With the exception of the first-person recounts, there was little, if any, new research providing new strategic or operational insight. The Secondary Sources used were a relatively short list, with many of them being ‘popular’ histories.
Frankly, stylistically, I was disappointed. The presentation felt amateurish. For example, the maps were a re-rendering from more authoritative works, using PowerPoint™ and not with standard naval tactical symbols. The author was not familiar with descriptive military vocabulary, and used it incorrectly. There was also not a consistent movement in the narrative from the general to the detailed.
The conclusions and observations were banal. More than once, I caught details that were historically incorrect. The author made gross assumptions on the reader’s familiarity with period military aircraft and warships that were crucial to understanding the action. His rendering of the veteran’s accounts was in places overwrought. And the narrative was not kind nor balanced with regard to the IJN. There are better books to read on the waning days of the naval war in the Pacific.
Folks interested in a better book on the subject and period might be interested in The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 (which contains the Battle of Leyte Gulf) and its companions Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 and Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945.
January 12, 2026
As some other reviewers noted, it takes a significant amount of "plowing through" the book to get to its conclusion. However, I did that very thing.
I'd only heard of this WWII Pacific naval battle but had never read any details of it prior to this tome. I was particularly interested to see how the (relatively) tiny "jeep carriers" were spared from what SHOULD have been their utter destruction and at the same time, how their limited number of planes helped to turn the battle against the Japanese. Likewise, I was also in awe of the account of the destroyers and destroyer escorts who "sailed into harm's way" sacrificing themselves for the benefit of the the jeep carriers and their crews.
My dad was in the US Army in the Philippines during the war, so I had a vested interest to read how his and his brothers-in-arms' invasion was kept safe from the threat that the Japanese mounted to stop their efforts to free the Philippines.
Yes, there is much detail, but I found that it fulfill the author's objective; that is, to tell the story from THAT angle. Give it a try. I enjoyed it.
I'd only heard of this WWII Pacific naval battle but had never read any details of it prior to this tome. I was particularly interested to see how the (relatively) tiny "jeep carriers" were spared from what SHOULD have been their utter destruction and at the same time, how their limited number of planes helped to turn the battle against the Japanese. Likewise, I was also in awe of the account of the destroyers and destroyer escorts who "sailed into harm's way" sacrificing themselves for the benefit of the the jeep carriers and their crews.
My dad was in the US Army in the Philippines during the war, so I had a vested interest to read how his and his brothers-in-arms' invasion was kept safe from the threat that the Japanese mounted to stop their efforts to free the Philippines.
Yes, there is much detail, but I found that it fulfill the author's objective; that is, to tell the story from THAT angle. Give it a try. I enjoyed it.
April 16, 2021
A valiant attempt to cover complex, nearly simultaneous American and Japanese naval military actions around and east/northeast of the Philippine Islands in October 1944. The author provides excellent details, but his narrative sometimes moves around to the point where one (me, for example) can get lost in the details, and become confused as to location and timing of these events. Admittedly, there is much material to cover, and he does a good overall job of it. This book is geared more towards students of naval history than the casual reader. Many familiar naval commander names of both Japanese and Americans are addressed.
January 17, 2019
Not very well written. Frequent jumps back and forth in time are confusing. The story could have been told in 50 pages, rather than in ~400. Not recommended unless one has a very specific interest in this particular battle.
February 24, 2021
Cringe worthy recounting of Leyte Gulf. If you're a history buff it's worth your time.
June 6, 2009
I really wish they'd reprint this book.
It's an awesome story. If you ever want to feel good about the military, this will definitely do it.
Fascinating, intriguing, tense and dramatic, even after you know the ending!
It's an awesome story. If you ever want to feel good about the military, this will definitely do it.
Fascinating, intriguing, tense and dramatic, even after you know the ending!
December 26, 2014
Good coverage of each of the battles that comprise the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews