The Battle for Leyte Gulf

by C. Vann Woodward

Pulitzer-Prize-winner and bestselling author C. Vann Woodward recreates the gripping account of the battle for Leyte Gulf—the greatest naval battle of World War II and the largest engagement ever fought on the high seas. For the Japanese, it represented their supreme effort; they committed to action virtually every operational fighting ship on the lists of the Imperial Navy, including two powerful new battleships of the Yamato class. It also ended in their greatest defeat—and a tremendous victory for the United States Navy. Features a new introduction by Evan Thomas, author of Sea of Thunder.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military History, Military Fiction, War, Naval History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Comer Vann Woodward was an American historian who focused primarily on the American South and race relations.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough and well written. My interest in this battle has to do with my grandfather. He didn’t speak much to me about the war years. For me, saying grandpa had been a sailor in the war was akin to saying grandpa was a union electrician. These were things he did for work and I had no real knowledge of what it meant. It was after he died and I came across old photos of his buddies, a Japanese flag, and blurry images of ships firing, that it sunk in that my grandpa had seen a significant slice in history unfold and he had been a part of it. His assignment was on a minesweeper that went in early October and gave support and aid throughout. This book focuses, understandably, on the carriers, battleships, etc. I am thankful to know more about what happened and what my grandpa’s photos must have meant to him.

[CoachJim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Battle for Leyte Gulf
by C. Vann Woodward

“The big picture is out of fashion among academics these days. That’s too bad, because the art of story telling with a broad sweep has been too often lost in all the attention to minute sociological detail.” Evan Thomas in the foreword.

With this quote I was excited to start reading a history of the ”big picture” of World War II or at least the picture of the battle for Leyte Bay. I have mentioned before about histories that give so much information about the pilots, the planes, the squadrons, the ships, and the descriptions of their flights that I get lost in the details. The author mentions only a few individuals other than the Admirals and other major players in this event.

I did get a good sense as to the sequence of events during this battle.

But I think in this book we missed some of the heroism. The fact that the Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts of Northern Group attacked the Japanese fleet composed of ships much more powerful than they was a major event of this battle. I thought it was treated rather lightly.

Also the ordeal suffered by the sailors of the sunken ships, who had to endure days in shark-infested waters was only briefly mentioned.

This book gave a greater summary of the decision of Halsey of take his fleet and run north after the Japanese decoy, leaving the entrance to the San Bernardino Strait unguarded.

There is a fair treatment of the failures of both sides to capitalize on the circumstances of the battle. This can probably be attributed to the confusion of war. There is a great deal made of the miscommunications on both sides, but this was 1944, not our current instant access to everything going on everywhere.

Woodward in the final chapter takes Admiral Kurita to task for not following through and attacking the landings on Leyte. But he also mentions Halsey’s battleships traveled hundreds of miles back and forth without firing shot, while Kurita escaped with 6 of his battleships.

While this battle is described as the last great naval battle, and it is one of the most written about battles I have read, it seems that it could have been different with better decisions.

One of the thoughts I had while reading this was that I first became interested in the history of World War II in high school — over 50 years ago. This book was first published in 1947. It is probably closer in style to the books I read then compared to the books I have been reading the last few years. I’m not sure what that means, but it might be fun to go back and read the books published shortly after the war. I have had arguments with people about wars and I don’t think there have been any wars in my lifetime worth fighting, but World War II was a war worth fighting. The sailors, soldiers, pilots, and leaders, who saved the world, deserve to be praised.

[Robin Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent accounting of the battle. I would have preferred perhaps a bit less bomb-by-bomb detail of individual ship encounters and a lot more analysis of the strategic and tactical decisions. In the end, the author is quite critical of Japanese failures but not as much the American ones, which were astounding. Were it not for the prior mauling of the Imperial fleet's air power (something the US understandably did not have good intelligence on), the US might well have lost this battle, resulting in disaster for the invasion force. And that would have been on Halsey's shoulders, as well as those of King, Marshall and Roosevelt, who allowed a major action to go forward with a dual command structure.

[A.S. Ember · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s not my cup of tea, but it’s well organized and decently presented. Biased beyond a doubt, but Woodward makes some effort, not to be bipartisan, certainly, but to be at least semicritical of his own side once in a while, which considering how quickly this was published after the war has got to count for something. Casual record of mass deaths, though, while almost unavoidable in a record of warfare, just sucks. Sigh.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good analysis of the battle, including input from the Japanese side. Well researched and well written, with clear statements as to when the actual records are not available. It is, perforce, high-level (there are other books that provide much more detail about specific actions, like the heroic sacrifice of the DDs and DEs in the face of heavy warships that were attacking the carriers they were assigned to escort), but that does not detract from either its quality or usefulness.

The only problem - and it's endemic to ebooks - is that you can't move back and forth easily to look at the illustrations (in this case maps). The quality of the maps also suffered in the reproduction.

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a liiiiiitle bit racist and nearly impenetrable unless you already have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the various military personnel involved as well as all the aircraft and ships. I don't think it's a good idea to still refer to the "Oriental mind" as if that was a thing. The author's insistence on calling the Japanese "the enemy" and his occasional use of racial slurs diminish the experience of reading what was already a confusing storm of dense facts recited in a dry voice.

[James Currin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm no judge of military history, but I enjoyed this book and learning of the strategy and tactics of a very decisive 4 days during WWII. War is hell, but it's also very stupid. I don't think we'll ever learn.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways it was the death struggle of the Japanese Navy.

C. Vann Woordward’s account of the battle of Leyte Gulf is thrilling military history, chronicling the final clash between the U.S. and Japanese fleets near the Philippine Islands that would ultimately give Allied forces hegemony over the Pacific seas. The scale of the battle is epic as battleships, carriers, destroyers, submarines, and aircraft duel, and Woodward offers a detailed (but amazingly comprehensible) account of the fight’s strategy and tactics. More importantly, Woodward loses none of the drama of the battle or the heroics of the sailors and airmen who fought that day, giving a riveting account of men at war. You can fairly hear the smack of waves, the pounding of guns, and the screech of diving aircraft.

Just as importantly, Woodward doesn’t just recount the story of the battle, he also does a good job of answering the ‘why’ of things, climbing into the heads of the battle’s leaders. Why did Admiral William Halsey take the power U.S. 3rd fleet on what amounted to a ‘wild goose chase’ halfway through the battle, leaving elements of the U.S. 7th fleet fairly at the mercy of the Japanese? And why, when those ships were at his mercy, did Japanese Admiral Takeo Kurita retreat instead of attack? Drawing on interviews taken from both sides after the armistice, Woodward digs deep into the minds of the commanders on that day, noting that save for a few crucial decisions and a few key mistakes, the Battle of Leyte Gulf might just as easily been an ignominious defeat for the Allies rather than a turning point victory.

Given that the Battle of Leyte Gulf is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in world history, it’s a bit of shame – and yet another testament to capriciousness of history – that most Americans have probably never heard of the engagement. Woodward’s book is the perfect vaccine for that particular ill – dramatic and readable – a daredevil account of a pivotal moment in history.

P.S. Woodward originally wrote his account of this event in 1947 -- nearly contemporary to the war itself. As the preface admits, new information has come to light regarding the battle in the intervening decades, information that simply was not available to Woodward at the time he wrote his account. Despite it's age and these imperfections, Woodward's telling is still quite good and far from stodgy.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing in clear, concise language, C. Van Woodward gives a post-War recounting of the last major naval battle of World War II in the Pacific. His description of this grand American victory shows how nearly the reverse outcome occurred, as Japan’s attack strategy, by ruse and self-sacrifice, drew a major portion of the American forces far from the center of the action. Woodward analyzes the moment at which Japanese victory seemed imminent just before its dominating force abandoned the attack and turned away from the potential decimation of American soldiers invading Leyte under cover of the naval battle. As the battle builds, Woodward’s tale becomes ever more gripping, as sailors and pilots carry on heroically in the face of explosions, fires, strafing, sinking ships, lowering and disappearing supplies of ammunition, flight missions in which empty fuel tanks were inevitable. Failures of coordination, intervening weather conditions, differing leadership personalities all played important roles throughout the course of this widespread, critical engagement. Battle for Leyte Gulf is a captivating read!

[DanielL · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Battle for Leyte Gulf by C. Vann Woodward is a well-written account of an incredible WW2 naval battle, but it is NOT a book for everyone. For me, I was overwhelmed by the book and, at times, I found it hard to follow.

I have little knowledge of naval strategy and tactics, and terminologies and jargon, which made it difficult for me to follow and appreciate all the details of the book. I was able to get the basic gist of the naval battle for Leyte Gulf, but that’s about all I got out it.

I read Kindle version of The Battle for Leyte Gulf. The maps in the Kindle version are difficult, if not impossible, to read which made it difficult for me to clearly understand the movement and positioning of ships and planes.

[William M. Bone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book I enjoyed reading to get a better idea of how/why things led up to the US and Allies liberating the Philippines. I read it on a Kindle and would have liked to be able to see some maps and charts to better understand where things happened and get an idea of the distances involved. The book has some maps but are too small on the Kindle to be useful. I did set up my laptop on Google Maps as I read some of it. Some of the early chapters trying to sort out fleets, battle groups, and different commands and sub-divisions was tedious and confusing, (kind of like trying to read the book of Numbers in the Bible). But once the battles start it much easier to follow and worth every minute spent on the early chapters. To be fair I knew very little about WW2 History in this arena, so I was almost beginning from scratch. If you have a good general knowledge of how the war in the Pacific progressed you will thoroughly enjoy this book. I really didn't have a good general knowledge and found it quite worthwhile.

[Jeff Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was published in 1946. At the time, I can see where he American public would be snatching up this book as everyone thirsted to know more about the battles their husband, brothers and relatives fought and died for.
That aside, there is nothing riveting in this work. It is a broad stroke of the three battles that encompassed this complex situation.
This is a republished version so why are there no maps and why are there so many grammatical issues. As I’ve stated in many other reviews, if they are going to re-release original works, it is time to take the time to make it a bona-fide work and not some cookie cutter, let’s get it out work. I’m really getting tired of the laziness publishers are guilty of today.
Three stars and that’s generous.

[David W Musal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very detailed description of a complex battle

The level of detail in this book is excellent. It is well written, but required me to read some parts for a second time, just to make sure I understood it. That is not the fault of the author, for this was the largest battle of the war. It stretched out over three days and hundreds of miles of complicated territory.
The information gathered from the Japanese commanders really helped in understanding why they acted in ways which seemed puzzling at the time.
All in all, a good detailed description of a very complex and strategic battle.

[Keith W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prof. Woodward actually served with the U.S. Navy as an historian during the Second World War so he was well situated to write this book after the war. It is incredibly well written. Some think Prof. Woodward had perhaps the best writing style of all 20th Century American historians and I would not disagree with that. Later accounts of the Battle of Leyte Gulf had the benefit of access to classified government records that were not available to Prof. Woodward when he wrote this book but it nevertheless has still stood the test of time as an outstanding account of this, one of the biggest naval battles in all of human history.

[Greg Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting After Action Report on the Largest Naval Battle of WW2

Picked this book up through the History Book Club. Having served in the U.S. Navy in the Philippines as part of a long-range aviation patrol squadron I became interested in this particular battle. Woodward's narrative is both entertaining and descriptive. The only things missing are a glossary of terms and acronyms and detailed maps for each of the separate battles. Naval history buffs should enjoy the insights into both the allied and Japanese strategies and tactics during this great battle for the ultimate control of the western seas.

[Lyden Orbase · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me clarify that the two-star rating is not for the book but for my puny brain.
I barely got halfway through.
I couldn't understand anything and it's not the author's fault. I really think it is well written, detailed with all the names, places and dates, the battles thoroughly described. Now the problem is that my brain couldn't process the military procedures and strategies accounted here.
This is for readers who are familiar with war tactics and such; this is not suitable for me. I just can't.

[Stephen Landstreet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leyte Gulf was the largest naval engagement in the history of world warfare, and while Woodward's book (originally published in 1947 not long after the battles, which occurred over 3 days in 1944) does a good job of describing it, the Kindle version comes up really short. On the plus side this edition was free to read with Prime. The downside was that this ebook contains no maps (which were in the original version), and unless you're very conversant with the geography of the Eastern Philippines, it's very difficult to follow the progression of events.

[Joe Watterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always thought of myself as a history buff but I knew nothing about the largest naval battle of the Second World War. Hundreds of ships were involved (of which 28 Japanese and 12 US were sunk) in the US victory. The loss of aircraft was frightful (255 USA planes and about 300 Japanese planes). Casualties were high. The decision made day by day of the admirals of both sides were extremely interesting and the bravery of our sailors/airmen detailed once again proves the value of our Greatest Generation.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book last spring while attending a scale modeling contest and swap meet in Monticello, Iowa. (Thank you, Virgil Stanbary!) I got around to reading this starting last week and could not put it down. It was originally published just after World War II, but this account is most readable and accurate. I finally got to read an authoritative account of World War II's largest naval battle--and the last major fleet action to date--and found it most informative and enjoyable. Definitely recommended for World War II and naval history fans.

[Ellen McNerney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historically Important

I spent a good portion of 1967 serving onboard the USS Intrepid off the coast of Vietnam.
As a member of VA-34 I worked on one of the best airframe designs ever, theA4 Seahawk.
With all that was required of a squadron at war we never had to deal with the possibility of a counter attack.
These men chronicled here were the "Greatest Generation". We should never forget.

[jim brunnworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, needed more illustrative support

The story could have been much better with a more maps. The Northern fleet here, the middle fleet there, the southern fleet someplace else, would've been better understood, not only with more maps, but larger, more frequent and more readable ones. There was, I thought too little discussion of Halsey's actions, there effects, and Adm. Nimitz's reaction to his decisions.

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first history of the battle and one that still holds up. It helps that Woodward was one of the greatest historians of his era. As such the book perfectly balances narrative with analysis. Its shortcomings, save perhaps the analysis of Kurita's actions, have more to do with new evidence coming to light since 1947. It is a testament to the book's quality that it has rarely gone out of print.

[Peter Hoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly detailed and documented. Difficult to follow without constant reference to maps and other supporting materials, which is a failing of Kindle. In that respect, it helps underscore the fact that no on can witness a big naval battle in person. The witness only sees a few bits and pieces and needs to wait for the book and the film to come out to have any idea what happened.

[William D Deniston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honor

The men in our military both then and now and the majority of our country men back then. Knew and know the meaning of DUTY HONOR COUNTRY as opposed to the countrymen today who think with a selfish mentality and in some cases surged forged minds. Read this book and God willing you will learn the meaning of loyalty to our Country and HONOR to your life.

[James S · Rating 4 out of 5]

1947 story of the battle of Leyte Gulf

This is probably the best early book explaining the battle of Leyte Gulf. There is no ending section giving a summation of leadership successes or failures.

As with most military history ebooks there is little to none of maps, tables of information, etc.

[Richard Prusinowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

The book is a very good analysis of the battle and a detailed description of the ship and air movements. I read the book on my iPhone so I was unable to read the footnotes in conjunction with the reference numbers. I would have preferred the notes be on the page of the reference number.

[Bryan Thomas Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down and I have to tell you it was really well written history and examination of World War II’s largest naval battle which settled around the Philippines and which basically put the Japanese Navy out of the war. If you’re interested in the Philippines or World War II history it is a must read. Highly recommend it

[Ray Savarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, complete coverage of the biggest fleet actions in the Pacific in WW2. I'd read other versions of this, but this linked together like 5 different engagements that were all related, I never put that together before. Kudos to the bravery of all those involved, and glad it turned out well for our side.

[george howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The turning of the tide

This is a very interesting and analytical account of the naval battles of WWII well researched and written. I am glad we "won"; but at a terrib!e loss of life....roving bathe theory " War is Hell"

[James Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great American Historian

Professor Woodward was able to objectively dissect the plans together with the shortcomings of commanders on both sides while giving due to our naval heroes.