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This is the second volume in a two-part illustrated study of the October 23-26 Battle of Leyte Gulf, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese.In the epic naval battle of Leyte Gulf, crucial roles were played by the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Northern and Southern forces. The Northern Force was a key part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's SHO-1 plan: its mission was to lure the US Navy’s Task Force 38 to the north, which would allow the Japanese Center Force to attack into Leyte Gulf. The success of this decoy operation would prove to be the most controversial part of the battle, with US Admiral William Halsey ordering Task Force 38 to head north, creating an opportunity for Center Force.The Imperial Japanese Navy's Southern Force (and the small, unattached Shima Force) fought the Battle of Surigao Strait on October 25. In this key clash, the Japanese were attempting to enter Leyte Gulf from the south, but encountered the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, resulting in the last battleship

Written by US Navy expert Mark Stille, this book offers a unique insight into the Standard-type classes of US battleships in World War II. It provides a detailed investigation into the histories of ea

Lavishly illustrated, this book studies the role of airpower in the New Guinea battles of 1942-43, as the Allies checked and halted Japan's last significant offensives. Mark Stille and John Rogers offer a new history of a previously neglected part of the South Pacific air war - the battles over New Guinea and the waters around it. The first of two books on the subject, drawing on Japanese, American and Australian sources, it details operations from March 1942 until May 1943, which saw the Allies stop the last Japanese efforts to expand their faltering empire. Allied air operations focused on denying the Japanese the use of the sea to send reinforcements to New Guinea, during the battles for Buna and Gona, the unsuccessful and little-known Japanese invasion at Milne Bay, and the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in which a major Japanese effort to move troops to New Guinea was crushed by air power. While the Japanese had over-extended and lost operational focus, the Allies were successful in i

The striking power of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier-­based attack aircraft was established at Pearl Harbor, and the IJN’s carrier-­based torpedo­ and dive-­bombers showed their prowess again at

From the stunning victory at Pearl Harbor to its dramatic reversal at Midway, the Imperial Japanese Navy swept all before it in its numerous victories in the Pacific and Far Eastern waters. The Imperi

Battles at Dogger Bank and Jutland revealed critical firepower, armor, and speed differences in Royal Navy and Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) Battlecruiser designs.Fast-moving and formidabl

American Navy cruisers built prior to World Wat II saw extensive action throughout the Pacific War, in both surface actions like Guadalcanal, and carrier battles like Midway.Designed and produced unde

The forgotten story of the major naval operations conducted in the Philippines by the US and Japanese navies after Leyte Gulf up to the US invasion of Luzon in January 1945. The events that took place in the aftermath of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 are often overlooked by military historians. An impressive array of naval operations continued in the Philippines up to January 1945, which included (on the Japanese side) the largest convoys to a contested island during the war, the first kamikaze campaign, and the second largest Imperial Japanese Navy surface operation during the last nine months of the conflict. On the American side, US forces were involved in efforts to cut off Leyte from enemy reinforcement, a massive amphibious invasion off Luzon, and large-scale operations by the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38). Expert naval historian Mark Stille throws new light on this often forgotten phase of the Pacific naval war. Among the actions covered are the battles for Ormoc Ba

After suffering devastating losses in the huge naval battles at Midway and the Soloman Islands, the Imperial Japanese navy attempted to counter-attack against the US forces threatening the Home Island

In 1916, in the seas near Jutland, two fleets of armoured dreadnoughts met in open battle. This book tells the story of the British and German battleships of these two great fleets - from their develo

The Japanese advance into Southeast Asia was the key operation in the series of Japanese attacks in the opening months of the War in the Pacific, and the entire plan was based on the successful applic

The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marine or RM) began the Second World War with one of the largest fleets in the world. Included in this was a total of 59 fleet destroyers, and others were added during t

In October 1944, the US prepared to invade the Philippines to cut Japan off from its resource areas in Southeast Asia. The Japanese correctly predicted this, and prepared a complex operation to use the remaining strength of its navy to defend its possessions. This is the first in a two-part study of the October 23-26 Battle of Leyte Gulf, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese. In The Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Imperial Japanese Navy's Center Force, took part in two major actions during the course of the battle: the intense air attacks from US Navy carriers on October 24 (the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, which accounted for super battleship Musashi), and the compelling action off Samar the following day. A considerable body of myth surrounds the latter, since most accounts of the Samar fighting assume it to have been a crushing Imperial Japanese Navy victor-- in truth, the result was anything but that. This book examines in detail why, following the Samar action, the Imperia