The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon from 23 to 26 October 1944 between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), as part of the invasion of Leyte, which aimed to isolate Japan from the colonies that it had occupied in Southeast Asia, a vital source of industrial and oil supplies.
USS West Virginia (BB-48) was the fourth dreadnought battleship of the Colorado class, though because Washington was cancelled, she was the third and final member of the class to be completed. The Colorado class proved to be the culmination of the standard-type battleship series built for the United States Navy in the 1910s and 1920s; the ships were essentially repeats of the earlier Tennessee design, but with a significantly more powerful main battery of eight 16-inch (406 mm) guns in twin-gun turrets. West Virginia was built between her keel laying in 1920 and her commissioning into the Navy in 1923. The ship spent the 1920s and 1930s conducting routine training exercises, including the typically-annual Fleet Problems, which provided invaluable experience for the coming war in the Pacific.
USS Claxton (DD-571), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Thomas Claxton, born in Baltimore, Maryland.
USS Denver (CL-58) was a Cleveland-class light cruiser. Denver launched on 4 April 1942 by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey; sponsored by Miss L. J. Stapleton, daughter of the Mayor of Denver; and commissioned on 15 October 1942, Captain Robert Carney in command. It was the second ship named for the city of Denver, Colorado.
The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War.
USS Newcomb (DD-586) was a Fletcher-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the only ship named for Commodore Frank H. Newcomb of the United States Revenue Cutter Service, Congressional Gold Medal recipient from the Spanish–American War.
USS Norman Scott (DD-690) was a United States Navy Fletcher-class destroyer named for Rear-Admiral Norman Scott (1889–1942), who was killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and awarded the Medal of Honor.
USS Killen (DD-593), was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy.
USS Hutchins (DD-476), was a Fletcher-class destroyer, of the United States Navy named after Naval aviator Lieutenant Carlton B. Hutchins (1904–1938), who though mortally injured, was able to remain at the controls of his aircraft and allow his surviving crew to parachute to safety and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
USS Irwin (DD-794), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Rear Admiral Noble E. Irwin (1869–1937).
USS Twiggs (DD-591), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Marine Major Levi Twiggs (1793–1847).
USS Bush (DD-529), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant William Sharp Bush, USMC, who served on the Constitution during the War of 1812.
USS Heywood L. Edwards (DD-663) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named after Lieutenant Commander Heywood L. Edwards (1905–1941), captain of the destroyer USS Reuben James, the first U.S. Navy ship sunk in World War II. Following the war, the ship was transferred to Japan and renamed Ariake. The ship served with the Japanese until 1974 and was scrapped in 1976.
USS Richard P. Leary (DD-664) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. In 1959, the ship was transferred to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and renamed Yūgure. The destroyer remained in service with the Japanese until 1974, when she was returned to the US, who then sold the ship for scrap in 1976.
Shigure was the second of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and the first to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program. Along with the destroyer Yukikaze, she developed a reputation within the Imperial Japanese Navy for being "lucky" or "unsinkable", emerging undamaged from several battles and as the sole surviving Japanese warship from two. As the flagship of Captain Tameichi Hara's Destroyer Division 27 Shigure received a prominent place in the memoirs of the only Japanese destroyer captain to survive the entire Pacific War and write about his experiences. Shigure was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Blackfin in the Gulf of Siam on 24 January 1945.
Momi was a Matsu-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) built during World War II. Completed in late 1944, the ship was designed as an anti-submarine escort and defended convoys between Japan and its occupied territories during the war. She was sunk with the loss of all hands on 5 January 1945 by an American torpedo bomber in the South China Sea.
Robert Ward Hayler was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of vice admiral. He was a three time recipient of the Navy Cross, the Navy's second highest military decoration for valor. Two of these awards were received while serving as the commanding officer of the light cruiser USS Honolulu at Guadalcanal and Kula Gulf and the third as a rear admiral and Commander, Cruiser Division Twelve during the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944.
Hinoki was one of 18 Matsu-class escort destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Completed in September 1944, the ship began convoy escort duty on 25 October. She damaged an American submarine in December after it had sunk an aircraft carrier in one of her convoys. In January 1945, Hinoki was one of the escorts for a convoy to Manila, the Philippines. While trying to leave Manila Harbor several days later, her small convoy was discovered by the Americans and fruitlessly engaged by American and Australian ships detached from their own convoy. After the Allied ships had disengaged, the Japanese ships were attacked by American aircraft that sank one of Hinoki's sister ships and damaged Hinoki. Two days later the destroyer attempted to leave Manila again, but she was discovered not long afterwards by American destroyers who sank her in a gun duel with the loss of all hands.
United States
