The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Death Knell of the Japanese Fleet

In October 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy, driven to desperation, set out to surprise and annihilate the American forces that had just landed on the central Philippine island of Leyte. Instead, they suffered a crushing loss that broke the back of the Japanese navy and ensured that Japan would lose the war. This is the blazing hour-by-hour account of that brutal battle.