Feydakin

Why didn't Admiral Kurita(IJN) smash the landing forces in Leyte he had the numbers plus the biggest guns 18inch Yammamato while Halsey was chasing *** carriers he could have caused much havoc but chose to retire early plus why did Halsey chase the japs and leave the landing taskforce he was supposed to be covering . I have been reading about the battle but their is no clear explanation given by both sides

dalem

Because Kurita was shocked and dismayed by the vicious fight he encountered from a bunch of fat, lazy, and cowardly round-eye destroyers and jeep carriers. No Samurai he, he tucked his tail between his legs and steamed for home.

As far as Halsey, he swallowed the Japanese bait hook, line, and sinker and chased after the "prize" carriers, abandoning the Leyte landing force to the other half of the Japanese trap.

-dale

Dreadnought

When asked about Halseys decision IMO I dont know what kind of info he had nor what his bosses intentions were. Stupid..the man wasnt' for all we know he could have had other concerns to think about... In battle hind sight is 20/20 and lets also keep in mind he was the last 5 star admiral we ever had

__________________
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

TopHatter

To add to what dalem already said:

Kurita lost his nerve. Go back and read everything that had happened to him up until that point.
He'd already had his flagship shot out from under from by US submarines, and then he witnessed the horrifying weight of US airpower smothering HIJMS Musashi

The destroyers, destroyer escorts and escort carriers of Taffy 3 were consistantly misidentfied during the Samar engagement as Baltimore-class cruisers and Essex-class carriers.
The damage his force suffered at their hands was certainly commensurate with that of a heavy force (rather than the tiny tin cans that were actually there).

Even worse was the constant air attacks launched by the Taffys during the attack.
Hardly a moment went by when some American aircraft would strafe the hell out of his ships with heavy machine gun fire (and in the case of one pilot, his .38 caliber revolver ) or even just a bluff attack by torpedo planes, forcing the Japanese ships to break off pursuit on the chance that the Avenger pilot really did have a torpedo.

Kurita's flagship Yamato was forced back by a destroyer-launched torpedo attack that reversed him right out of the battle pretty much for good.

Chaos, confusion, the fog of war and the absolute conviction that the worst was still yet to come had a powerful influence on Kurita.

Anon

Why is this in the landwarfare forum?

TopHatter

Excellent point.

Feydakin

sorry too many late nights clicked the wrong topic

Dreadnought

Hehehehehe All battle plans go to **** when the first nose is bloodied.

deadkenny

With naval battles it's often hard to understand the decisions that were made at the time in the light of hindsight. These decisions were often made with little time for reflection, based on incomplete or even inaccurate information. Often the psychological state, biases and assumptions of the commanders at that point in time were crucial in the decision making process. Naval commanders of that, and earlier, eras were often force to make key decisions based on little more than their 'gut' instinct - which could be disasterously wrong.