Admiral Halsey took command of the 5th Fleet and led it on the greatest amphibious leap of all, 2500 km to the Philippines, uniting with MacArthur's forces. The Japanese rushed three fleets to stop the Americans from landing. The Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines which then followed was really a series of battles spread over four days. It was the greatest naval operation in history.

The Japanese fleets attempted a great pincers movement to meet in Leyte Gulf where the American transport ships were landing troops.

The Japanese fleet was defeated. Fleet under Ozawa, approached, hoping to act as a decoy and lead the US fleet under Halsey away from Leyte Gulf. This worked perfectly: Halsey took all his fleet, with sixteen carriers, to chase it. This left the third Japanese fleet under Kurita, with four battleships, free to destroy the US transports in Leyte Gulf, protected only by sixteen small escort carriers.

Kurita, however, who had not heard that Halsey's fleet had been lured away, mistook the escort carriers for armoured fleet carriers. The escort carriers dodged skilfully through rain showers and behind smoke screens. The heavy Japanese armour-piercing shells passed right through them without exploding. Just as the Japanese battleships seemed about to sink the American carriers, Kurita called off the action and withdrew. The American transport fleet in Leyte Gulf had a miraculous escape. MacArthur then set out to free the Philippines from Japanese rule: 'People of the Philippines! I have returned,' he proclaimed on landing at Leyte. In early 1945 the Americans took Manila.

After the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese, in desperation, made the first use of 'Kamikaze' attacks. Japanese pilots ready to die for their country made suicide dives onto Allied ships in planes loaded with bombs. This stemmed from the religious belief that to die in battle won a man a place in heaven. Kamikaze attacks proved to be extremely dangerous. The Allied fleet was ringed with destroyer pickets with radar, directing fighters onto the Kamikazes, stopping most but not all. Small ships met the Kamikazes sideways on for maximum firepower, making full speed to present a moving target. The Kamikazes' speed of descent was so great that their controls became locked by air pressure and they could not manoeuvre. There were no survivors to question about methods. Kamikaze attacks sank 34 US ships and badly damaged 288 others but the Kamikaze did not halt the Allied advance on Japan.