During the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944, the USS St. Lo and other escort carriers of Taskforce 74.4 faced an unexpected attack by a superior Japanese fleet, including the largest battleship ever built, the Yamato. Despite being outgunned, the American task force, through a combination of brave destroyer charges and relentless air attacks, managed to repel the
Battle of Leyte Gulf, (October 23–26, 1944), decisive air and sea battle of World War II that crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet, permitted U.S. invasion of the Philippines, and reinforced the Allies’ control of the Pacific. By autumn 1944 the Japanese had been dislodged from many key outposts in the southwest and central Pacific, and other Japanese-controlled islands had been allowed to wither on the vine. The United States capitalized on the success of its “island hopping” campaign by pouring men and matériel into its newly won bases. The change in territorial control, along with the enormous increase in U.S.