Though separated by nearly six months, the battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf are inexorably linked. Both reflected the emergence of naval aviation as the U.S. Navy’s principal weapon. Together they completed the destruction of the Imperial Japanese Navy. For the U.S. Navy, the battles also stirred controversy that resonated long after Japan’s surrender. Cmdr. C.C. Felker, military professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, examines the war in the Pacific in 1944, including the debate about the decisions made by Adm. Raymond Spruance, Fifth Fleet commander at the Philippine Sea, and Adm.William Halsey, Third Fleet commander at Leyte Gulf.

These battles offer a fascinating look into the doctrinal, strategic, technological, and operational dimensions of the war in the Pacific and the complexity of command in modern naval war.

CODE: 1H0-515