5 biggest naval battles in World War 2 history

World War II was the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. This global war involved most of the countries and territories in the world at that time; and has the direct participation of more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. 

Fierce fronts were opened across land, air and sea; and in fact, World War II is credited with some of the greatest naval battles in human history, including the Battle of the Atlantic – a military campaign spanning a period of more than 5 years. months, until the Germans were completely defeated in 1945. 

Even so, even when described as the 'longest, largest and most complex' naval engagement in history, some experts argue that the Battle of the Atlantic was in fact a series of battles that took place in the Pacific Ocean. out in different locations. 

In terms of more 'traditional' face-to-face engagements, the following battles top the list of the largest naval battles of the entire Second World War.

First: Battle of Cape Matapan (March 27–29, 1941) – Submerge Italy's ambitions for hegemony in the Mediterranean.

The Battle of Cape Matapan is believed to be one of the largest naval skirmishes ever in the Mediterranean Sea. This was a war between the Royal Navy of Great Britain with the support of the Royal Australian Navy on one side, and the Regia Marina Navy of the Kingdom of Italy on the other. 

It is essentially the answer to who will be the hegemon of the Mediterranean in 1941!? England or Italy?

Dictator Benito Mussolini may have dreamed of building a new Roman Empire, turning the Mediterranean into Italy's Roman lake again, calling it 'our waters'; in the end it was a dream that didn't come true. 

At the start of World War II, the British maintained control of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal; at the same time has a powerful task force stationed in the island nation of Malta. 

Meanwhile, Nazi Germany's Hitler was unable to dispatch any surface ships in the Mediterranean to support his ally Mussolini, forcing Italy to act alone in these waters. 

In March 1941, an Allied fleet consisting of: an aircraft carrier, three battleships, seven light cruisers and 17 destroyers engaged the Italian fleet including the newly built flagship. , the modern battleship Vittorio Veneto, with six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 13 destroyers. 

Hitler's army incorrectly warned the Italians that the British had only one battleship in service and no aircraft carriers. And what was even worse for Mussolini's Navy was that the British Navy intercepted Italian communications and launched a surprise attack off Cape Matapan, southern Greece. 

Results after 3 days of fighting: Five Italian ships were sunk and two others badly damaged. About 2,300 Italians were killed, and 1,015 others were captured. On the Allied side, only three sailors were killed, along with four of the cruisers damaged. 

The Battle of Cape Matapan was a major victory for the British Royal Navy and a complete defeat for the Italian and Axis Navy; at the same time opening a series of naval battles of even more scale and fierceness; This time on the Pacific front.

Second: Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942) – Japan's victory looks like defeat.

This naval battle served as a prelude to a much more important engagement that would follow a month later: the famous Battle of Midway. However, the Battle of the Coral Sea is still remarkable in that it was the first battle in naval history in which the warships of the two sides never actually saw each other. 

It was also the first time aircraft carriers engaged in combat and where most of the fighting was conducted in the air.

The Battle of the Coral Sea took place in the waters between Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, with the participation of about 27 ships from the US Navy; and on the other side were 53 ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It should be noted that no battleships were involved in this engagement. Yet both sides are ready to fight. 

About 650 American troops were killed in the fighting, while that number on the Japanese side was more than 900.

The US Navy suffered more heavy losses, losing 3 ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, while the USS Yorktown was also heavily damaged. The Japanese lost only one light aircraft carrier, Shōkaku – however this battle destroyed a large number of their aircraft, up to 92 of the 127 that took part in the battle, so many that the second carrier was destroyed. three Zuikaku of the Japanese army lost their entire air wing. 

As a result of the battle, the Japanese Empire was then forced to halt the invasion of Papua New Guinea; also for Tokyo, the battle of the Coral Sea was a Pyrrhic Victory in the truest sense; that is, a victory that inflicts terrible losses on the victor which is, therefore, tantamount to defeat.

As for the Americans, they had some advantage before the decisive battle a month later in the Pacific theater – the Battle of Midway.

Tuesday: Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942) - The most famous Naval Battle of World War II.

The Battle of Midway has been the subject of at least two major movies, dozens of books and thousands of articles. 

This famous battle is often seen as an important turning point in the Pacific theater; and that makes perfect sense. 

The United States Navy began the engagement with a fleet of three aircraft carriers, seven heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and 15 destroyers; while the Japanese Navy began with a fleet of four aircraft carriers, two battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and 12 destroyers.

During the Battle of Midway, ruse played a decisive role for the United States Navy. Washington cryptanalysts had begun cracking Japanese communications codes as early as 1942 and learned weeks in advance that the Japanese military was planning an attack in the Pacific at a location they called is 'AF'. 

American officials suspected that it was Midway Island and decided to set up a trap by trying to send a false message from the base, informing that Midway was suffering from a severe shortage of fresh water. Soon after, Japanese radio operators sent the Japanese fleet in the Pacific a similar message about 'AF'; that gave the Americans enough basis to confirm the location of the attack being targeted by Tokyo: 'AF' was Midway Island to be exact. 

So, when the Japanese Navy attacked Midway, the US Navy prepared its forces there. 

In addition, the Japanese also made the mistake of assuming that the US aircraft carrier USS Yorktown would not be able to operate at Midway, having been damaged in the previous Battle of the Coral Sea. But in reality, the carrier was repaired in just two days at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, and then sent straight into battle.

When the smoke cleared after three days of fighting, the US Navy finally lost Yorktown and another destroyer forever; but the Japanese Navy saw four large aircraft carriers and one heavy cruiser sunk. The US forces lost about half – about 150 – of their aircraft, while the Japanese lost all 248; and more importantly, the loss of their most experienced pilots. 

The Battle of Midway was not a knockout, but it was still an extremely heavy loss for the Japanese Navy.

Wednesday: Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944). The Great Turkey Shooting in the Mariana Islands. 

Even after its defeat at the Battle of Midway two years earlier, the Imperial Japanese Navy was still a real fighting force – and Tokyo's carrier fleet was still considered a significant threat. 

But that was no longer the case after the Battle of the Philippine Sea, as this engagement essentially eliminated the Japanese ability to conduct large-scale carrier operations.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the largest aircraft carrier combat operation of World War II, and the US Navy had the advantage of engaging a fleet of seven large aircraft carriers and eight carriers. small aircraft, seven battleships and more than 100 other ships. The Japanese Navy has three large aircraft carriers, as well as six small aircraft carriers and five battleships. 

At the end of the engagement, one American battleship was damaged; On the Japanese side, two large aircraft carriers and one small aircraft carrier were sunk.  

Given the severely disparate loss rates inflicted by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners on Japanese aircraft, the aerial combat of this engagement became known as the 'Great Chicken Shooting of the Mariana Islands'. 

It is estimated that the Japanese side had 550–645 aircraft destroyed and 2,987 soldiers killed, while the figure on the US side was 123 aircraft destroyed and 109 soldiers killed. 

But as with other battles, the Japanese military kept the extent of this loss a secret from the domestic public.

Fifth: Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 23-26, 1944) – The largest naval battle in human history.

Often considered the largest naval battle in history, although there is still some controversy, the Battle of Leyte Gulf took place in late October 1944 off the coast of the Philippines, near the islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon. 

Nearly 200,000 men, hundreds of warships, aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and thousands of aircraft took part in the great battle spread out over 100,000 square miles of sea. 

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks; It was also the last naval battle between battleships in history. 

Never before has any sea skirmish seen so many large battleships.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was also notable in that it involved the U.S. Navy's Third and Seventh Fleets, which consisted of about eight large, eight small, along with about eight large aircraft carriers. 18 escort carriers and a dozen battleships. 

After four days of fighting, Allied forces finally won a decisive victory over the Japanese Navy, at the cost of more than 3,000 casualties. The losses on the Japanese side were reported to be much larger; with 12,500 casualties and one large carrier, three small carriers and three battleships destroyed. 

In terms of statistics, it is easy to see why the Battle of Leyte Gulf is absolutely considered the greatest naval battle in history; although some historians argue that this skirmish was actually a combination of four major side battles taking place at the same time.  

Regardless, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was still a punchline for the Imperial Japanese Navy! The Japanese army was then never able to set sail with an equivalent force, as the force ran aground for lack of fuel in their bases for the rest of the war.