What Do You Know About the Naval Battles of WWII?

The Battle of Leyte Gulf wasn't just the biggest naval battle of WWII. It may also have been the biggest naval battle in human history. Its consequences were equally massive.

In October 1944, the Allies (mostly American and Australia sailors) clashed with the Japanese navy. The battle evolved into a clash of immense proportions.

Roughly 400 ships fought at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and most of them belonged to the Americans. The Americans hoped that a victory there would help them later launch an invasion of Japanese-held islands in the South Pacific.

The Japanese knew an American invasion was imminent. They used every navy ship they had left in an effort to stop the American advance. The resulting battle involved 200,000 men and sprawled over about 100,000 square miles.

In 1939, the Battle of the Atlantic began, as the Axis and Allies wrestled for control of the seas. It became the longest (and most continous) battle of the entire war.

In the Battle of the Atlantic, German U-boats (submarines) prowled the seas, sinking military and merchant ships by the hundreds. Allied captains feared "wolfpacks" of German U-boats, which used coordinated attacks.

Fought in May 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea was the first naval battle ever in which aircraft carriers duked it out. But the ships never even laid eyes on each other, instead using air power to fight.

At the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese navy realized that American aircraft carriers were nearby -- so they set out to find the U.S. fleet and destroy it as quickly as possible.

The Japanese navy was largely successful at the Battle of the Coral Sea, sinking one major carrier and killing nearly 700 Allied sailors. But it wasn’t a long-term win.

As the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Japanese commanders knew they were in dire straits. They sent kamikaze (suicide) pilots to dive bomb American ships … sometimes with horrifying success.

It was a lopsided fight. The Japanese trounced the Allies, killing about 2,300 sailors … while losing just 36.

With the devastation of Pearl Harbor still fresh in their minds, U.S. sailors were very motivated at the Battle of Midway, which took place six months later. Midway was an incredible turning point of WWII.

While the war in Europe raged, so to did the Pacific War. It dragged on for more than 3.5 years, as the Japanese refused to surrender even when it was clear that they'd lose the war.

The Allies basically lost the Battle of the Coral Sea. But they did manage stop a major Japanese offensive -- and it was the first time in WWII that they'd managed that feat.

On December 7, 1941, a "date which will live in infamy," the Japanese used a surprise navy attack to blast Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack drew the U.S. into WWII.

Midway Atoll is a tiny fragment of land in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. It became famous during the Battle of Midway.

German subs were relentless in the Battle of the Atlantic. They sank 3,700 Allied ships, mostly merchant vessels.

German sub crews were deadly in their efficients, sinking 3,700 enemy ships. They lost just under 800 subs in the process, or about 30,000 sailors.

At Midway, the Japanese sent a huge navy force in hopes of crushing the U.S. Pacific fleet. Their hope was to gain total control over the Pacific in an effort to defeat America.

American code breakers figured out the date and location of the Japanese attack at Midway. The Americans set a trap … and the Japanese sailed right into it.

During Leyte Gulf, the USS St. Lo earned a sad place in history -- it was the first major ship ever to be sunk by a kamikaze attack. The planes struck an area where aircraft were being refueled, causing massive chain-reaction explosions.

For the Japanese, it was a horrifying development -- they lost 630 warplanes in just two days at the the Battle of the Philippine Sea. It was a harbinger of things to come.

In April 1945, the Japanese sent their last real group of ships to Okinawa in a desperate attack … one they knew was suicidal. The Allies decimated Operation Ten-Go before it ever reached the island.

The Yamato was the biggest battleship in the world. But Operation Ten-Go was doomed from the start, as American air superiority blasted the Yamato and other ships with relentless attacks.

At the Battle of the Coral Sea, the USS Lexington was struck by Japanese warplanes. She survived the initial fight but was so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled a few days later.

Half a year after the devastation of Pearl Harbor, the Americans got their revenge. They sank four Japanese carriers at Midway … a fact that changed the course of the Pacific War.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a last-gasp attack by the Japanese navy. It lost dozens of ships in the fight and basically ceased to exist as a fighting force.

During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, American forces blasted hundreds of Japanese planes out of the sky. It was such a lopsided victory that the Americans called it the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot."

A Japanese dive bomber struck the bullseye during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The USS Princeton caught fire and exploded multiple times before finally sinking into her watery grave.

At the Battle of the Philippine Sea, numerous factors converged -- like better training, improved weapons, and more -- and the result was a virtual slaughter of Japanese forces.