Battle of Surigao Strait

24–25 October 1944, Surigao Strait, between Leyte and Dinagat

Decisive American victory

The last battle ever fought between battleships. Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force, two old battleships, a heavy cruiser and four destroyers, came north through the Surigao Strait in the dark to attack the landings in Leyte Gulf, with Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's three cruisers and four destroyers some way behind. Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf had laid a trap across the north end of the strait. Thirty-nine PT boats harried Nishimura on the way in; then American destroyers attacked in three waves down both sides of the strait. Their torpedoes blew up Fusō and sank or crippled three destroyers, and Yamashiro was hit. At 03:51 Oldendorf's six battleships, five of them raised or repaired after Pearl Harbor, crossed Nishimura's T and opened fire by radar, with eight cruisers on their flanks. Yamashiro sank with Nishimura and almost all her crew, and Mogami was set on fire. Shima arrived, fired torpedoes at nothing, collided with the burning Mogami and turned back. Of Nishimura's seven ships only Shigure came out.

USA + Australia

62+ ships, 1 lost

United States Navy

60+ ships, 1 lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
USS West Virginia Fired first, by radar, at 22,800 yards	Battleship Colorado class	Survived
USS Maryland	Battleship Colorado class	Survived
USS Mississippi Fired the last salvo	Battleship New Mexico class	Survived
USS Tennessee	Battleship Tennessee class	Survived
USS California	Battleship Tennessee class	Survived
USS Pennsylvania Never found a target with her old radar	Battleship Pennsylvania class	Survived
USS Louisville Oldendorf's flagship	Heavy cruiser Northampton class	Survived
USS Portland	Heavy cruiser Portland class	Survived
USS Minneapolis	Heavy cruiser New Orleans class	Survived
USS Denver	Light cruiser Cleveland class	Survived
USS Columbia	Light cruiser Cleveland class	Survived
USS Phoenix	Light cruiser Brooklyn class	Survived
USS Boise	Light cruiser Brooklyn class	Survived
USS Remey First destroyer attack	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS McGowan First destroyer attack	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS Melvin First destroyer attack; torpedoed Fusō	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS McDermut First destroyer attack	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS Monssen First destroyer attack	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS Hutchins Second destroyer attack	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS Killen Second destroyer attack; torpedoed Yamashiro	Destroyer Fletcher class	Survived
USS Albert W. Grant Third destroyer attack; hit by both sides	Destroyer Fletcher class	Damaged

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Other destroyers	about 19	0
PT boats PT-493 was sunk; PT-137 torpedoed Abukuma.	39	1

Flotillas and other craft

Number

Lost

Other destroyers

about 19

PT boats

PT-493 was sunk; PT-137 torpedoed Abukuma.

Royal Australian Navy

2 ships, none lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
HMAS Shropshire	Heavy cruiser County class	Survived
HMAS Arunta Second destroyer attack	Destroyer Tribal class	Survived

Ship

Type

Outcome

HMAS Shropshire

Heavy cruiser

County class

Survived

HMAS Arunta

Second destroyer attack

Destroyer

Tribal class

Survived

Imperial Japanese Navy

14 ships, 6 lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
IJN Yamashiro Nishimura's flagship	Battleship Fusō class	Sunk
IJN Fusō Torpedoed by Melvin	Battleship Fusō class	Sunk
IJN Mogami Set ablaze, rammed by Nachi, then bombed; scuttled by Akebono the next morning	Heavy cruiser Mogami class	Scuttled
IJN Yamagumo	Destroyer Asashio class	Sunk
IJN Michishio	Destroyer Asashio class	Sunk
IJN Asagumo Lost her bow; finished off by cruisers at dawn	Destroyer Asashio class	Sunk
IJN Shigure The only one of Nishimura's ships to come out	Destroyer Shiratsuyu class	Damaged
IJN Nachi Shima's flagship; rammed Mogami	Heavy cruiser Myōkō class	Damaged
IJN Ashigara Shima's force	Heavy cruiser Myōkō class	Survived
IJN Abukuma Torpedoed by PT-137; sunk by bombers the next day	Light cruiser Nagara class	Damaged
IJN Kasumi Shima's force	Destroyer Asashio class	Survived
IJN Shiranui Shima's force	Destroyer Kagerō class	Survived
IJN Akebono Shima's force	Destroyer Fubuki class	Survived
IJN Ushio Shima's force	Destroyer Fubuki class	Survived

Map

Nishimura's Southern Force to Surigao Strait 22–25 October 1944