USS Princetown hit

24th October 1944: In a day of continuous action the Japanese naval forces suffer devastating losses - but one Japanese bomber gets through ...

One of the largest battleships ever built, the Musashi under heavy attack from US planes during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, 24 October 1944. A series of bomb and torpedo attacks throughout the day crippled her, and she eventually sank in the evening. She had been hit by an estimated 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs.

In what some regard as the largest Naval engagement in history, certainly in World War II, the US 3rd and 7th Fleets clashed with the Imperial Japanese Navy off the Philippines between the 23rd and 26th October in the Battle of the Leyte Gulf. The Japanese Navy massed in strength, attacking from several directions to try to halt American landings on the Philippines.

Leyte Gulf consisted of a series of engagements, each one of which would be considered a significant naval battle. The 24th October saw the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, during which US planes bombed and sunk the Musashi, one of the largest battleships ever built.

During this engagement, Commander David McCampbell, USN, commanding Air Group 15, successfully shot down nine enemy aircraft whilst breaking up the group of 60 aircraft before they had a chance to reach the U.S. Navy fleet. For his actions, McCampbell was awarded the Medal of Honor. At the end of the month he had thirty kills,

US carrier based planes were largely successful in preventing the Japanese planes getting through to their own ships. However, it would only took one plane to get through the screen to cause serious damage.