BATTLE OF SURIGAO STRAIT

Before dawn of 25th October 1944, the U.S. Seventh fleet under the command of Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid engaged the Japanese fleet known as the Southern Force under Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura in a night battle at Surigao Strait. This force, later joined by the Fifth Fleet under Vice Admiral Kiyode Shima, was decisively defeated by the American armada consisting of some battleships that were present at Pearl Harbor on 07 December 1941 during the Japanese sneak attack of this U.S. base that led to World War II.

Not quite a few naval historians described the battle of Surigao Strait as one of the greatest sea battles in history. It was definitely the last major surface engagement of such magnitude and also the last one where the classic "T" formation was achieved, in this case by the American force, against an enemy fleet.

The victory of the Seventh fleet at Surigao Strait saved the liberation force of General Douglas MacArthur at Leyte which landed there on 20 October 1944 from possible annihilation.

What Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the "Hinge of Fate" finally turned irreversibly in favor of the Allied Forces in the Pacific at Surigao Strait.