Today marks the 71st anniversary of The Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in modern history. In preparation for Allied landings to retake the Philippine Islands, the U.S. 7th and 3rd Fleets engaged what remained of the Imperial Japanese Navy (EDIT: Thanks, NovaBuckeye!) in and around the waters of Leyte Gulf in what would become the last great sea battle of the war between battleships.
Creating a successful diversion with carriers virtually devoid of aircraft, the Japanese led Admiral Bull Halsey's carrier striking group on a wild goose chase away from the islands. Meanwhile, Japanese surface forces attempted to converge on the Allied landing forces by sending ships through the Surigao and San Bernadino Straits. In some of the fiercest ship-to-ship fighting of WWII, the men and ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet achieved one of the most convincing Naval victories of the war. Among the six battleships that fought at Leyte, were five ships damaged or 'sunk' at Pearl Harbor less than four years prior: USS West Virginia, USS Maryland, USS Tennessee, USS California, and USS Pennsylvania.
This battle remains one of the largest of its kind in history: approximately 200,000 men and 282 American, Japanese, and Australian ships spread over more than a hundred thousand square miles of air, land and sea. Because of its unique joint (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines participated) and allied cooperation, the Battle of Leyte Gulf is still taught at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI.
I know of at least one 11W who's relative fought off Samar, and I'm sure their might be a few others out there. There aren't too many left, so please give them a 'thank you' this weekend if you know or meet a WWII veteran.
http://www.usni.org/heritage/slideshows/leyte-gulf
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari1/p/leytegulf.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-leyte-gulf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf
http://www.usni.org/store/books/recently-published/battle-leyte-gulf
