SAN FRANCISCO, Calif — – The San Francisco Fleet Week Association and Bataan Legacy Historical Society will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 5 p.m., in the Crystal Ballroom of the Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel at 609 Sutter St., San Francisco.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a series of four battles, which took place from Oct. 23 to 26, 1944, in the Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, Samar, and Cape Engaño, which covers 100,000 square miles. The battles took place immediately after the beginning of the liberation of the Philippines on Oct. 20, 1944, when approximately 200,000 troops landed on the shores of Leyte.
Although the Allied Forces outnumbered the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lack of a unified command structure almost resulted in a strategic disaster, were it not for the sacrifice of the tin-can sailors of the U.S. 7th Fleet’s Taffy 3 task group. This would be the last nail in the coffin for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, U.S. Navy (ret.), director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, will speak about the history and significance of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Navy Cmdr. Brian Harrington, commanding officer of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), will speak about the ship’s deployment and how the legacy of this historic battle has shaped its mission. Mr. Neil Ferrer, Consul General of the Philippines in San Francisco, will speak about the close relationship between the U.S. and its longest ally in the Pacific, the Philippines.
Keynote speaker, Vice Adm. Toribio Adaci, Jr., Flag Officer-in-Command of the Philippine Navy, representing the Secretary of National Defense of the Philippines Gilberto Teodoro, Jr., will speak about the geopolitical situation in the Philippines and military cooperation with its allies to safeguard the Philippines and the surrounding area. Rapporteurs will include Prof. (ret.) James Armstead, Naval War College; Assoc. Dean Surinder Rana, Defense Language Institute; and Prof. (Emeritus) Larry Martinez, California State University Long Beach.
Eighty years after this historic battle, the geopolitical situation in the Pacific is reaching unprecedented heights, and the Philippines is once again being tested, albeit by a different adversary, China.
–With Jay Domingo/PDM