This documentary tells the story of the Japanese Imperial Navy’s spectacular fall from grace, focussing on the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf. This formidable nautical force, which would be officially dissolved following the Japanese defeat of 1945, had roots the early medieval period, and had reached a peak of activity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a time of rich cultural exchange with European powers.

Comparatively small and backward until America forced its ‘open door’ trade policy on Japan in 1854, the country’s navy was modernised extensively following the Meiji restoration. By the outbreak of World War Two, the IJN had already done battle with powerful adversaries like Russia and China; it was the most sophisticated navy in the world.

Although the IJN enjoyed spectacular success during the early stages of World War Two, it was obvious by 1944 that Japan’s naval strategy was unravelling rapidly. We examine the dramatic events of the ‘Battle of Leyte Gulf’, which occurred in October of that year. In one of the most uneven naval battles in history, a Japanese fleet led by the mighty Yamato, faced Taffy 3, a small U.S. task unit of tin can destroyers and baby flat-tops.

On 25 October, two of Admiral Shoji Nishimura’s battleships – the Yamashiro and the Fuso - were fatally crippled by destroyer attacks. The actions of American destroyers during the Battle of Samar (which formed part of the Leyte Gulf Battle) saved the aircraft carriers of Taffy 3 from being pounded by the Yamato and its accompanying vessels. Although the USS Gambier Bay, along with two destroyers and in destroyer escort, was lost in due to surface action, the battle still resulted in a decisive Allied victory.

Of the five ships which had entered the Battle of Leyte Gulf, only the Yamato remained combat worthy. The ship would soon be dramatically sunk after being sent on a ‘suicide mission’ against the US Navy forces massing for the attack on Okinawa, the final battle of World War Two. On 7 April 1945, the vessel was sunk by shots from successive waves of US carrier based aircraft. The glory of Imperial Japan, and the splendor of the country’s navy, sunk with it.