Navy Task Force #8

As the American advance closes in on the Japanese homeland in 1944, Japan commits its remaining naval forces to one final, desperate gamble: Operation SHO, a three-pronged assault designed to draw off the U.S. Third Fleet and leave the invasion beaches at Leyte vulnerable to Admiral Kurita's central force. When American pilots spot the Japanese fleet steaming toward the strait, carrier-based dive bombers unleash a devastating barrage against the mighty battleships, but Admiral Halsey must grapple with a troubling question—where are the Japanese carriers that should have been spotted by now?

Admiral Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet lies in wait at Surigao Strait, ready to spring a trap on the Japanese Southern Force attempting to break through—and when the enemy arrives with battleships and cruisers in the night, the Americans unleash PT boats, destroyers, and battleship firepower in a devastating coordinated assault. As Admiral Nishimura's flagship is torn apart and subsequent Japanese forces stumble blindly into the overwhelming American defense, the Southern arm of the Japanese pincer begins to crumble.

Admiral "Bull" Halsey's Third Fleet hunts for a missing Japanese carrier force during the Battle of the Philippines, only to discover what appears to be a heavily damaged enemy fleet—but the Americans soon realize they've been drawn into attacking a decoy force while the real threat slips away. This 1956 war tale captures the high stakes of naval combat and the fog of war that can turn strategy on its head.

Admiral Sprague commands a desperate defense of the Seventh Fleet's escort carriers when a Japanese task force—led by Admiral Kurita—bears down on the lightly-armed American vessels guarding the Leyte beachhead. With the Third Fleet too far north to help, Sprague throws his outnumbered destroyers into the fray, hoping to hold the line long enough for reinforcements to arrive. "The Hawk is Among the Chickens!" captures the grim calculus of naval warfare, where courage and tactical brilliance must compensate for overwhelming odds.

A submarine commander tracks down a Japanese carrier during the tense landings at Mindoro in the Philippines, leading to a daring attack that turns the hunter into the hunted. When enemy destroyers close in with depth charges, the damaged sub must limp to safety on the ocean floor while her crew fights to survive the onslaught. This wartime tale of submarines and naval combat shows how one vessel's sacrifice shifts the balance of an entire operation.