The Last Epic Naval BattleBy: David Sears By October, 1944, Japan's once mighty naval power was almost extinguished. But in one last desperate bid, the Japanese gathered and combined their forces to defeat the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy. With more ships engaged than there were even in the gargantuan World War I Battle of Jutland and 200,000 men fighting on the sea and in the air the Battle of Leyte Gulf was a hellish cacophony of cannon fire, murderous strafing