What was the biggest naval battle ever fought?

The Battle of Leyte Gulf (which occurred on October 23–26, 1944) was the biggest and most multifaceted naval battle in history. It involved hundreds of ships, nearly 200,000 participants, and spanned more than 100,000 square miles. Some of the largest and most powerful ships ever built were sunk, and thousands of men went to the bottom of the sea with them.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest aircraft carrier battle in U.S. history. It involved fifteen U.S. fleet and light carriers, nine Japanese carriers, 170 other warships and some 1,700 aircraft. In terms of tonnage, the U.S. Fifth Fleet's Task Force 58 was the largest single naval formation ever to give battle.

The overall war effort at Leyte was the first and most decisive operation to regain the Philippines. Effective American combat strategies were skillfully used. Once the Battle of Leyte was lost, the Japanese gave up hope of retaining the Philippines. Japan gave the Allies a critical location where they could easily cut Japan off from outside resources. It was a place from which final assaults against Japanese home islands could be launched.

In the end according to war historians and critics, the large cost to the U.S. Navy at the Battle of Leyte was absolutely worth it. A final victory over Japan was inevitable when Japan lost this naval battle in 1944.