Formosa Air Battle

Date: October 16, 1944 • Location: Tokyo, Japan

A four-day air battle over Taiwan ended with a decisive American victory, destroying hundreds of Japanese aircraft and military facilities.

The Formosa Air Battle, 12–16 October 1944, was a series of large-scale aerial engagements between carrier air groups of the United States Navy Fast Carrier Task Force and Japanese land-based air forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The battle consisted of American air raids against Japanese military installations on Taiwan during the day and Japanese air attacks at night against American ships. Japanese losses exceeded 300 planes destroyed in the air, while American losses amounted to fewer than 100 aircraft destroyed and two cruisers damaged. This outcome effectively deprived the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet of air cover for future operations, which proved decisive during the Battle of Leyte Gulf later in October.