Crossing the T is a tactic in naval warfare, in which a line of
battleships crosses in front of a line of enemy ships, allowing
them to bring all their guns to bear while receiving fire from only
the forward guns of the enemy. It became possible in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the advent of
steam-powered battleships with rotating gun turrets, which were
able to move faster and turn quicker than sailing ships.
Battle of Surigao Strait—The last time a battle line crossed the
T, this engagement took place in the Philippines during World War
II. Early on October 25, 1944, Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf was
guarding the southern entrance to the Leyte Gulf at the northern
end of Surigao Strait. He commanded a line of six battleships (West
Virginia, Tennessee, California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and
Mississippi), flanked by heavy and light cruisers. A smaller
Japanese force under Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura came up the
strait, unaware of the American force. Oldendorf crossed the T and
unleashed his firepower on the Japanese ships, which were either
sunk or forced to withdraw. This was the last time the T was
crossed in an engagement between battleships, and in fact was also
the last occasion ever on which one battleship fired its main
armament at another.
