Ralph Eugene Davison was an early United States Naval Aviator who later became one of Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's Fast Carrier Admirals in the Pacific theatre during World War II.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon from 23 to 26 October 1944 between combined American, Australian and Filipino forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), as part of the invasion of Leyte, which aimed to isolate Japan from the colonies that it had occupied in Southeast Asia, a vital source of industrial and oil supplies.