Word: halsey
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Alerted by the submarines' contact reports, Bull Halsey ordered his carriers to launch air strikes against Kurita'and opened the Battle of Sibuyan Sea on Oct. 24. In all, Halsey's planes made 259 sorties, sinking battleship Musashi, putting heavy cruiser Myoko out of action and damaging several others. (Halsey's carrier Princeton was fatally wounded by a land-based Japanese Judy, the only one of scores of Philippine-based planes to score.) As the battle went against him, Kurita reversed course, as if retiring, then turned back toward San Bernardino Strait...
...there was a real Japanese plus in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea: Halsey mistook Kurita's original reversal of course for genuine retirement, believed the overenthusiastic damage reports of his carrier pilots, and decided Kurita was out of the fighting. Meanwhile, Halsey had discovered the approach from the north of Admiral Ozawa-thanks to Decoy Ozawa's zealous efforts to get himself found. Jap carriers? They were Halsey's meat. With a blurry and misunderstood message to Seventh Fleet, he ordered his entire Third Fleet to head north after Ozawa-leaving San Bernardino Strait wide open...
...Seventh Fleet's 16 escort carriers-"baby flattops"-of Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's Task Group 77.4 were operating off Samar without knowing that 1) Halsey had taken off after Ozawa or 2) Kurita had come through unguarded San Bernardino Strait and was only minutes over the horizon. A half-hour later, Kurita's shells began splashing around "Taffy 3," one of Task Group 77-4's three task units, under Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague...
...while, Halsey was hallooing after Ozawa with the mightiest force afloat: Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 38, with five fleet carriers, five light carriers, six new battleships, two heavy cruisers, six light cruisers and 40 destroyers. Ozawa had one fleet carrier, three light carriers, two battleships converted into carriers, three light cruisers, nine destroyers...
Mitscher launched his first strike at 0540, Oct. 25; during the day Task Force 38 planes made 527 sorties, sank three carriers and a destroyer and crippled a fourth carrier. U.S. surface ships and submarines sank the crippled carrier, a light cruiser and a destroyer. But Bull Halsey was not around for the slaughter; for hours he had been getting urgent queries as to his whereabouts, desperate requests for help off Samar. At 1055 Halsey gave in to the pressure, ordered a large part of his force to turn back south -and went with them. By the time...