Two forces sailed from Japan.The first was Vice Admiral Shima's Second Strike Force, with the heavy cruisers Nachi and Ashigara, two light cruisers, and four destroyers.The other was the Main Body ,commanded by Vice Admiral Ozawa.This force included the four carriers Zuikaku, Zuiho, Chitose,and Chiyoda, the battleship-carriers Ise and Hygua, three cruisers and eight destroyers.The First Striking Force sailed from Singapore under Vice Admiral Kurita and was composed of all of the rest or the Japanese heavy units.Again, this force was divided.Under Force A, was Vice Admiral Kurita himself with 5 battleships, 11 cruisers, and 15 destroyers.Force C, under the command of Vice Admiral Nishimura, was composed of 2 battleships, 1 cruiser, and 4 destroyers.The Japanese ships were ordered to arrive off of Leyte in the early hours of October 25, 1944.The plan was that Force A would head into the Mindanao Sea, the Sibuyan Sea, and the San Bernidino Strait to approach Leyte.Force C was to cross the Sulu Sea and approach Leyte from the Suriago Strait from the south.Ozawa's force was to lure Halsey's carriers away from Leyte.Since Ozawa had only 100 aircraft, it was a suicide mission.But, the Japanese plan went wrong even before the battle.Force A was spotted by the American submarines Darter and Dace.They sank the cruisers Atago and Maya, and damaged the cruiser Takao so bad that it had to limp back to Singapore.On October 24, both forces were sighted by American scout planes of Halsey's 3rd Fleet, but before he could attack, Admiral Fukudome's land-based dive bombers made their attack against Admiral Sherman's Task Group 38:8.The bombers were driven back, though, but not before one dive bomber hit the light carrier Princeton's AV gas supply, causing her to explode.Meanwile, bombers from the carriers Intrepid and Cabot attacked the super battleships Yamato and Musashi and the battleship Nagato.They concentrated on the Musashi, which sank two hours later.Kurita then decided to make for Leyte during the night and withdrew.Halsey, convinced that his planes had beaten off Force A, sighted Ozawa's force at 1540.So, he headed north from San Bernadino Strait, leaving it without air cover and fallen for the rouse.Later that day, Force C had reached Surigao Strait, and made contact with Rear Admiral Oldendorf's force of six old battleships (most of them were at the Pearl Harbor attack).In thehe ensueing battle, the Japanese were under constant fire and the Americans sank the battleship Fuso and the destroyers Michishio and Yamagumo.The Yamashiro was hit and the Asagumo retreated.The Japanese were only able to hit the Grant, which had to be towed away.Finally, the Yamashiro was sunk with two torpedoes, with Admiral Nishimura on board.Then the rest of Force C retired.Shima had no news of what happened to Nishimura.When Shima saw the burning wreaks of the Japanese ships, he decided to withdraw.
Admiral Kinkaid recieved the astounding news that Rear Admiral Clifton Sprauge's Unit 3 of Task Group 77.4 was under attack.Kinkaid thought that Halsey left admiral Lee's carriers covering them and he sent urgent messages to Halsey.Sprauge's destroyers fought the Japanese battleships, but the fight was so lop-sided that it wasn't funny.The Japanese sank the destroyers Hoel, Johnston, and Roberts.The Gambier Bay, a light carrier, was also sunk.The Japanese also lost some, too.They lost the cruisers Suzuya, Chokai, and Chikuma, but, the cruisers Haguro and Tone were about to finish off the Americans when Kurita,who had lost sight of his force, ordered them to retreat.Meanwhile, Halsey's carriers found Ozawa.They sank the Chitose and damaged the Zuiho, Zuikaku, and Tama in the first strike.The second strike left the rest of Ozawa's carriers sunk or sinking.But ,Halsey had to break of due to the fact that Sprauge's force was under fire, and so ended the Battle of Leyte Gulf.