(3 of 3)
At 0630, Oct. 25, the 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.
Taffy 3's situation was desperate: its six little carriers (each with a single 5-in. gun), three destroyers and four destroyer escorts made no match for Kurita. All "Ziggy" Sprague could do was to make smoke, launch his aircraft and run for his life. In the running fight, Kurita lost three heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and three destroyers. But Sprague lost two destroyers, a destroyer escort, one baby flattop (another, the St. Lo, was sunk later by a Japanese kamikaze). He took hits on two carriers, a destroyer and destroyer escort and seemed doomed to far worse. Then came an amazing turnabout. Still recovering from his swim off Palawan Island, bedeviled by the destroyers, Kurita broke off the action, headed back through San Bernardino Strait. Said Admiral Clifton Sprague later: "The failure of the enemy ... to completely wipe out this task unit can be attributed to our successful smoke screen, our torpedo counterattack . . . and the definite partiality of Almighty God."
Battle off Cape Engaño
All the 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 he got back to Leyte Gulf, the great battle was over. With it died the Japanese navy and any chance that it could protect Japan's island lifeline.