light carrier Princeton that ignited explosions, causing her to be scuttled. At the same time, Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi launched strikes from airfields on Luzon against Halsey's forces, with one bomber scoring a hit on the U.S. One wave of aircraft from the Third Fleet also struck Nishimura's Southern Force, causing minor damage.
BOYS PICS FROM THE DESTROYER MAGAZINE SERIES
Subsequently, the carriers of the Third Fleet launched a series of air strikes against Kurita's forces in the Sibuyan Sea, damaging several vessels and sinking Musashi, initially forcing Kurita to retreat. One of the cruisers lost was Admiral Kurita's flagship, but he was rescued and transferred his flag to Yamato. After alerting Halsey, the submarines torpedoed and sank two cruisers, while crippling a third and forcing it to withdraw. On the night of October 23, the American submarines Dace and Darter detected Center Force entering the Palawan Passage. Nishimura's flotilla included two battleships and would be followed by Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima with three cruisers. Kurita's Center Force consisted of five battleships, including Yamato and Musashi, the largest battleships ever built, escorted by cruisers and destroyers. The landing forces, stripped of air cover by the Third Fleet, would then be attacked from the west and south by Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force, which would sortie from Brunei, and Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura's Southern Force. The overall Japanese strategy at Leyte Gulf-a plan known as Shō-Go 1-called for Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa's Northern Force to lure the American Third Fleet away from the Allied landings on Leyte, using an apparently vulnerable force of Japanese carriers as bait.
![boys pics from the destroyer magazine boys pics from the destroyer magazine](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nqUAd2jZEpc/ThuZUO6jB3I/AAAAAAAAAlQ/TVU6Xa7Gyek/s1600/11.jpg)
It was the only major action in the larger battle in which the Americans were largely unprepared. The Battle off Samar ( Filipino: Labanan sa may Samar) was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on October 25, 1944.