Ka kammala wannan magana: Da sojojin Halsey suka fita daga hanya, Jafananci sun yi niyyar kai hari ga Allied
saukowa a kan Leyte. Amurka ta amsa tare da 'yan kalilan da suka rage, ƙungiyoyi uku masu jigilar jigilar jiragen ruwa na bakwai. An gina masu ɗaukar jiragen ruwa da masu ba da izinin ba da izini don kare jiragen ruwa masu jinkiri daga hare-haren jirgin ruwa, kuma daga bisani an daidaita su don kai hari ga manufofin ƙasa, amma suna da 'yan torpedoes, kamar yadda suke dogara ga rundunar Halsey don kare su daga jiragen ruwa na soja. Wadannan jiragen ruwa, da aka tsara a matsayin Task Unit 77.4.3 ("Taffy 3"), kuma ya umurce shi da Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, ba su da ikon wuta ko makamai don tsayayya da jiragen ruwa 23 na sojojin Japan, wanda ya hada da bindigogi na 18-inch na "Yamato", amma ya dauki mataki kuma ya kai hari. Baya ga jiragen ruwa da ke harbi Jafananci daga nesa, jiragen sama da suka hada da FM-2 Wildcats, F6F Hellcats da TBM Avengers, sun yi harbi, fashewar bama-bamai, torpedoed, rocketed, da kuma zurfin zurfin sojojin Japan har sai sun rasa bindigogi. Daga nan sai suka yi amfani da yaudara, ciki har da yawa "tashi" a kan jiragen ruwa na Japan. Da yake damuwa cewa yana fuskantar karfi fiye da yadda yake, kwamandan Jafananci Admiral Takeo Kurita ya yanke shawarar janyewa.