Seventh Fleet intercepts of organizational messages from Halsey to his own task group commanders seemed to indicate that Halsey had formed a task force and detached it to protect the San Bernardino Strait, but this was not the case.
7. flåde opsnappede operationelle meddelelser fra Halsey til sine egne gruppechefer, og de tydede på at Halsey havde dannet en indsatsstyrke og sat den til at beskytte San Bernardino Strædet, men det var ikke tilfældet.