Leyte Gulf - USS Natoma Bay CVE-62

Some of Oldendorf's cruisers, hunting for cripples, sank the
bowless Asagumo and put more shells into the retreating
Mogami, which was finished off later that morning by Seventh
Fleet carrier planes. Army aircraft sank the Abukuma the
following day.
THE BATTLE OFF CAPE ENGAÑO
Toward midnight of October 24 Sherman's carrier group had
joined Bogan's and Davison's off central Luzon. Mitscher
then assumed tactical command, and the three groups
proceeded together on course northeast with aircraft
searching ahead for the enemy. The scout planes, a little
after 0200 on October 25, made radar contact with two
separate surface forces - Ozawa's main body and his advance
guard heading for a rendezvous. Mitscher thereupon ordered
Admiral Lee to form Task Force 34, now enlarged to include
all six battleships in the carrier groups, including
Halsey's New Jersey. In anticipation of a possible night
battle, TF 34 took station 10 miles ahead of TF 38.
The Northern Force, which had regrouped at 0600,
comprised one fleet and three light carriers, two carrierbattleships,
three light cruisers, and eight destroyers.
Ozawa now had only 29 planes, all with experienced aviators.
Mitscher, on his five fleet and five light carriers, had 787
aircraft with superbl trained flyers. On October 25 these
planes attacked the Northern Force six times.
The first strike, which reached the Japanese a little
after 0800, was met by a dozen or so Zeros. These were
quickly destroyed, though not before they had shot down one
Avenger. The American planes then bored in through intense
and accurate antiaircraft fire to get at the vessels. A
destroyer, bombed amid-ships, exploded and promptly went
down. The light cruiser Chitose, with three hits at the
water line, very slowly rolled over and sank. In the first
attack the cruiser Tama and the fleet carrier Zuikaku,
Ozawa's flagship, each took a torpedo but remained afloat.
The second strike, at 1000, left the light carrier Chiyoda
disabled, afire, and listing.
The torpedo explosion in the Zuikaku had disabled
both her steering engines and her radio transmitter.
24 Leyte Gulf