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The Battle off 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 25 October 1944. As the only major action in the larger battle where the Americans were largely unprepared against the opposing forces, it has been cited by historians as one of the greatest military mismatches in naval history.

Adm. William Halsey, Jr. was lured into taking his powerful 3rd Fleet after a decoy fleet. Thus only three escort carrier groups of the 7th Fleet remained in the area. A powerful Japanese surface force of battleships and cruisers that were thought to have been defeated and in retreat instead turned around unobserved and stumbled upon the northernmost of the three groups, Task Unit 77.4.3 ("Taffy 3"). Taffy 3's destroyers and destroyer escorts desperately attacked with 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal guns and torpedoes, while carrier aircraft dropped bombs and depth charges. While U.S. vessels leading the counterattack suffered heavy personnel losses, they sank or disabled three Japanese cruisers and caused enough confusion to persuade the Japanese commander, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, to regroup and ultimately withdraw, rather than advancing to sink troop and supply ships at Leyte Gulf. --Wiki



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