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| | At two o'clock in the morning, the Japanese chased the last torpedo boats away, only to meet a [[destroyer]] division half an hour later. The American destroyers began firing [[torpedo]]s at 3 AM, hitting the battleship ''Fuso'' badly and slightly damaging the other (the ''Yamashiro''). One Japanese destroyer was also sunk, and two more were damaged badly. Not a single hit was scored on an American destroyer. Ten minutes later, a second torpedo attack was launched. The ''Yamashiro'' was hit again, though she did not stop, and a damaged destroyer was disabled. Nishimura took no turns or any kind of evasive action. | | At two o'clock in the morning, the Japanese chased the last torpedo boats away, only to meet a [[destroyer]] division half an hour later. The American destroyers began firing [[torpedo]]s at 3 AM, hitting the battleship ''Fuso'' badly and slightly damaging the other (the ''Yamashiro''). One Japanese destroyer was also sunk, and two more were damaged badly. Not a single hit was scored on an American destroyer. Ten minutes later, a second torpedo attack was launched. The ''Yamashiro'' was hit again, though she did not stop, and a damaged destroyer was disabled. Nishimura took no turns or any kind of evasive action. |
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| − | At 3:51 AM, the American battle line (which had capped the enemy's "T") opened fire on the three remaining Japanese ships: battleship ''Yamashiro'', heavy cruiser ''Mogami'', and destroyer ''Shigure''. | + | At 3:51 AM, the American battle line, (which had capped the enemy's "T") opened fire on the three remaining Japanese ships: battleship ''Yamashiro'', heavy cruiser ''Mogami'', and destroyer ''Shigure''. The ''Shigure'' escaped with one minor hit, but the ''Yamashiro'' and ''Mogami'' were pounded by a hail of shells ranging in size from six inch to sixteen inch. The six American battleships (''West Virginia'', ''Pennsylvania'', ''California'', ''Tennessee'', ''Maryland'', and ''Mississippi'')were undamaged; only one hit was scored on the destroyer ''Albert W. Grant''. |
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| | + | At 4:09 Oldendorf, hearing that several American destroyers were being hit by [[friendly fire]], ordered cease-fire. The ''Yamashiro'' was hit by two torpedoes and finally sank at 4:21, but the ''Mogami'' and the ''Shigure'' retired, meeting with Rear Admiral Shima's secondary force, which, seeing the destruction of the van, quickly retired. |
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| | + | ==Chase== |
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| | + | At 5:30 AM, the cruisers ''Denver'', ''Portland'', and ''Louisville'', in pursuit of the enemy fleet, spotted the shattered ''Mogami'', but, seeing her condition, decided she would sink on her own. She was later finished off by [[aircraft carrier|carrier]]-borne [[TBM Avenger]]s at 8:45. The crippled destroyer ''Asagumo'' was disposed of by ''Denver'' and ''Colombia''. |
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| | + | [[Category: Battles]] |