Note 21 — Chapter VI · The Japanese Reaction

On the 24th, after receiving a report from the submarine, the carriers of the Third Fleet sent aircraft to search to the west and southwest. These aircraft sighted the main part of the 1st Diversion Attack Force south of Mindoro, and sighted and attacked the smaller force under Admiral Nishimura off Negros, slightly damaging a battleship and a destroyer. The aircraft of the carriers from their position off San Bernardino Strait struck repeatedly at Kurita’s force while the smaller Nishimura force was left to the battleships in the gulf. One Japanese battleship of the 1st Diversion Attack Force was sunk, one heavy cruiser rendered impotent, and minor damage was inflicted on other battleships. The Japanese were forced temporarily “to reverse course to westward.”21