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Yamato opens fire with her forward 18.1" batteries early in the morning of October 25, 1944.

Upon sighting the carriers and destroyers of Taffy 3 on the morning of October 25, 1944, Yamato opened up with her 6 forward 18.1" rifles at the distance of 20 miles.

According to the IJN YAMATO Record of Tabular Movement (linked at the index page): "YAMATO's F1M2 "Pete" spotter plane confirms that the first salvo is a hit. The carrier starts to smoke. Three six-gun salvos are fired on the same target, then the fire is shifted to the next carrier. It is concealed immediately by a smoke screen made by the American destroyers."

[The accuracy of these reports, given the distances quoted, is in question - see the discussion accompanying the following photo.]

The USN destroyers stage a heroic desperate counterattack using torpedoes and 5" gun fire that quickly take two Japanese cruisers out of action (one has her bow blown off by a torpedo fired by the USS Johnston), another is hit repeatedly on her superstructure by 5" shells as she stops to assist the first stricken cruiser.) Taffy 3 planes sink a second cruiser later on during the battle.

This engagement goes down in USN lore as "The last stand of the tin-can Navy " - "tin-cans" being slang for destroyers.

The near-suicidal attacks by USN destroyers on the cruisers and battleships of Center Force save most of Taffy 3's escort carriers from destruction.