"Longshaw" sortied with TG 38.3, 6 October for intensified airstrikes in preparation for the Philippines invasion. Planes from the carriers hit airfields on Okinawa, Luzon, and Formosa, 10 to 13 October. "Longshaw", in the screen, shot down one Japanese torpedo bomber during the furious Formosa air battle on the 12th. The fast carriers continued their operations in support of the invasion of Leyte, hitting the Philippines airfields steadily until the night of 24 October, when the mighty armada turned northward to engage the Japanese northern force the next day in the Battle off Cape Engaño. In a series of crushing airstrikes, American naval aircraft sank the remnants of Japan's carrier force.