Edited sentence: But Johnston and her little escort carrier task unit had stopped Admiral Kurita's powerful Center Force in the Battle off Samar, inflicting greater losses than they suffered.By this time, planes of "Taffy 2" and "Taffy 1" and every available unit of the Fleet were headed to assist "Taffy 3".The escort carrier  was also sunk.Two of four Japanese heavy cruisers were sunk by combined surface and air attacks, and Admiral Sprague was soon amazed by the sight of the retirement of Kurita's entire fleet.and  also sacrificed themselves to save the escort carriers and to protect the landings at Leyte