小沢治三郎
The landing on Leyte led to the activation of Operation Shō-Gō 1, the Japanese navy's planned riposte to an Allied landing in the Philippines. The plan was a complicated operation with three separate fleets: the Northern Force under Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa, the Center Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, and the Southern Force under Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura. Ozawa's carriers, by now depleted of most of their aircraft, were to serve as a decoy for Kurita's and Nishimura's battleships, which were to use the distraction to attack the invasion fleet directly. Kurita's ships were detected in the San Bernardino Strait on 24 October 1944, and in the ensuing Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, American carrier aircraft sank the powerful battleship , causing Kurita to temporarily reverse course. This convinced Admiral William F. Halsey, the commander of Third Fleet, to send the fast carrier task force to destroy the Northern Force, which had by then been detected. While these maneuvers were occurring, Nishumura's force approached the Surigao Strait to attack the invasion fleet from the south. His fleet consisted of the battleships and , the heavy cruiser , and four destroyers, supplemented by Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's Second Striking Force, consisting of the heavy cruisers and , the light cruiser , and four more destroyers.