Marc Mitscher
At dusk, the Japanese turned away to the northwest to regroup and to refuel, while the Americans turned west to close the distance. Both sides launched aircraft the next day to locate each other; "Zuihō" launched three aircraft at 12:00 to search east of the fleet, but they did not find the Americans. The Americans discovered the retiring Japanese fleet during the afternoon and Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher ordered an airstrike launched. While their attack sank the carrier and damaged two others, "Zuihō" escaped unscathed and successfully disengaged that evening. By the end of the battle, Ozawa only had 34 aircraft intact. After reaching Japan on 1 July, the ship remained in Japanese waters until October, training replacements for her air group.