Taffy 3's escort carriers existed chiefly to support the Leyte landings rather than fight a surface fleet. Without battleships, cruisers, or fleet carriers, the formation depended on destroyers and destroyer escorts to create smoke, launch attacks, and buy time for aircraft to get airborne. Comparable Royal Navy escort groups often included a Dido-class cruiser as a command ship, while the Americans relied on an escort carrier for command. That difference in force structure determined which ships had to absorb the immediate shock at Samar.
Notable Point · 23:44-25:51
Why Taffy 3's destroyers had to lead the defense
Taffy 3 was built to support troops ashore, leaving its destroyers as the only frontline surface combatants when Kurita's force appeared.