From the deck of an unidentified escort carrier of Task Unit 77.4.3 the Battle Off Samar is dramatically recorded by a camera lens. Six escort carriers flee for safety and are covered by a smoke screen created by their escorts which consisted of three FLETCHER Class destroyers and four smaller BUTLER Class destroyer escorts. In the amazing photograph above several heavy caliber Japanese shells land in the middle of the fleeing formation as all ships of the American task unit lay a defensive shield of thick black funnel and white chemical smoke. Their two and one-half hour engagement with the Imperial Japanese Navy Centre Force on October 25, 1944 resulted in the loss of one American CVE, two DDs and one DE.
