Vice Adm. Ozawa Jisaburo stood an imposing six-foot-seven inches and had a taut face that showed the years of strain at being at the forefront of naval combat throughout the war. His stony countenance earned him the nickname “The Gargoyle.” He was, along with the deceased admirals Yamamoto Isoruku (shot down over the Solomons) and Yamaguchi Tamon (who went down with his carrier Hiryu at Midway), perhaps the most respected sailor in the Combined Fleet. He’d commanded naval forces in the South China Sea, and then at the Philippine Sea.
Now stooped in the bridge of his flagship, the fleet carrier Zuikaku—the only carrier from the original Pearl Harbor attack force still afloat—he must have felt both anguish and resignation at what he knew the next few days would bring. Having sailed from Japan and shadowed Halsey’s task force as it left Formosan waters, his Decoy Force (technically Third Mobile Fleet) was now cruising in an area of sea called Cape Engaño off the northeast tip of Luzon. Although the highest ranking admiral in the Sho-Go1 operation, Ozawa had accepted this selfless role for the better good of Japan. He would knowingly sacrifice his mobile fleet by luring Halsey’s fast battleships and carriers away from the waters off Leyte, clearing a path for Kurita’s Center Force.
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