claimed four victories. Some of the surviving Japanese aircraft landed at Guam while others, including the 5 surviving B6Ns, returned to their carriers where they claimed one carrier definitely damaged and another probably hit. 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. Battle of Leyte Gulf After the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, prepared various contingency plans: Shō-Gō 1 ( ) was a major naval operation in the Philippines, while Shō-Gō 2 was intended to defend Formosa, the Ryukyu Islands and southern Kyushu. He activated Shō-Gō 2 after the Americans attacked the Philippines, Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands beginning on 10 October. This required the transfer of most of the 653rd Naval Air Group to Formosa and Luzon to attack the American forces, with only a few aircraft retained for carrier operations. Most of the 653rd's aircraft were fruitlessly destroyed when the Americans suppressed Japanese defenses in the Philippines, preparatory to the actual invasion. On 17 October Toyoda alerted the fleet that Shō-Gō 1 was imminent and activated the plan the following day after receiving reports of the landings on Leyte. Under the plan, Zuihō and the rest of Ozawa's carrier force were to approach Leyte Gulf from the north as a diversion from two other forces approaching from the south and west, with all three forces converging on the gulf on 25 October; the Main Body left Japan on 20 October. As decoys, the carriers were only provided with a total of 116 aircraft: 52 A6M5 fighters, 28 A6M2 fighter-bombers, 7 Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive bombers, 26 B6Ns and 4 B5Ns. By the morning of 24 October, the Main Body was within range of the northernmost