 Historian Samuel E. Morison noted in 1949 that Spruance was subjected to much criticism for not pursuing the retreating Japanese , thus allowing their surface fleet to escape . Clay Blair argued in 1975 that had Spruance pressed on , he would have been unable to launch his aircraft after nightfall , and his cruisers would have been overwhelmed by Yamamoto 's powerful surface units , including Yamato . Furthermore , the American air groups had suffered considerable losses , including most of their torpedo bombers . This made it unlikely that they would be effective in an airstrike against the Japanese battleships , even if they had managed to catch them during daytime . Also , by this time Spruance 's destroyers were critically low on fuel . 
