Owing to distorted, wildly optimistic damage reports by inexperienced rookie pilots, as well as a cultural tendency toward authoritarian gullibility, the Japanese convinced themselves that they had scored a major turning-point victory. The naval section of Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo issued an October 16 communiqué that claimed massive American losses of eleven carriers, two battleships, three cruisers, and one destroyer, with eight more carriers and other surface ships badly damaged. Proving that one person’s retreat is another’s redeployment, the Japanese claimed that Halsey had
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