Wow. Did they ever. I read that book, and it left an impact on me. IIRC, they knew the battlewagons were coming, and every Man Jack of them knew they were the only thing in the way of those IJN ships having their way with the landing transports, but...they got in the way anyway.
Balls the size of bowling balls.
I heard they just found the wreck of the USS Johnston (DD-557) which was sunk at Samar, and it was a complete splintered wreck.
They found much of the ship but it was far from complete and as was described, the superstructure parts that were found were literally swiss cheesed from hits.
Here’s the video from the team that discovered it. The Johnston is the deepest warship wreck ever discovered and explored in history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb_801AIhU0