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Samar was certainly one of the most courageous battles of the US Navy (there have been a number).

Think of the guys fighting the Java Sea battles though - bad command structure, bad communications, bad intelligence, bad torpedoes. The enemy had air superiority. The enemy had numerical superiority. The enemy had much much more battle experience and better training. The enemy's officers were much more battle aware. Some of our officers were still thinking in a peace time mode.

The crews of those ships, American, British, Dutch and Australian must have know how badly the odds were stacked against them, yet they did their duty as best they could with what they had.

It says a lot for free men.

"IMO, the most couragous naval battle in the history of the U.S. Navy."

In case you (and others) haven't seen it...
Taffy 3's actions are part of a "Dogfights" episode that is suppossed to
re-air in a couple of days. (I say "suppossed" because The History Channel
occassionally doesn't deliver on advertized episodes!)

From The History Channel:

Dogfights : 08 - Death of the Japanese Navy
Airs on Tuesday January 16 11:00 PM
Airs on Wednesday January 17 03:00 AM
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=203424
In one of the most amazing yet lopsided naval battles in history, a
mighty Japanese fleet led by the Yamato, the biggest battleship in
the world, versus Taffy 3, a small U.S. task unit of tin can destroyers
and baby flat-tops. The U.S. fleet is made up of ships too weak to fight
and too slow to run. David battles Goliath in a fight for survival, with
the lives of thousands of American soldiers in the balance.
We will recreate this famous battle using state of the art computer graphics.
Viewers will feel like they're in the battle, facing the enemy.

(back to VOA's humble commentary)
I've seen Taffy 3 (Battle of Samar) covered in three documentaries
on The History Channel.
One documentary is just about Taffy 3, the other has a segment on
Taffy 3, and the third is a "Dogfights" episode that includes Taffy 3's
action.

The aerial part "Dogfight"'s "Death of The Japanese Navy" is great.
While the computer graphics of Taffy 3's actions are well done, they are
a bit souless as there are no sailors shown on the ships (IIRC).
Of course, an honest portrayal of the carnage (even if it was computer
graphics) would fall in the "R",
"NC-17" or "X" rating! (something outside The History Channel's sphere).