Leyte Gulf: what if the whole 1st Striking Force had attacked through Surigao Strait?

SHO-1 prescribed a pincer attack on Leyte Gulf with Nishimura attacking through the Surigao Strait and the main force under Kurita through the St. Bernardino Strait. I wonder if attacking through Surigao Strait with the whole force would have been a better option for the Japanese. As it turned out Kurita was detected and ambushed by two US submarines West of Palawan and was then attacked by carrier aircraft while crossing the Sibuyan Sea, suffering crippling losses. The route to Surigao was shorter and would have avoided the subs in the dangerous waters of Palawan. The whole force could have arrived earlier if they had chosen to force the Surigao Strait in daytime. Kurita left Brunei at 7:00 on 22 October, Nishimura at 15:00 on the same day. If the whole force had left in the morning they could have arrived in the strait in the late afternoon. Of course, considering Japanese proficiency in night fighting they may have preferred to cross at night anyway. It's likely they would have been detected, because Nishimura was indeed bombed on the morning of 24 October. However only one or two US Task Groups would have been in position to attack. If Ozawa decoy force had moved faster it is also possible that Halsey would had sailed to the north earlier and left only Oldendorf to deal with Ozawa. Then the climatic surface battle the Japanese had prepared for would have occurred. Meanwhile Shima could have tried to sneak through St. Bernardino Strait during the night instead of following Nishimura in the south. Difficult to say what the result would have been, but it seems a simpler plan than the one that was actually carried out. I have the impression that Japanese plans for naval operations were often unnecessarily complicated. Ideas?

 

Hi! Sorry I posted this in the wrong section, I thought it was a discussion about operational choices for the battle of Leyte rather than alternate history. Anyway, I would be interested to see your opinions about this. I haven't seen any historians of this battle commenting about the plan to split the battleship force and attack from two directions. Maybe it made no difference in the end, but the route through the Sibuyan Sea gave more time to the Americans to track Kurita.

 

1. I thought the US had the advantage at night with radar control
--a. radar and capping the T = problems for the Japanese ?
2. would not such a large force have been reported to Halsey?

 

Of course...
Finding all the battleships together on the morning of the 24th, would pull Halsey's carriers to them like a magnet.

Ozawa's decoy force finds nothing but empty sea, as Halsey heads after the battleships. No search aircraft find Ottawa's decoy force, so there is no Cape Engano.

 

..I was was wondering about that .....so, there is no significant chance that Ozawa could decoy Halsey to the north?

 

As I recall beyond a Japanese fondness for complex, multi prong task groups working to a 'common' goal two other factors dictated separate groups. Command differences between fleet commanders (mot just a Halsey problem) and severe fuel/supply issues that forced the dispersion of major units nearer to oil supplies. The matter was further complicated by a need to respond to various possible US/Allied attack options such as Singapore, Taiwan, ,Home Islands. The Philippines seemed the most likely to them, but had to consider all options.

 

I think there would have been some chance if it had arrived earlier. As you can see from this map, and from other maps of the SHO-1 plan, he didn't follow a direct route to the south:
Leyte Gulf: The Pacific War’s Greatest Battle

Maybe he could have also left Japan earlier. The plan had Nishimura and Kurita arrive in the Leyte Gulf on the morning of the 25th. They could have arrived to the Surigao Strait in the afternoon of the 24th if they had left Brunei together on the morning of the 22th. If Ozawa had arrived east of Cape Engano in the morning of the 24th I think he could have been detected earlier and drawn Halsey to the north, leaving only Kinkaid and Oldendorf to face the surface force.

 

...I mean

..I mean with the departing dates as they were....?