The Center Force, Led by Admiral Kurita left Brunei on October 22, 1944, heading towards the Philippines. To conserve fuel he traveled through the Palawan Passage, a narrow, shallow body of water Northeast of Palawan Island. From there, his path was through the Sibuyan Sea and San Bernardino Strait into the Leyte Gulf.
The American submarines, Darter and Dace had taken up position near the Palawan Passage on October 20, to guard against any Japanese ships that may come from that direction. At 12:23 AM on October 23, while traveling southwest towards the Balabac Strait, the radar in the Darter made initial contact with Kurita's Group. The Darter's commander, David McClintock was a bit surprised as they showed up on the bridge repeater screen. The size of the force was an even bigger surprise. The Americans confirmed the presence of 5 battleships, 10 heavy cruisers, and 2 light cruisers. 12 to 14 destroyers screened the convoy's flanks and center, all moving at 16 knots. What did not make sense to McClintock is why the convoy was not zig-zagging, not knowing that the Japanese were trying to conserve precious fuel.
McClintock contacted the commander of the Dace, Bladen Claggett. They increased their speed to 19 knots to get closer. Around 5:30 AM, the 2 subs moved about 10 miles ahead of the Japanese fleet on the fleet's left. Their speed was reduced to match the speed of the Japanese and the decision was made to attack at dawn.
The Darter rose to periscope depth and fired six torpedoes at the Cruiser Atago, Kurita's flagship. McClintock was firing on the second target, the Cruiser Takao, when the Atago erupted in explosions and flames. The Atago sank in a matter of minutes, but Kurita survived the attack. After attacking the Takao, McClintock dove the Darter to avoid the depth charges that were sure to follow from the destroyers. Meanwhile, Claggett attacked the Cruiser Maya. He fired six torpedoes and then dove deep. Four of the six torpedoes found their mark and the Maya sank in several pieces. The subs escaped the searches by the Japanese, but the Darter ran aground on a shoal. After unsuccessful attempts to free her, they tried to sink her with torpedoes from the Dace. Finally, they stripped the sub of anything useful to the Japanese and abandoned her. Both crews returned to Brisbane on a very crowded return trip.