OK, I give up, why does anything on a car cost so @%^^@#! much to do?
The parts are unreasonably expensive - AIRCRAFT PARTS often don't cost that much, and anything that flies gets a huge cost penalty from the fact that one must deal with the FAA. Trust me on this, that ain't cheap.
I used to assume that much of what had to be done must require extremely skilled technicians. Slowly I've ruled out most of the tasks however, and this weekend I ruled out body work requiring high skill/experience.
This weekend with a spray can of paint, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a sanding pad, and a roll of paper towels I eliminated a score of minor scratches, scrapes, etc. in Lupae's paint job. You really can't tell the new from the old at a distance of more than a few feet anywhere, and in some cases I have a hard time spotting the new paint from an inch away.
I'm hardly what you'd call a spray-can master, so what's the deal?
Is there anything that gets done to a car that isn't a ripoff when done by professionals?
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
December 28th - The Day of Infamy, Part XXII
Aftermath
Admiral Halsey was publically hailed as a hero, but his seniors felt he was too reckless. He was decorated, promoted, and then quietly transferred to a shore post. Admiral Spruance was also recognized for his role in the battle, and succeeded Halsey as the Navy’s senior forward commander.
The destruction of the IJN gave the US great freedom in pursuing its future campaigns. The old battleships were dispatched to the Atlantic, where in July they helped shoot ashore the massive amphibious assault on Normandy. Throughout the fall and winter of 1944 the US along with the rest of the Allies rolled forward in both the Pacific and Europe.
Germany surrendered on June 20th, 1945, as Soviet and Canadian forces reached Berlin.
By the summer of 1945, Japan was starving inside a blockade of submarines and aircraft. Only desperate attacks by the infamous Kamikazes and other suicide troops seemed able to even slow the US advance, and nothing could stop it. In August, the world’s first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Kokura, the final act in a strategic bombing campaign that had gutted Japan’s cities. Japan formally signed an unconditional surrender on September 1st, 1945.
The Second World War was over.
USS Lexington had served in almost every major engagement of the war and countless minors ones. Her aircraft had often played a key role in those battles. The ship herself was called the “Lady Lex” “Lucky Lex” and “Lady Luck” by her crew for the numerous times she had escaped damage, and in recognition of the fact that she was the only pre-war US carrier to survive the war. She remains the most decorated ship ever to serve in the US Navy. She was decommissioned in 1947 and became a museum ship in New York. Her name lived on – the USN’s first atomic-powered aircraft carrier was named the USS Lexington, and in the 1960’s a popular TV series featured a space ship with the same name. While the series only ran for three years, spin offs, sequels, and movies made it into one of the largest TV franchises in history.
The Japanese had their own-mega franchise, which began in the 1970’s with an anime show about using a raised and rebuilt Yamato as a space ship. Sequels would eventually bring Shinano and even Musashi (after lengthy reassembly) into space as well.
The six Iowa-class battleships were retained after the war, though all were cycled through the reserve fleet in mothballs at some point. Still, there were always at least two in service up until the end of the 1980s, when they were finally replaced by the new Montana-class battleships. At least one Iowa-class participated in every conflict the US was involved in from WWII until their retirement.
Admiral Halsey was publically hailed as a hero, but his seniors felt he was too reckless. He was decorated, promoted, and then quietly transferred to a shore post. Admiral Spruance was also recognized for his role in the battle, and succeeded Halsey as the Navy’s senior forward commander.
The destruction of the IJN gave the US great freedom in pursuing its future campaigns. The old battleships were dispatched to the Atlantic, where in July they helped shoot ashore the massive amphibious assault on Normandy. Throughout the fall and winter of 1944 the US along with the rest of the Allies rolled forward in both the Pacific and Europe.
Germany surrendered on June 20th, 1945, as Soviet and Canadian forces reached Berlin.
By the summer of 1945, Japan was starving inside a blockade of submarines and aircraft. Only desperate attacks by the infamous Kamikazes and other suicide troops seemed able to even slow the US advance, and nothing could stop it. In August, the world’s first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Kokura, the final act in a strategic bombing campaign that had gutted Japan’s cities. Japan formally signed an unconditional surrender on September 1st, 1945.
The Second World War was over.
USS Lexington had served in almost every major engagement of the war and countless minors ones. Her aircraft had often played a key role in those battles. The ship herself was called the “Lady Lex” “Lucky Lex” and “Lady Luck” by her crew for the numerous times she had escaped damage, and in recognition of the fact that she was the only pre-war US carrier to survive the war. She remains the most decorated ship ever to serve in the US Navy. She was decommissioned in 1947 and became a museum ship in New York. Her name lived on – the USN’s first atomic-powered aircraft carrier was named the USS Lexington, and in the 1960’s a popular TV series featured a space ship with the same name. While the series only ran for three years, spin offs, sequels, and movies made it into one of the largest TV franchises in history.
The Japanese had their own-mega franchise, which began in the 1970’s with an anime show about using a raised and rebuilt Yamato as a space ship. Sequels would eventually bring Shinano and even Musashi (after lengthy reassembly) into space as well.
The six Iowa-class battleships were retained after the war, though all were cycled through the reserve fleet in mothballs at some point. Still, there were always at least two in service up until the end of the 1980s, when they were finally replaced by the new Montana-class battleships. At least one Iowa-class participated in every conflict the US was involved in from WWII until their retirement.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
December 28th - The Day of Infamy, Part XXI
The Death of a Navy
At 1255 Yamato opened fire at 38,000 yards, aiming for USS New Jersey (visible only from mast to mast by the Japanese). By 1300 the other six ships of the IJN line had followed suit, aiming for the USN column leaders. The first hit was scored on USS Alabama at 1258, but the IJNs gunnery was erratic due to the range and hits were few. At 1306 the USN line turned to open their broadsides, forming a single line of eight ships angling slightly towards the Japanese.
The lighter ships, meanwhile, had their own fight. Here the US was the first to open fire, the initial salvo from the USS Boston actually straddling Kumano at 1252. At 1311 the US screen ceased fire, due mainly to lack of targets – while a few of the IJN cruisers and destroyers still lived, smoke from their burning consorts completely obscured them. The Japanese had simply been smothered under high-rate, devastatingly well directed fire. USS Quincy, USS Columbia, USS Philadelphia, and USS St. Louis had been seriously damaged and six destroyers had been sunk, but the Japanese had lost four heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and seven destroyers sunk and most of the rest crippled. USS Quincy would eventually sink while being towed back to Pearl Harbor.
While the lighter ships hammered at each other, the battle lines ponderously closed.
At 1308 USS South Dakota veered out of line, both her bridge and rudder destroyed.
At 1309 Hyuga lost all power.
At 1311 a shell from Iowa slipped though a pair of armor plates deformed by previous hits and found Musashi’s aft 18” magazine and half the ship vanished in a tremendous explosion.
At 1312 Kirishima fired her last shot; she had been pounded into floating scrap by USS North Carolina and USS Washington.
At 1313 USS Alabama, fires raging out of control, flooded her forward magazines and turned to withdraw from the line.
At 1314 Ise ceased fire as her last turret was knocked out by USS Massachusetts.
At 1315 a 5” magazine on Nagato exploded, followed seconds later by another, and her damage control center ordered all magazines flooded in a panic. Her main battery fired its last rounds and then went silent. Only Yamato and Shinano were still firing at the US, while six US battleships returned fire.
At 1317 Kirishima broke in half, her structure fatally weakened by fires, explosions, and flooding.
At 1318 a shell from USS New Jersey sprayed steel splinters across Yamato’ flag bridge, killing Admiral Yamamoto instantly.
At 1320 Yamato and Shinano turned away, their rear turrets firing parting shots.
At 1322 Spruance ordered the US battleline to turn to pursue. As they did, USS Indiana lost helm control and rammed USS North Carolina, seriously damaging both ships.
As the Japanese fled USS Gridley and USS Maury, closing from the north, fired sixteen torpedoes at the fleeing Japanese superbattleships, turned hard to open their other beam and fired sixteen more. The Japanese ships, their upper works shredded and still under fire from four US battleships, did not notice the torpedoes until the first hit. Eight fish hit Yamato, and seven hit Shinano, all on their starboard sides near the waterline. The two ships began listing almost immediately and soon capsized. Ise and Nagato were pounded under the waves by the US battleline, while Hyuga was finished off by torpedoes from USS Walker.
Throughout the afternoon, fleeing destroyers and cruisers were hunted down by follow-up strikes from the US carriers.
By sunset on the 20th, the Imperial Japanese Navy had been destroyed. Sixty-three warships had sailed to battle. Only five limped back to Truk – the battered survivors of the Carrier Force.
At 1255 Yamato opened fire at 38,000 yards, aiming for USS New Jersey (visible only from mast to mast by the Japanese). By 1300 the other six ships of the IJN line had followed suit, aiming for the USN column leaders. The first hit was scored on USS Alabama at 1258, but the IJNs gunnery was erratic due to the range and hits were few. At 1306 the USN line turned to open their broadsides, forming a single line of eight ships angling slightly towards the Japanese.
The lighter ships, meanwhile, had their own fight. Here the US was the first to open fire, the initial salvo from the USS Boston actually straddling Kumano at 1252. At 1311 the US screen ceased fire, due mainly to lack of targets – while a few of the IJN cruisers and destroyers still lived, smoke from their burning consorts completely obscured them. The Japanese had simply been smothered under high-rate, devastatingly well directed fire. USS Quincy, USS Columbia, USS Philadelphia, and USS St. Louis had been seriously damaged and six destroyers had been sunk, but the Japanese had lost four heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and seven destroyers sunk and most of the rest crippled. USS Quincy would eventually sink while being towed back to Pearl Harbor.
While the lighter ships hammered at each other, the battle lines ponderously closed.
At 1308 USS South Dakota veered out of line, both her bridge and rudder destroyed.
At 1309 Hyuga lost all power.
At 1311 a shell from Iowa slipped though a pair of armor plates deformed by previous hits and found Musashi’s aft 18” magazine and half the ship vanished in a tremendous explosion.
At 1312 Kirishima fired her last shot; she had been pounded into floating scrap by USS North Carolina and USS Washington.
At 1313 USS Alabama, fires raging out of control, flooded her forward magazines and turned to withdraw from the line.
At 1314 Ise ceased fire as her last turret was knocked out by USS Massachusetts.
At 1315 a 5” magazine on Nagato exploded, followed seconds later by another, and her damage control center ordered all magazines flooded in a panic. Her main battery fired its last rounds and then went silent. Only Yamato and Shinano were still firing at the US, while six US battleships returned fire.
At 1317 Kirishima broke in half, her structure fatally weakened by fires, explosions, and flooding.
At 1318 a shell from USS New Jersey sprayed steel splinters across Yamato’ flag bridge, killing Admiral Yamamoto instantly.
At 1320 Yamato and Shinano turned away, their rear turrets firing parting shots.
At 1322 Spruance ordered the US battleline to turn to pursue. As they did, USS Indiana lost helm control and rammed USS North Carolina, seriously damaging both ships.
As the Japanese fled USS Gridley and USS Maury, closing from the north, fired sixteen torpedoes at the fleeing Japanese superbattleships, turned hard to open their other beam and fired sixteen more. The Japanese ships, their upper works shredded and still under fire from four US battleships, did not notice the torpedoes until the first hit. Eight fish hit Yamato, and seven hit Shinano, all on their starboard sides near the waterline. The two ships began listing almost immediately and soon capsized. Ise and Nagato were pounded under the waves by the US battleline, while Hyuga was finished off by torpedoes from USS Walker.
Throughout the afternoon, fleeing destroyers and cruisers were hunted down by follow-up strikes from the US carriers.
By sunset on the 20th, the Imperial Japanese Navy had been destroyed. Sixty-three warships had sailed to battle. Only five limped back to Truk – the battered survivors of the Carrier Force.
Food Tablets, Day 3 (Final)
Sunday morning weight: 188lbs
Monday morning weight: 186lbs
Tuesday morning weight: 183lbs
Final weight: 181 lbs
Comment: with my fourth data point showing a continued decline at an unhealthy rate, I'm stopping the experiment.
Steps Sunday: 8,789
Steps Monday: 9,652
Steps Tuesday: 7,979
Comment: half a mile of jogging yesterday; steps below average but well above my minimum goal. The average of the three days is above my baseline average.
Tablets taken: 12 (total 36 over three days)
Notes: again, minimal hunger, good energy level and alertness, no negative effects except the weight loss noted above. No odd dreams. I'll post a follow-up tomorrow about how going back onto normal food goes.
Summary: assuming no ill effects today, I'm calling this experiment a minimal success. The tablets seem to have the ability to keep energy up for a day or so without ill effects, which would be useful for 'patrol' situations or perhaps as an ultralight emergency food ration (for an EDC, perhaps). Having a bottle on hand as part of a comprehensive emergency preparedness package is probably worth it, more than one bottle per family or other small group is probably overkill. For my part, I'm going to keep a bottle on-hand.
Thanks to everyone who made suggestions or comments. I hope I've provided some useful data.
Monday morning weight: 186lbs
Tuesday morning weight: 183lbs
Final weight: 181 lbs
Comment: with my fourth data point showing a continued decline at an unhealthy rate, I'm stopping the experiment.
Steps Sunday: 8,789
Steps Monday: 9,652
Steps Tuesday: 7,979
Comment: half a mile of jogging yesterday; steps below average but well above my minimum goal. The average of the three days is above my baseline average.
Tablets taken: 12 (total 36 over three days)
Notes: again, minimal hunger, good energy level and alertness, no negative effects except the weight loss noted above. No odd dreams. I'll post a follow-up tomorrow about how going back onto normal food goes.
Summary: assuming no ill effects today, I'm calling this experiment a minimal success. The tablets seem to have the ability to keep energy up for a day or so without ill effects, which would be useful for 'patrol' situations or perhaps as an ultralight emergency food ration (for an EDC, perhaps). Having a bottle on hand as part of a comprehensive emergency preparedness package is probably worth it, more than one bottle per family or other small group is probably overkill. For my part, I'm going to keep a bottle on-hand.
Thanks to everyone who made suggestions or comments. I hope I've provided some useful data.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
December 28th - The Day of Infamy, Part XX
The Last Command
Some 400 USN aircraft, a quarter of them damaged to some degree, now attempted to locate their fleet and land in the dark. Halsey had authorized all carriers to turn on their deck lights when the strike returned, but gave no explicit authorization of any other breaches of normal light discipline. Admiral Mitscher, commanding TG 51.3, ordered his carriers to turn on not only their deck lights and running lights but also searchlights to provide a visual beacon for the returning planes. This was so successful that many aircraft from TG 51.1 and TG 51.2 wound up landing on Mitscher’s carriers. Even so, a hundred and fifty American planes were lost at sea or crash-landed. Almost all of the pilots and crews were recovered over the next several days.
Once the strike was recovered, Halsey continued west. Members of his staff protested yet again, reminding him of the disastrous night action at Midway. Halsey set half his destroyers out as a long-range radar screen, but otherwise ignored these warnings. TF 55 followed slightly behind TF 51.
Yamamoto’s Battle Force, for its part, continued east towards the Americans. It is notable that this was due not to any order on Yamamoto’s part but simply a lack of orders to change course, even as the messages detailing the destruction of the Carrier Force came in. Yamamoto knew that only a miracle would bring him within gun range of the US fleet at dawn, and that no other outcome could bring any result except destruction for his force. Still, he also knew that with his fleet carriers and their irreplaceable trained cadres of pilots and crews gone no other fleet action could be expected to yield any better result.
Yamamoto very nearly got his miracle. Halsey’s aggressive course brought his picket destroyers within 100 miles of the IJN Battle Force at dawn. Both sides sighted each other almost immediately, and across three thousand square miles of ocean a hundred ships went to flank speed.
May 20th, 1944, would be the last large-scale naval action of the war.
The Japanese drew first blood as an F1M off CVS Nisshin shot down an OS2U from USS New Jersey in one of the few floatplane vs. floatplane duels of the war. It would not be the last oddity of the day’s action.
Halsey’s carriers raced east as they frantically spotted their strike aircraft, then turned west at 0900 and began to launch. Just spotting the strikes had been a challenge; the disruptions of the night landing piled on top of the previous day’s fighting had left no carrier with all its remaining planes on board, and most had aircraft from multiple ships. The USS Ticonderoga CV16 had aircraft from eight different ships including the lost Yorktown and two CVLs on board, from all three task groups.
Fighters from the dawn CAP were already engaging the Japanese as the strikes launched, and each task group was directed to attack on its own. With so little time for briefing and planning, and so little cohesiveness in the strike groups, a virtue was made of necessity and most carrier’s groups were directed to attack at will; a lamed Japanese ship at this point could easily be finished off later.
The result was a chaotic death dance played out around and above the Japanese Battle Force as it steered towards TF 51.
At dawn on the 20th the IJN Battle Force had three carriers, two seaplane carriers, seven battleships, one battlecruiser, eight heavy cruisers, one torpedo cruiser, nine light cruisers, and seventeen destroyers. Yamamoto had detached CL Kiso and three destroyers to screen his aviation ships. This group was attacked by most of the aircraft launched by TG51.3; well over half the US aircraft launched that morning. By noon six of the nine ships were sunk and the rest sinking.
Aircraft from TG51.2 spread their attacks across the rest of the IJN force. They sank cruisers Myoko, Furutaka, Naka, and Yubari along with five destroyers and damaged many other ships.
Admiral Sherman, commanding the battered TG51.1, kept the aircraft lifting from his remaining carriers under much tighter control. He wanted to kill a battleship, and Commander Dixon of the USS Lexington, his senior pilot, was determined to oblige him. Sixty-eight strike aircraft, just over half of them TBF Avengers, converged on Fuso and scored five bomb and an incredible eight torpedo hits. Fuso capsized half an hour later.
By noon the sky was empty of Japanese aircraft. The US fleet’s Hellcats began strafing the dwindling ranks of the Japanese fleet. Their Browning .50cal machineguns couldn’t sink ships, but they could rip up exposed equipment on deck and kill unprotected crewmen. A TBF from CVE Sangamon was the last aircraft to attack before the battle lines engaged, hitting Shinano with a bomb that jammed her “B” turret pointed forward.
TF55, meanwhile, had split in two, Spruance leading his six fast battleships, four light cruisers, and 27 destroyers forward. At 1130 they linked up with TG51.4 – the two Iowa-class battleships and their screen – along with half a dozen cruisers detached from the carrier groups, and steered towards the Japanese. In all Spruance had eight fast battleships, four brand-new heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, and three dozen destroyers, none of them damaged.
Yamamoto still had six battleships, one battlecruiser, thirteen cruisers and nine destroyers, almost all of them damaged to some extent. His battle line actually had a greater displacement than the US battleships and he had more heavy cruisers, but Yamamoto must have been well aware he was heavily outmatched. His battle-line formed north-to-south, the three massive Yamato-class BBs in the lead and Kirishima in the rear with the old Nagato, Ise, and Hyuga in between, and sent his cruisers and destroyers forward in two groups north and south of his line to engage the enemy now visible on the horizon.
The USN battleships were in four columns of two sailing west; North Carolina leading Washington furthest to the south, then Alabama leading Massachusetts, South Dakota leading Indiana, and finally New Jersey leading Iowa at the northern end. The battlewagons were flanked by cruisers and destroyers to the north and south, just like the Japanese. Spruance sent his own screen forward to engage the Japanese while his battleships closed the distance, scouting planes already circling overhead to report.
OrBat, Final Phase:
Battle Force (Yamamoto)
BB Yamato, Musashi, Shinano, Nagato, Ise, Hyuga
BC Kirishima
CA Mogami, Kumano, Haguro, Aoba, Kinugasa, Kako
CLTT Oi
CL Agano, Jintsu, Yahagi, Oyodo, Yura, Noshiro
9 DD
TF55.1/TF51.4, Fast Battle Force (Spruance)
BB Iowa, New Jersey, South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Alabama, North Carolina, Washington
CA Baltimore, Boston, Houston CA70, Quincy
CL Columbia, Mobile, Wichita CL81, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis, Helena
36 DD
At 1241 Yamamoto, inspired by history on the eve of what he seems to have realized would be his last battle, ordered a message sent, explicitly via flag signal, to the rest of his force:
The Emperor expects that every man will do his duty.
Some 400 USN aircraft, a quarter of them damaged to some degree, now attempted to locate their fleet and land in the dark. Halsey had authorized all carriers to turn on their deck lights when the strike returned, but gave no explicit authorization of any other breaches of normal light discipline. Admiral Mitscher, commanding TG 51.3, ordered his carriers to turn on not only their deck lights and running lights but also searchlights to provide a visual beacon for the returning planes. This was so successful that many aircraft from TG 51.1 and TG 51.2 wound up landing on Mitscher’s carriers. Even so, a hundred and fifty American planes were lost at sea or crash-landed. Almost all of the pilots and crews were recovered over the next several days.
Once the strike was recovered, Halsey continued west. Members of his staff protested yet again, reminding him of the disastrous night action at Midway. Halsey set half his destroyers out as a long-range radar screen, but otherwise ignored these warnings. TF 55 followed slightly behind TF 51.
Yamamoto’s Battle Force, for its part, continued east towards the Americans. It is notable that this was due not to any order on Yamamoto’s part but simply a lack of orders to change course, even as the messages detailing the destruction of the Carrier Force came in. Yamamoto knew that only a miracle would bring him within gun range of the US fleet at dawn, and that no other outcome could bring any result except destruction for his force. Still, he also knew that with his fleet carriers and their irreplaceable trained cadres of pilots and crews gone no other fleet action could be expected to yield any better result.
Yamamoto very nearly got his miracle. Halsey’s aggressive course brought his picket destroyers within 100 miles of the IJN Battle Force at dawn. Both sides sighted each other almost immediately, and across three thousand square miles of ocean a hundred ships went to flank speed.
May 20th, 1944, would be the last large-scale naval action of the war.
The Japanese drew first blood as an F1M off CVS Nisshin shot down an OS2U from USS New Jersey in one of the few floatplane vs. floatplane duels of the war. It would not be the last oddity of the day’s action.
Halsey’s carriers raced east as they frantically spotted their strike aircraft, then turned west at 0900 and began to launch. Just spotting the strikes had been a challenge; the disruptions of the night landing piled on top of the previous day’s fighting had left no carrier with all its remaining planes on board, and most had aircraft from multiple ships. The USS Ticonderoga CV16 had aircraft from eight different ships including the lost Yorktown and two CVLs on board, from all three task groups.
Fighters from the dawn CAP were already engaging the Japanese as the strikes launched, and each task group was directed to attack on its own. With so little time for briefing and planning, and so little cohesiveness in the strike groups, a virtue was made of necessity and most carrier’s groups were directed to attack at will; a lamed Japanese ship at this point could easily be finished off later.
The result was a chaotic death dance played out around and above the Japanese Battle Force as it steered towards TF 51.
At dawn on the 20th the IJN Battle Force had three carriers, two seaplane carriers, seven battleships, one battlecruiser, eight heavy cruisers, one torpedo cruiser, nine light cruisers, and seventeen destroyers. Yamamoto had detached CL Kiso and three destroyers to screen his aviation ships. This group was attacked by most of the aircraft launched by TG51.3; well over half the US aircraft launched that morning. By noon six of the nine ships were sunk and the rest sinking.
Aircraft from TG51.2 spread their attacks across the rest of the IJN force. They sank cruisers Myoko, Furutaka, Naka, and Yubari along with five destroyers and damaged many other ships.
Admiral Sherman, commanding the battered TG51.1, kept the aircraft lifting from his remaining carriers under much tighter control. He wanted to kill a battleship, and Commander Dixon of the USS Lexington, his senior pilot, was determined to oblige him. Sixty-eight strike aircraft, just over half of them TBF Avengers, converged on Fuso and scored five bomb and an incredible eight torpedo hits. Fuso capsized half an hour later.
By noon the sky was empty of Japanese aircraft. The US fleet’s Hellcats began strafing the dwindling ranks of the Japanese fleet. Their Browning .50cal machineguns couldn’t sink ships, but they could rip up exposed equipment on deck and kill unprotected crewmen. A TBF from CVE Sangamon was the last aircraft to attack before the battle lines engaged, hitting Shinano with a bomb that jammed her “B” turret pointed forward.
TF55, meanwhile, had split in two, Spruance leading his six fast battleships, four light cruisers, and 27 destroyers forward. At 1130 they linked up with TG51.4 – the two Iowa-class battleships and their screen – along with half a dozen cruisers detached from the carrier groups, and steered towards the Japanese. In all Spruance had eight fast battleships, four brand-new heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, and three dozen destroyers, none of them damaged.
Yamamoto still had six battleships, one battlecruiser, thirteen cruisers and nine destroyers, almost all of them damaged to some extent. His battle line actually had a greater displacement than the US battleships and he had more heavy cruisers, but Yamamoto must have been well aware he was heavily outmatched. His battle-line formed north-to-south, the three massive Yamato-class BBs in the lead and Kirishima in the rear with the old Nagato, Ise, and Hyuga in between, and sent his cruisers and destroyers forward in two groups north and south of his line to engage the enemy now visible on the horizon.
The USN battleships were in four columns of two sailing west; North Carolina leading Washington furthest to the south, then Alabama leading Massachusetts, South Dakota leading Indiana, and finally New Jersey leading Iowa at the northern end. The battlewagons were flanked by cruisers and destroyers to the north and south, just like the Japanese. Spruance sent his own screen forward to engage the Japanese while his battleships closed the distance, scouting planes already circling overhead to report.
OrBat, Final Phase:
Battle Force (Yamamoto)
BB Yamato, Musashi, Shinano, Nagato, Ise, Hyuga
BC Kirishima
CA Mogami, Kumano, Haguro, Aoba, Kinugasa, Kako
CLTT Oi
CL Agano, Jintsu, Yahagi, Oyodo, Yura, Noshiro
9 DD
TF55.1/TF51.4, Fast Battle Force (Spruance)
BB Iowa, New Jersey, South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Alabama, North Carolina, Washington
CA Baltimore, Boston, Houston CA70, Quincy
CL Columbia, Mobile, Wichita CL81, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis, Helena
36 DD
At 1241 Yamamoto, inspired by history on the eve of what he seems to have realized would be his last battle, ordered a message sent, explicitly via flag signal, to the rest of his force:
The Emperor expects that every man will do his duty.
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