The resulting plan—drafted under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda,—called for "Yamato" and her escorts to attack the U.S. fleet supporting the U.S. troops landing on the west of the island. "Yamato" and her escorts were to fight their way to Okinawa and then beach themselves between Higashi and Yomitan and fight as shore batteries until they were destroyed. Once the ships were destroyed, their surviving crewmembers were supposed to abandon ship and fight U.S. forces on land. Very little, if any, air cover could be provided for the ships, which would render them almost helpless to concentrated attacks from U.S. carrier-based aircraft. In preparation for executing the plan, the assigned ships left Kure for Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, off Mitajiri, Japan, on 29 March. However, despite obeying orders to prepare for the mission, the commander of the "Ten-Go" force, Vice-Admiral Seiichi Itō, still refused to actually order his ships to carry it out, believing the plan to be futile and wasteful.