While two other phases of the great engagement, the Battle of Surigao Strait and the Battle off Samar, were being fought, Admiral Halsey deployed carrier forces northward to meet the decoy force of carriers under Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa. Making contact on 25 October, the carriers, screened by "Healy" and other surface units, launched a series of strikes at the Japanese carrier group. Despite effective enemy anti-aircraft fire, the planes succeeded in sinking four carriers, and a damaged destroyer was later sunk by gunfire. The great sea battle was thus ended, with the invasion of Leyte secured and the Japanese fleet no longer an effective fighting unit.