Artist's commentary
The Blue-Eyed Brute Ship
When speaking of ships that charge into enemy formations alone and go absolutely berserk, first to mind are the likes of Yuudachi or Ayanami...
...But such fools exist in America as well.
In the Battle off Samar, as part the American fleet group known as Taffy 3, a single destroyer escort guarding a carrier encountered overwhelming odds and naval power in the form of the Kurita Fleet - known as the Decisive Battle Fleet.
Yet, this solitary destroyer escort charged headlong into the formation of her enemy's fleet, using smokescreens and rain squalls as cover to run wild.
She targeted Choukai and, plunging right into the thick of things, rained every shell she had at hand onto Choukai's bridge. Furthermore, she also attacked Haguro, Tone, and Chikuma, and - if the stories are to be believed - scored a torpedo hit against Chikuma, destroying one of her gun turrets.
It took a bombardment from Kongou to halt her rampage, and only under the combined firepower of the 17th Destroyer Division was she sunk beneath the ocean.
Really, Yuudachi and Ayanami have plenty of strength as surface combatants, but all this girl had was a pair of 5-inch single-turret guns and one triple torpedo launcher. Her performance was totally above her weight class as a mere destroyer escort, huh? For real.