By the Battle of Samar, Musashi was already sunk-see the Battle of Sibuyan Sea. IOTL-the Center Force was so disrupted after the attacks that they chose to withdraw at 0920, reorganize and pursue a non-existant US carrier force to the north. Assuming Admiral Yamamoto was still alive and was aboard Yamato, would he have made a different decision than Admiral Kurita? Regardless, TG 38.1 was already sending a strike from USS Hornet, Hancock and Wasp which would have likely struck Center Force prior than OTL. There were two other Taffys that were attacking Center Force. There initial attacks were not effective since the aircraft were armed with anti-submarine and anti-personnel weapons. But later attacks included torpedo armed aircraft which would have taken a toll on the ships of Center Force. Finally, the screening ships for Taffy 1 & 2 could have entered the fray which was 6 DDs plus 8 DEs. Center Force was contained by a force of half that size.