https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_HailstoneAt this point reports reached Admiral Spruance concerning the group of warships fleeing through North Pass. The admiral put himself in tactical command of Task Group 50.9, made up of four destroyers, two heavy cruisers and the battleships Iowa and New Jersey, which he personally led in a surface engagement against the previously damaged Japanese ships. Spruance was so adamant on engaging in ship-to-ship combat that his carrier commander, Admiral Mitscher, ordered his air groups to stop attacking Katori and her companions
Any idea as to why Spruance would opt for a a surface engagement over continued airstrikes?
Mitscher's air groups were more than capable of finishing off any IJN vessels left afloat, and at far less risk.