At the same time that "Fanshaw Bay" was being harried by shells, the twelve aircraft that she had launched, joined by four fighters which had been on patrol, commenced attacks against the leading Japanese ships. Their attacks were mostly ineffective, mostly due to their light armaments and a general lack of coordination. The task group emerged from the rain squall by 7:23, but it was not until 7:50 that "Fanshaw Bay" came under concentrated fire again. At 7:50, four shells made impact with her hull, with another two missing just in front of her bow. One shell penetrated through a ventilator, killing two men as it tore into the carrier. Another shell passed under one of her Bofors guns, tearing the face off of one of her crew. Deflected by the gun's shield, the shell ricocheted over her flight deck. Another shell destroyed her catapult track, and resulted in a small explosion within her flag office. Four small fires had been kindled by these shells, but they were quickly put under control, along with a minor issue with flooding. Although four men had been killed in the attack, her operational capability was not significantly compromised. Rather, "Fanshaw Bay"s gun responded by firing against one of the leading Japanese cruisers, landing at least five hits against its superstructure.