"Fanshaw Bay" and "White Plains" were located on the west flank, and therefore bore the opening volleys of the engagement. Beginning at 6:58, both of the carriers came under fire from the Japanese task group, which was situated about away. The Japanese were firing dye-marked shells to gauge their aim, and the escort carriers were, much to the concern of their command, straddled in plumes of colored water. The officers would certainly be more concerned if they were able to correspond the color of the dyed water to that of a particular Japanese ship, as plumes of red, green, blue, purple, pink and yellow dyed water started to dot the ocean. Unbeknownst to the crew, the pink dyes corresponded to the Japanese battleship , with its guns, the largest ever manufactured, and the yellow dyes corresponded to the Japanese battleship , with its guns. Fortunately for "Fanshaw Bay"s crew, as the shells slowly creeped up to her stern, she happened across a passing rain squall at 7:03, reducing visibility to just .