The submarine launched three torpedoes at the "maru", which blew up in a massive explosion."A tremendous, beautiful explosion," Commander Street would write in his report. "A great mushroom of white blinding flame shot 2,000 feet into the air. Not a sound was heard for a moment, but then a tremendous roar flattened our ears against our heads. The jackpot, and no mistake!"The conflagration clearly illuminated Tirante and alerted the "Mikura"-class escort vessels "Nomi" and "Kaibokan No. 31" which immediately got underway toward the invading submersible. While she headed back out to sea at flank speed, Tirante launched a spread of torpedoes which hit and destroyed both pursuers. En route to Midway, the submarine captured two Japanese airmen (bringing her prisoner total to five) and concluded her first war patrol on 25 April.