All seven of the transports were hit and most were burning or sinking about south east of Finschhafen, along with the destroyers "Shirayuki", "Tokitsukaze" and "Arashio". Four of the destroyers – "Shikinami", "Yukikaze", "Uranami" and "Asagumo" – picked up as many survivors as possible and then retired to Rabaul, accompanied by the destroyer , which had come from Rabaul to assist. That night, a force of ten U.S. Navy PT boats – under the command of Lieutenant Commander Barry Atkins – set out to attack the convoy. Two boats struck submerged debris and were forced to return. The other eight arrived off Lae in the early hours of 4 March. Atkins spotted a fire that turned out to be the transport "Oigawa Maru". "PT-143" and "PT-150" fired torpedoes at it, sinking the crippled vessel. In the morning, a fourth destroyer – "Asashio" – was sunk when a B-17 hit her with a bomb while she was picking up survivors from "Arashio". Only one destroyer, "Yukikaze", was undamaged among the four surviving destroyers.