As the American command came to an understanding of the severity of the situation, with the Center Force consisting of four battleships, six cruisers, and a large destroyer screen, the entirety of Taffy 2's aircraft were recalled to join the defense. "Savo Island"s fighters and torpedo bombers were not equipped to attack surface ships, with most of her bombers being loaded with incendiary bombs and missiles for ground attacks. Nonetheless, aircraft from "Savo Island"s VC-27 were amongst Taffy 2's first wave of strikes, launched at 7:37 in the morning. Some of the destroyers within Taffy 2's screen wandered north, before being confronted with some Japanese naval gunfire and being ordered to withdraw towards the escort carriers. Overall, "Savo Island" launched six strikes against the Japanese forces, with her aircraft notably landing a torpedo hit on a Japanese battleship and shooting down an Aichi E13A reconnaissance seaplane caught in the middle of the action.