All available guns including Montpelier (CL-57) and Phoenix (CL-46) opened up on the Oscar and shot off parts of the plane, but the pilot continued his dive through what the ship's historian described as "murderous fire," levelled off close to the water at 3,000 yards, and crashed the suicide plane through the port side at the waterline amidships. An explosion and large fire flared up simultaneously with a hit by a 5-inch round from one of the other ships, which burst close to the carrier's bow below a gun sponson, killing and wounding several men—the attack killed 16 men altogether and wounded another 37. The Oscar tore a hole in the ship's side approximately 20 feet long and nine feet high between frames 113 and 121, extending three feet below the waterline.