The first Allied group—consisting of the cruisers and and the destroyers , , and —sighted the Japanese in Badung Strait at about 22:00 and opened fire at 22:25 on 19 February. No damage was done in this exchange of fire, and the two Dutch cruisers continued through the strait to the northeast, to give the destroyers a free hand to engage with torpedoes. Then "Piet Hein", "Pope" and "John D. Ford" came into range. At 22:40, a Long Lance torpedo from "Asashio" hit "Piet Hein", sinking the Dutch destroyer immediately. "Asashio" and "Oshio" then exchanged gunfire with "Pope" and "John D. Ford", forcing the two American destroyers to retire to the southeast instead of following the cruisers to the northeast.