One of the torpedoes hit aft, disabling the rudder, at least three hit below the belt armor, and at least one hit the belt, damaging seven armor plates. These torpedoes opened two large holes in the hull, from frames 43 to 52 and from 62 to 97; at least one torpedo passed through the holes after the ship began to list and exploded on the second armor deck. The torpedo hits caused extensive damage and the ship avoided capsizing only through prompt damage control efforts initiated by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts, then the ship's assistant fire control officer. Captain Mervyn S. Bennion was mortally wounded by bomb fragments from a hit on "Tennessee"; for remaining aboard the ship and assisting in its defense until he died, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. As the ship filled with water and slowly sank on an even keel, the crew was evacuated, though a group volunteered to return to fight the fires that had broken out. Fuel oil leaking from the destroyed "Arizona" caught fire and engulfed "West Virginia" in flames, which was also fed by her own leaking fuel oil. The fires were eventually put out the next day. A total of 106 men were killed in the attack. On 6 December 2019, the Department of Defense announced that eight of the thirty-five unknown remains from "West Virginia" had been identified.