At 10:24 a.m., the South Vietnamese warships "Lý Thường Kiệt" and "Nhật Tảo" opened fire on the Chinese warships. "Trần Bình Trọng" and "Trần Khánh Dư" then joined in. The sea battle lasted about 40 minutes, with vessels on both sides taking damage. The smaller Chinese warships managed to maneuver into the blind spots of the main cannons on the South Vietnamese warships and damaged all four South Vietnamese ships, especially "Nhật Tảo", which could not retreat because her last working engine was disabled.