Flares and float lights dropped by the Japanese planes lit up the scene with an eerie light. Destroyer gunfire sent tracer streaks across the night sky, and one "Betty" spun into the sea off the port bow of (DD-477). Another attacker, roaring in low and fast at 03:30, flew into a veritable hail of flak and crashed, trailing flames into the sea astern of "Conway" (DD-507). The torpedoes launched by the doomed aircraft failed to hit their mark and sped off past the American ships. Two minutes later, however, another "Betty" drew blood from the American force by torpedoing (APD-5), which later sank. When the smoke of battle had cleared, "Waller" picked up eight Japanese aviators.