At 21:40 on November 30, Tanaka's ships sighted Savo Island from Indispensable Strait. The Japanese ships were in line ahead formation, interval , in the order of "Takanami", "Oyashio", "Kuroshio", "Kagerō", "Makinami", "Naganami", "Kawakaze", and "Suzukaze". At this same time, TF67 entered Lengo Channel en route to Ironbottom Sound. Wright's ships were in column in the order "Fletcher", "Perkins", "Maury", "Drayton", "Minneapolis", "New Orleans", "Pensacola", "Honolulu", "Northampton", "Lamson", and "Lardner". The four van destroyers led the cruisers by and the cruisers steamed apart.