Meanwhile, at 23:44 Tanaka ordered his ships to break contact and retire from the battle area. As they proceeded up Guadalcanal's coast, "Kuroshio" and "Kagerō" fired eight more torpedoes towards the American ships, which all missed. When "Takanami" failed to respond to radio calls, Tanaka directed "Oyashio" and "Kuroshio" to go to her assistance. The two destroyers located the burning ship at 01:00 on December 1 but abandoned rescue efforts after detecting American warships in the area. "Oyashio" and "Kuroshio" quickly departed the sound to rejoin the rest of Tanaka's ships for the return journey to the Shortlands, which they reached 10 hours later. "Takanami" was the only Japanese warship hit by American gunfire and seriously damaged during the battle.