At 23:14, operators on "Fletcher" established firm radar contact with "Takanami" and the lead group of four drum-carrying destroyers. At 23:15, with the range , Commander William M. Cole, commander of Wright's destroyer group and captain of "Fletcher", radioed Wright for permission to fire torpedoes. Wright waited two minutes and then responded with, "Range on bogies ships on radar excessive at present." Cole responded that the range was fine. Another two minutes passed before Wright responded with permission to fire. In the meantime, the US destroyers' targets escaped from an optimum firing setup ahead to a marginal position passing abeam, giving the American torpedoes a long overtaking run near the limit of their range. At 23:20, "Fletcher", "Perkins", and "Drayton" fired a total of 20 Mark 15 torpedoes towards Tanaka's ships. "Maury", lacking SG radar and thus having no contacts, withheld fire.