Behind Cushing came Laffey, which sprinted by the two Japanese battleships, spraying Hiei with more shells and machine-gun fire. One bullet cut down Captain Masakane Suzuki, Abe’s chief of staff; another wounded Abe. But Laffey’s torpedoes failed to arm, and bounced off Hiei. Laffey ran into three Japanese destroyers. One, Teruzuki, slammed a torpedo into Laffey, and the American ship’s stern blew off. Kirishima put a 14-inch shell into Laffey’s boiler room, and her skipper, Lt. Cmdr. William E. Hank, ordered the crew to abandon ship. As the U.S. bluejackets jumped into the water, Laffey exploded, killing many on the ship and in the water, including Hank.

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The next American ship was Sterett, and she tangled with Nagara. The Japanese blasted Sterett’s helm control. O’Bannon, right behind, pulled even with Sterett, fouling her gunsights. The Japanese then shot out Sterett’s radar and radio antennas.

A Japanese destroyer appeared 1,000 yards off Sterett’s starboard bow. Sterett launched a torpedo. The enemy ship sank instantly. The target was probably the destroyer Akatsuki. With her torpedoes gone, half her main guns knocked out, a fire aft, and one-fifth of her crew casualties, Sterett staggered east and south, out of action.

O’Bannon was next, and she could not score a hit. Behind her was San Francisco, busy firing 8-inch shells at Yudachi. San Francisco’s skipper, Captain Cassin Young, a Pearl Harbor survivor, ordered his ship to switch targets to another destroyer. The main battery director did not see the disabled Atlanta drift into San Francisco’s line of fire, and seconds later shells from San Francisco smashed through Atlanta’s superstructure, killing Admiral Scott.

On San Francisco’s bridge, Callaghan watched the chaos and ordered his ship to cease fire. Incredibly, the message was sent out on the general circuit, ‘Cease fire own ships.’

The U.S. forces were incredulous. Portland’s captain, Laurance T. DuBose, signaled back, ‘What is the dope, did you want to cease fire?’ Callaghan broadcasted, ‘Give her hell,’ and ‘We want the big ones! Get the big ones first!’ Good lines, but vague orders.

Meanwhile, the Japanese were regrouping, too. Amatsukaze broke out of the confusion and tried to find a target. Hara saw some American ships, which then disappeared into the Guadalcanal coastline. Hara looked at Hiei. The big ship’s mast was burning.

Hiei was battling with San Francisco. Hiei’s initial salvos were Type 3 shells, which exploded instantly when they hit the cruiser’s thin hull. The shells wrecked gear on the upper decks and killed anyone in the open but did little other damage.

But soon Hiei’s gunners loaded armor-piercing shot. Hiei’s third salvo blasted San Francisco’s bridge. The cruiser’s navigator, Commander Rae E. Arison, was hurled over a bulwark and down two decks, where he landed on a 5-inch gun. The crew of the gun, mistakenly thinking Arison was dead, in turn tossed him unceremoniously onto the deck, flinging ejected hot shell cases after him.

On Helena, Lieutenant William Jones watched Hiei batter San Francisco. Every time a shell hit San Francisco, Jones saw sparks from the stack shoot hundreds of feet in the air. Another shell slammed into San Francisco’s bridge, throwing men over the side. The next salvo was devastating. The first shell killed Captain Young; the second exploded on a girder, which fell on Callaghan, killing him and all but one member of his staff. Another shell killed the acting executive officer, Commander Jerome C. Hubbard, and the regular exec, Commander Mark Crouter, who had been wounded earlier that day in a Japanese air attack and had refused to leave the ship.

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