On Barton all was chaos, but only for a few seconds. Sixty percent of her crew died as she quickly sank; the torpedo had hit her main fireroom, and then another enemy torpedo had struck her forward engine room.

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Behind Barton was Monssen, under Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. McCombs. After watching Barton sink, McCombs engaged two enemy destroyers in the dark. Then star shells burst overhead. McCombs wondered if they were from an American vessel. He figured they were, and lit his recognition lights. They attracted two enemy searchlights and a wall of gunfire–37 hits in all. ‘Abandon ship’ was ordered at 2:20 a.m.

Last in line was Fletcher, a big, new destroyer with new radar. Her crew watched Barton ‘disappear in fragments’ and Monssen sink. Fletcher staggered through the chaotic ocean, firing at a variety of ships, including Helena, and, incredibly, emerged unscathed.

The Japanese side was also confused. Nagara, with her distinctive three funnels, attracted a lot of American attention but took no major hits. Akatsuki, on the other hand, battered Atlanta but drew fire from at least five American ships and was sunk.

The luckless Yudachi committed the same error as Monssen, lighting her recognition lights, which invited a flurry of American shells. Yudachi was left dead in the water at 2:26 a.m.

Hara had a rough night, too. After sinking Barton, he headed north, then saw a ship head directly toward him in the dark. It was closing quickly. Amatsukaze swung to starboard and barely avoided a collision. Hara could not recognize the intruder. He first thought it was a Japanese destroyer tender, wondered what it was doing in the midst of a battle, and then realized it was an American cruiser.

Hara howled, ‘Open fire!’ and launched his last four torpedoes at point-blank range, but he was too close. The torpedoes failed to arm, and all four fish bounced off the enemy hull.

The American ship was the damaged San Francisco, spewing flame and smoke, unable to fire back. Hara ordered his guns to maintain fire and finish her off. While Amatsukaze’s crew cheerfully banged away, the American cruiser Helena came charging up unnoticed.

Warrant Officer Shigeru Iwata shouted the alarm at the top of his lungs, and Hara stood frozen, watching Helena race in. Two American shells slammed Amatsukaze, nearly throwing Hara off the bridge. He was deafened by the noise and staggered to his feet.

Hara then saw Iwata lying on the deck. A piece of shrapnel had killed him instantly. Hara was extremely upset. He had trained Iwata.

Hara’s ship was now looping to starboard, and he shouted orders to his helmsman. The hydraulics had failed. Amatsukaze was blazing, and the executive officer had been hurled from the ship.

Firefighters went into action, and engineers managed to reconnect the rudder. Hara got help from destroyers Asagumo, Murasame and Samidare, which pounced on Helena, driving her off. Amatsukaze sustained 37 hits and lost 43 killed.

Hiei was in trouble, too. As the largest target, she took 85 hits. None could penetrate her main armor belt, but they battered her light armor and ordinary steel. All light flak guns were destroyed and her communications knocked out. San Francisco put an 8-inch shell through Hiei’s rudder, flooding the main steering compartment.

On Guadacanal, the ground troops of both sides had grandstand seats. Marine Private Robert Leckie wrote: ‘The star shells rose, terrible and red. Giant tracers flashed across the night in orange arches…the sea seemed a sheet of polished obsidian on which the warships seemed to have been dropped and immobilized, centered amid concentric circles like shock waves that form around a stone dropped in mud.’

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