"rasher" pulled away to reload torpedo tubes and the convoy split into two groups. "rasher" followed three large ships with one "kaibōkan" moving northwest while "bluefish" intercepted the remaining ships continuing southwesterly and fired torpedoes at two tankers. at least one torpedo hit "awa maru", and "hayasui" burst into flame and sank stern first after being hit by two or three torpedoes at 0320.