in a sheet of smoke and flame from bursting gasoline tanks and the bridge had to be abandoned. The entire forward deckhouse was aflame, making topside forward of number one stack untenable. Smiths gunners downed six of the planes. By early afternoon, the crew had extinguished all of the fires forward—largely assisted by decision her Commanding Officer, Lt.Cdr. Hunter Wood to steer the burning ship into the wake of South Dakota. With 57 killed or missing, 12 wounded, her magazines flooded, and temporary loss of steering control from the pilothouse, Smith retained her position in the screen with all serviceable guns firing. Action was broken off in the evening, and Smith headed to Noumea for temporary repairs. She was patched up and underway for Pearl Harbor on 5 November. At Pearl Harbor, she underwent a yard overhaul and sea trials that lasted into February 1943. USS Smith was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for continuing to fight despite crippling damage to the ship. 1943 Smith departed on 12 February for Espiritu Santo as screen for the auxiliary ship . The destroyer joined the screen there, and the ships proceeded to Guadalcanal where Smith performed antisubmarine patrols until 12 March. She then returned to Espiritu Santo and participated in various patrols and tactical and logistical exercises with TF 10 in the New Caledonia-Coral Sea area until 28 April. Smith returned to Pearl Harbor the following month for logistics and then sailed for Australia. Smith was attached to DesRon 5 which conducted exercises in the Townsville-Cape Moreton area to 10 June, and then escorted merchant shipping and landing craft to Milne Bay, remaining there the remainder of July. Smith departed for Mackay, Australia, and yard availability on 1 August. When this was completed, she returned to Milne Bay for further exercises and preparations for impending operations with the Seventh Fleet. Smith, with destroyers , , and , bombarded Finschhafen, New Guinea, on 23 August without opposition. The squadron returned to Milne Bay and participated in exercises until 2 September when it sailed with TF 76 for the Huon Gulf area of New Guinea. Smith bombarded targets in her assigned area of "Red Beach" prior to landings by the 9th Australian Infantry Division on 4 September. She remained in the area on offensive sweeps, antisubmarine patrols, and as antiaircraft defense until 18 September. On the night of 7/8 September, the squadron shelled Lae.