rejoined. The Japanese force had been dispersed and within minutes of the battleship/cruiser encounter, enemy destroyers, edging along the southern shore of Savo, entered the fray. and Preston followed. , which had been firing illumination shells toward the earlier gunfire exchange, came into the action in time to sight the cruiser Nagara and four destroyers closing in. Farther out, heavier Japanese ships were preparing to join in. The concentrated American destroyers were now central targets and, approximately eight minutes after the enemy was engaged, was hit. Loss Soon after this, Preston opened fire on an illuminated enemy target and was fired on in return by the light cruiser Nagara, probably using the 5-inch gun flashes to target her. Preston was straddled by the first salvo and hit by the second whilst preparing her torpedoes for launching. The salvo from Nagara had put both firerooms out and toppled the afterstack. Preston's fires made an easier target and shells came in from both port and starboard; there is the possibility that the shells coming in from port were from a friendly ship, most likely the Washington which was off to her port & had a broken gun mount causing one of her guns to hang low. (Lt. CMDR Reed), (Lundgren, 291f). As the crippled Preston coasted to a halt, Nagara's next salvos landed on the destroyer's aft section, likely hitting the after 5-inch magazine, with catastrophic results. Survivor testimony from Robert B Reed (on damage control duties during the battle) describes the ship's torpedoes as having been smashed to bits by the explosion, with "loose and ruptured torpedo warheads rolling around under the mounts" and "with the exposed TNT on fire". As he recovered from the explosion, Reed became aware that "Canned goods, potatoes, cabbage and all manner of food provisions were falling straight down out of the sky, having been propelled upward by the explosion of the after magazines". The fires continued to spread. At 23:36, Preston was ordered abandoned. Minutes later, she rolled on her port side. She floated for another ten minutes, bow in the air; then sank, taking 116 of her crew with her. Prior to the battle, Her skipper, Max C. Stormes wisely had all of the tetryl boosters for Preston's depth charges thrown overboard to prevent detonation should the ship go down. This decision no doubt saved many lives. Sadly, as the survivors drew clear of