 By early afternoon, the crew had extinguished all of the fires forward—largely assisted by her Commanding Officer's decision 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.