Sealion's radar approach against Kongō

Sealion gained radar contact with the Japanese formation in the Taiwan Strait at 0020 and used its steady course to work ahead for an attack. The ships were making about 16 knots without zigzagging. Coordinating zigzags at night required training and practice, while wartime fuel allowances constrained that training. Sealion fired six torpedoes at Kongō and three at Nagato; hits flooded two of Kongō's boiler rooms, while Nagato turned clear of the second salvo. The submarine then headed west as the Japanese searched east. After the formation split, Sealion followed the slower damaged group and regained an attack position, but Kongō exploded before another attack. Progressive flooding had forced abandonment when the forward 14-inch magazine detonated at 0524.