Air Attack near Guadalcanal
On 26 October in company with the Enterprise Task Group off Guadalcanal, Smith was attacked by a formation of 20 torpedo planes. Twenty minutes later, a Japanese torpedo plane crashed into her forecastle, causing a heavy explosion. The forward part of the ship was enveloped in a sheet of smoke and flame from bursting gasoline tanks and the bridge had to be abandoned. The entire forward deck house was aflame, making topside forward of number one stack untenable. Smith's gunners splashed six of the planes. By early afternoon, the crew had extinguished all of the fires forward. With 57 killed or missing, 12 wounded, her magazines flooded, and temporary loss of steering control from the pilot house, Smith retained her position in the screen with all serviceable guns firing.
