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"Sixty seconds later the shifty Boise was concentrating everything her guns would throw on a fourth target. . . . This contact lasted four minutes and the Boise took a hit from an eight inch shell and several hits from five inch shells. The captain's cabin was demolished. A direct hit put one of her five-inch guns out of action. But in short order the enemy, which had been burning very brightly, exploded violently several times and was not seen again. . . . For two minutes the Boise had no target. Then fires were observed burning on an enemy destroyer. For two minutes Captain Moran's guns hit her and she disappeared." Finally a Jap destroyer opened deadly fire, but the Boise disposed of her with the help of other U.S. ships.
In 27 minutes of the deadliest close-range fighting, the Boise had fired more than 1,000 rounds of five-and six-inch shells. Her sister ships had given her up for lost, but two hours later—her exploded magazine flooded, her bulkhead shored up, her shell holes stuffed with bedding—she ghosted into her regular station in column. "She was down by the head, but on an even keel."
The U.S. people had a new hero—made of steel—and an immortal phrase.