As Tokitsukaze completed tormenting the crew of the 43, Japanese lookouts aboard the destroyer quickly spotted another torpedo boat running at high speed. It was PT 112; after passing astern of his would-be target, Larson turned the boat in an easterly direction towards Tulagi, trying to put some distance between his boat and the Japanese. Once more Tokitsukaze's gunners fired her main batteries, and two shells smacked the fleeing 112; one pierced the boat near the bow at the waterline, while the second scored a devastating hit near the forward bulkhead of the engine room, blasting an enormous hole in the hull, stopping the engines cold, and setting the compartment ablaze. Ed Guenther, on duty in the radio room, felt the shock of the two hits, and then heard the engines quit; upon hearing Westholm shout "Abandon ship", he quickly exited the radio room, scrambled up on deck, and jumped off the bow of the boat into the sea. Most of the crew had immediately abandoned the crippled PT, but in the burning engine room machinist's mate Clayton Craig, wounded by shrapnel, struggled with the CO2 release in an attempt to bring the fire under control; he finally succeeded, despite suffering burns on his face, arms, and hands. When the futility of trying to save the beat-up boat became apparent, the wounded machinist's mate and skipper Westholm were the last to abandon ship, joining the rest of the crew in the water. Most everyone seemed to be all right except for Craig and torpedoman Claude Dollar, wounded by shrapnel in one leg. As the shiprecked sailors began to take stock of their situation, they were startled by the sudden appearance of a Japanese destroyer that had turned on its searchlight. Cautiously scanning the area, the searchlight resting for a moment on the wrecked torpedo boat, then it began to make a sweep of the surrounding sea. Westholm and his men scattered, fearing the Japanese would massacre them with machine guns. After seeing the 112 dead in the water and apparently sinking by the stern, the destroyer snapped off its light and departed the area, leaving behind an utterly dazed and disoriented PT crew.

After the destroyer left, Bud Larson found himself alone in the darkness, burdened with his lifejacket, helmet, poncho, binoculars, pistol, and codebooks; the other members of the crew were in more or less a similar situation. The young ensign knew that other PT's would be out looking for them when they didn't report in at dawn, so he tried to make himself comfortable as possible and settled down for a long wait. Meanwhile Westholm, Guenther, and Craig had found 112's liferaft--a seven-by-three foot balsa oval--and after a period of time Larson bumped into them in the darkness. Later, the four sailors saw the 112, down by the stern with a five foot hole in her starboard side, but still afloat. Mr. Westholm considered reboarding it to retrieve a pair of binoculars that were a prized possession of his, and the four torpedo-boat men began to row towards the shattered PT. But once the raft got to within 100 feet of the 112, they promptly put that idea out of their minds when a small explosion in the smoldering engine room blew out the stern of the sinking boat. The sailors on the raft were picked up later that morning by a PT skippered by Lt. John Clagett, while four other 109 men were rescued by Lieutenant Amsden in PT 39; the remaining three sailors were fished from the sea by Stilly Taylor's PT 46. Save for Craig and Dollar, all hands were recovered uninjured. The PT 112 finally sank shortly after dawn on January 11th, one mile east of Cape Esperance; still later later that same morning, the crew of PT 115 spotted the 43 on the Japanese-held portion of the Guadalcanal shore; a New Zealand corvette was called upon to destroy the boat with gunfire to prevent its falling into Japanese hands.

After the battle, January 11, 1943. Above, radioman Ed Guenther (foreground) and Ens. Bryant Larson on the foredeck of a PT after spending the night adrift after PT 112 was destroyed. (Courtesy Ed Guenther) Below, the shattered hulk of PT 43. Photograph was taken after the Japanese had been run off Guadalcanal. (PT Boats, Inc.)

Four nights later, on January 14/15, thirteen PT's were out to meet the Express in a pitch-black night made worse by clouds and rain. The dirty weather made it almost impossible to see the bow of one's own boat, let alone find enemy warships. Westholm's 109 led Les Gamble's PT 45 and John Clagett in PT 37, and the three boats took their patrol station two miles southwest of Savo. Westholm later left Gamble and Clagett to make a search northwest of Savo, and had his only contact with the enemy when a floatplane swooped down and dropped three bombs; fortunately the bombs missed the PT by 150 yards. Early the next morning 109 was off the Guadalcanal coast, prowling the section of the shoreline the PT men called Machine Gun Row looking for enemy barges or supplies. Unknown to the 109's sailors, they were also under observation--by the crew of a hidden Japanese shore gun. The Imperial artillerymen held their fire until the PT cruised within range, then let fly with a few rounds, leaving three ugly holes in 109's hull. The PT gunners retaliated by strafing the underbrush with .50 caliber and 20mm fire. After this incident Westholm retired from the area, and headed back to base. Along the way the boat encountered Lieutenant Gamble's PT 45, beached on Florida Island following the PT-destroyer duel of the proceeding night. The 109 tried, but failed to pull the grounded 45 off the beach, and continued on to Tulagi. A Navy tug freed the high and dry PT later that day.

Changes were afoot for 109's crew; after their ordeal on the 112, January 18 saw the departure of some old faces, the arrival of some new ones, and the return of one former shipmate. The Navy had a "survivors leave" policy that sent any sailor who had survived a ship sinking home if he so chose. A few took advantage of the opportunity and went home, while some stayed in the combat area, working ashore with the Tulagi base force. Claude Dollar, Nicholas Mitrakos (who had replaced Joseph Morrisey as the cook in December), Ed Guenther, Clayton Craig, Adam Sennick, James Marney, and Lawrence Wallace all left the boat on January 18; XO Bryant Larson and quartermaster Guy Manning remained aboard. To replace the departing sailors, Lieutenant Westholm selected MoMM1/c Royal D. Dunkin, RM2/c George A. Lewis, SC2/c William S. Jackson, GM3/c Willam H. McMillan, S1/c James M. Bartlett, and TM2/c Jack Edgar, now 100 percent fit after breaking a leg in Panama. Two other sailors, F1/c Willam E. Griffin and F2/c Merrill D. Payton joined the crew a few days later. Jackson, McMillan, and "Ploughead" Lewis were former crew members of PT 110, and were riding PT 43 when that boat was lost on January 11. Dunkin, Bartlett, Payton, and Griffin were replacements from the base force. During this time, 109 was in drydock while her propellers could be serviced; in the meantime the new crew made two routine patrols on other boats; on January 22 aboard PT 115, and on January 26 aboard PT 110.