The battle began when a scouting aeroplane, launched from the USS Dakota, sighted a force of six Royal Navy battleships and their escorting vessels which originated from their base in Singapore. During the ensuing battle, the rudder of the Dakota was disabled by a shot from a British warship, jamming it to port and causing her to break from the American battle line. The next ship in line, the USS Idaho, nearly collided with the stricken vessel. The resulting action would later be known as "the death ride of the Dakota", as the ship took heavy damage from both British and Imperial Japanese Navy fire.