ship De Weert, and De Weert sank on 3 July at . On 2 July 1942, I-18 attacked the British 7,406-ton armed merchant ship Phemius. Her torpedoes detonated prematurely, and Phemius opened fire on I-18′s periscope. I-18 escaped undamaged. She was in the Indian Ocean south of St. Lucia Bay, South Africa, on 6 July 1942 when she torpedoed the 7,341-ton British India Steam Navigation Company steamer , which was carrying a large number of survivors of other ships. She then attacked Mundra with gunfire, sinking her at . One hundred fifty-five men survived Mundra′s sinking, which prompted a large number of Royal Air Force and South African Air Force sorties to find I-18, but I-18 went undetected. I-18 conducted a reconnaissance of Rodrigues on 20 July and of Diego Garcia on 31 July 1942, then proceeded to Penang. As she neared Penang on 2 August 1942, she detected an unidentified enemy — probably Royal Navy — submarine stalking her, but she arrived at Penang safely later that day. She later set course for Japan, arriving at Yokosuka on 23 August 1942 to undergo an overhaul. Guadalcanal campaign By mid-November 1942, the Japanese had decided to organize a system of submarine supply runs to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, where Japanese forces had been fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign since August 1942. With her overhaul complete, I-18 got underway from Kure on 17 December 1942 and, after a stop at Truk, proceeded to Shortland Island in the Shortland Islands to begin her supply runs. Early on the morning of 3 January 1943, the submarine sighted I-18 on the surface in the Solomon Sea southwest of Rendova at and launched a torpedo attack. Grayback′s torpedoes detonated, and Grayback′s commanding officer believed she had sunk I-18, but the torpedoes apparently exploded prematurely, because I-18 submerged and escaped unscathed. I-18 made three supply runs to Guadalcanal, in each case dropping her cargo off at Cape Esperance on the island's northwest coast. She delivered 15 tons of cargo in supply drums on 5 January 1943 and 25 tons in supply drums on 11 January 1943. On 22 January 1943, she departed Truk on her last supply run, delivering 18 tons of cargo in a supply container at Cape Esperance on 26 January 1943. On 28 January 1943, I-18 was attached to Submarine Force "A". She deployed to waters north of Rennell Island and south