aborted the attack and returned to Mapanget. It took several days for the B-26 to be given a replacement starboard engine. Pope's next sortie was on May 7, when he again attacked the government airbase at Ambon. He seriously damaged a Douglas C-47 Skytrain and a North American P-51 Mustang and caused other damage on the airbase. On May 8, he attacked the Palu area in the morning and Ambon in the afternoon. On Ambon, he bombed and machine-gunned the government-held Liang airbase in the northeast of the island, damaging the runway and destroying a Consolidated PBY Catalina. He then continued to Ambon city where he attacked an Indonesian Navy gunboat at anchor. His bomb missed, but he then attacked with machine-guns, wounding two crew and damaging the gunboat. Since May 1, Beale and his B-26 had been resting at Clark Air Base, leaving Pope's aircraft as AUREV's only active bomber. On May 9, Beale returned to Mapanget, releasing Pope who then took his turn to fly to Clark for several days' leave. On May 15, Pope attacked a small transport ship, the Naiko, in Ambon Bay. She was a merchant ship that the Indonesian Government had pressed into military service, and was bringing a company of Ambonese troops home from East Java. Pope's bomb hit the Naikos engine room, killing one crew member and 16 infantrymen and setting the ship on fire. He then attacked Ambon city, aiming for the barracks. His first bomb missed and exploded in a market-place next door. His next landed in the barracks compound, but bounced and exploded near an ice factory. He then returned to Mapanget to find that in his absence, the Indonesian Air Force had bombed the rebel air base, destroying a CIA/AUREV PBY Catalina and damaging a CIA/AUREV P-51 Mustang. The Indonesian government alleged that Pope's bombing of a marketplace in Ambon city had killed a large number of civilians. This later turned out to be untrue, but in the meantime the US Embassy in Jakarta protested to the United States Department of State, which then warned the CIA team in Manado. The CIA tightened its AUREV pilots' rules of engagement to attacking only airfields and boats. Even military buildings were prohibited. Capture By mid-May, Indonesian government forces were planning amphibious counter-attacks on the islands of Morotai and Halmahera that Permesta had captured toward the end of April. This involved