on 11 November, loaded with troops and munitions for Manila, capital of the Philippines, but news was received of heavy American air attacks on Manila and they were diverted to the Spratly Islands. They arrived on 14 November and their cargo was unloaded so it could be transferred to the Philippines. The 4th Carrier Division was transferred to the 2nd Fleet the following day. Reinforced by the battleship and three cruisers, the sisters proceeded on to Lingga Island, near Singapore, on 20 November. They arrived two days later and remained there until 12 December when they departed for Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina, where they were on standby for an attack on an American supply convoy bound for the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The attack was cancelled on the 30th and the ships sailed for Singapore where they arrived on 1 January 1945 before continuing on to Lingga. That same day the Fourth Carrier Division was transferred to the Southwest Area Fleet. Final role On 6 February, the division sailed for Singapore to participate in Operation Kita. While approaching Singapore, Ise was slightly damaged by a mine. Given temporary repairs at the former British naval base there, Ise, Hyūga, and the light cruiser were loaded with critically needed strategic war supplies (oil, rubber, tin, zinc, and mercury) and 1,150 surplus oil workers to be ferried back to Japan. The division sailed from Singapore on 10 February and was spotted by the British submarine the following day. It was forced to submerge by a maritime patrol aircraft and was unable to attack. On 13 February the submarine unsuccessfully attacked the ships as did the submarine . One of Ises AA guns caused one of Blowers torpedoes to detonate prematurely. Later that afternoon, Ōyodo launched one of her floatplanes which spotted the submarine on the surface about ahead of the convoy. Hyūga opened fire with her main guns and forced Bashaw to submerge when one of her shells landed within of the submarine. The convoy reached the Matsu Islands, off the Chinese coast, on the 15th and was unsuccessfully attacked by the submarine before they reached Zhoushan Island, near Shanghai that night. The convoy reached Kure on 20 February, having evaded or escaped pursuit by 23 Allied submarines along the way. Nakase was relieved by Captain Mutaguchi Kakuro five days later. The 4th Carrier Division was disbanded on 1 March