ship then covered the evacuation of forces from Guadalcanal through early February. Hiyō had returned to Japan in December and Jun'yō followed in February. Both ships returned to Truk in late March and their air groups were detached from in early April to participate in Operation I-Go, a land-based aerial offensive against Allied bases in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. The ships returned to Japan in late May and sailed for Truk on 7 June, but Hiyō was torpedoed that evening and forced to return to port for repairs. Her fighters were flown to Truk by 15 July and assigned to the light carrier . The ship was under repair at Yokosuka until 15 September. Jun'yōs air group was deployed to Buin, Papua New Guinea on 2 July in response to the American invasion of Rendova Island on 30 June. Leaving her aircraft behind, the carrier returned to Japan in late July. Jun'yō ferried aircraft to Singapore in mid-August and troops and equipment to the Caroline Islands the following month. On 5 November 1943, she was hit by a torpedo, but the damage was light, other than the disabled rudder. The ship was under repair and refit until 29 February 1944 at Kure. The air groups of both carriers were reconstituted at Singapore on 1 November. The aircraft transferred to Truk on 1 December and then to Kavieng at the end of December before reaching Rabaul on 25 January 1944; the survivors were back at Truk on 20 February and the air group was disbanded. Hiyō departed Japan for Singapore on 24 November. She arrived on 3 December and was almost immediately assigned duties as an aircraft ferry until January when the ship returned to Japan. In the meantime, the Japanese Navy had restructured its carrier air groups so that one air group was assigned to one carrier division and Air Group 652 was assigned to the 2nd Carrier Division with Hiyō, Jun'yō and Ryūhō on 1 March. The air group was last in priority to be rebuilt and only had 30 Model 21 Zeros, 13 Model 52 Zeros and 4 D3As on hand on 1 April of its authorized 81 fighters, 36 dive bombers and 27 torpedo bombers. The ships conducted training for their aircraft in the Inland Sea until 11 May when she sailed for Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines. The new base was closer to the oil