aboard but inflicted no further damage. Another PBY attacked her on 8 September 1942 between 14:00 and 14:15, making several strafing runs and scoring another near-miss with a bomb. She reached Truk on 11 September 1942. September 1942–January 1943 At Truk, Submarine Squadron 3′s flag shifted from I-11 to the submarine tender Yasukuni Maru and makeshift repairs were made on I-11. With them complete, she departed Truk on 15 September 1942 and headed for Kure, making the entire voyage on the surface. She reached Kure on 23 September 1942, returned her floatplane — which had survived Russell′s depth-charging in flyable condition — to the 11th Naval Air Arsenal, and began repairs. After completion of her repairs, I-11 departed Kure on 9 January 1943 and arrived on 15 January at Truk, where on 18 January 1943 she was designated the flagship of Submarine Force A under the command of Rear Admiral Katsumi Komazawa. Third war patrol The Japanese decided in January 1943 to evacuate their forces from Guadalcanal in Operation Ke. With a Yokosuka E14Y (Allied reporting name "Glen") floatplane aboard, I-11 departed Truk on 19 January 1943 to begin her third war patrol, resuming her participation in the Guadalcanal campaign. She was assigned a patrol area south of Guadalcanal and north of Rennell Island, where she and the submarines , , , , , , , and were tasked to intercept Allied naval forces steaming to and from the Guadalcanal area. On 31 January 1943, I-11 received orders to proceed to the waters east of San Cristóbal in support of ships of the 2nd and 3rd Fleets as they conducted the evacuation. On 2 February 1943, Rear Admiral Komazawa ordered the submarines of Submarine Squadron 3 to intercept a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier task force reportedly operating southeast of San Cristóbal. At 10:00 on 7 February 1943, I-11 sighted a U.S. aircraft carrier steaming south and began an approach, but an inaccurate depth setting for I-11′s torpedoes prevented a successful attack. The Japanese completed the evacuation of Guadalcanal on 8 February 1943. Meanwhile, I-11 received orders on 7 February 1943 after her unsuccessful attempt to attack the aircraft carrier to use her floatplane to reconnoiter the harbor and nearby airfields at Nouméa on the coast of Grande Terre in New Caledonia. The E14Y1 made the reconnaissance flight on 21 February, and its crew reported an aircraft carrier, two battleships, and