would be particularly dangerous, because the convoy would have to negotiate the restricted waters of the Vitiaz Strait. The Japanese named the convoy "Operation 81." The destroyers carried 958 troops while the transports took 5,954. All the ships were combat loaded to expedite unloading at Lae. The commander of the Japanese XVIII Army – Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi – travelled on the destroyer , while that of the 51st Division – Lieutenant General Hidemitsu Nakano – was on board the destroyer . The escort commander – Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla – flew his flag from the destroyer . The other five destroyers were , , , and . They escorted seven Army transports: (2,716 gross register tons), (950 tons), (5,493 tons), (6,494 tons), (3,793 tons), (2,883 tons) and (6,870 tons). Rounding out the force was the lone Navy transport (8,125 tons). All the ships carried troops, equipment and ammunition, except for the Kembu Maru, which carried 1,000 drums of avgas and 650 drums of other fuel. The convoy, moving at , was not detected for some time, because of two tropical storms that struck the Solomon and Bismarck Seas between 27 February and 1 March, but at about 15:00 on 1 March, the crew of a patrolling B-24 Liberator heavy bomber spotted the convoy. Eight B-17 Flying Fortresses were sent to the location but failed to locate the ships. At dawn on 2 March, a force of six RAAF A-20 Bostons attacked Lae to reduce its ability to provide support. At about 10:00, another Liberator found the convoy. Eight B-17s took off to attack the ships, followed an hour later by another 20. The B-17s were planned to rendezvous with P-38 fighters from the 9th Fighter Squadron, however the B-17s arrived early and faced the Japanese fighters on their own for the initial air battle until the P-38s arrived. They found the convoy and attacked with bombs from . They claimed to have sunk up to three merchant ships. Kyokusei Maru had sunk carrying 1,200 army troops, and two other transports, Teiyo Maru and Nojima, were damaged. Eight Japanese fighters were destroyed and 13 damaged in the day's action, while nine B-17s were damaged. The destroyers Yukikaze and Asagumo plucked 950 survivors of Kyokusei Maru from the water. These two destroyers, being faster than the convoy since its speed was dictated by the slower transports,