their status. The marines told him that they could not identify the aircraft because they did not have their identification, friend or foe (IFF) transponders turned on. At 02:35, the aircraft near the beach fired 40–50 rounds of .50-caliber tracer fire at the PCF. All rounds landed astern. PCF-12 responded with machine-gun and mortar fire. At 02:40, Point Dume, now back on the scene was attacked by a fixed-wing aircraft, which made two attack runs against the vessel. Both the commanding officer of Point Dume and the commander of PCF-12 positively identified the aircraft as a "jet." The crews of Point Dume and PCF-12 then observed numerous lighted aircraft that appeared to be helicopters in the northern part of the area. These aircraft approached the U.S. vessels and made firing runs with their lights off. Point Dume received heavy caliber automatic weapons fire from these aircraft and returned fire. PCF-12 also returned fire intermittently for approximately 75 minutes. Neither vessel was damaged in the engagement; there were no personnel injured. On the afternoon of 16 June, Task Unit 77.1.0 ordered , and the Royal Australian Navy guided-missile destroyer Hobart to conduct a surveillance mission in the vicinity of Tiger Island in attempt to flush out any enemy helicopters or waterborne craft operating from there. At 01:18 on the 17th, Boston, which was engaged in a naval gunfire support mission in the same general area, came under attack from an unidentified jet aircraft. The jet fired two missiles at the ship: one exploded off the port beam; and the other close aboard to port, showering the ship with fragments. No sailors were injured, and the missiles caused only minor structural damage to the ship. At 03:09, while Hobart was searching a 5-mile radius area between the coast and Tiger Island with its radar, it detected a single aircraft tracking east. The aircraft was not squawking IFF. An attempt was made to identify the aircraft by visual gun direction personnel on the bridge. Five minutes later a missile slammed into the chief petty officers' mess and nearby spaces, killing one sailor and wounding two others. The ship took evasive action but temporarily lost radar contact with the aircraft. At 03:16, two more missiles hit the ship, destroying the gunners' store and damaging other spaces, including the engineers' workshop, the seamen's mess, the missile director room, the RIM-24 Tartar checkout room, and the