Somerville did not immediately withdraw or return to port. Force B rejoined early on 6 April. In the afternoon 1,122 survivors from Dorsetshire's force were recovered, while maintaining a look-out for the superior enemy force with all-around air reconnaissance. Intelligence from Ceylon put the Japanese between Port T and Ceylon. Somerville cautiously arrived at Port T from the west at 11:00 on 8 April and refuelled. On 6 April heavy cruisers and with destroyer sank the British merchant ships Silksworth, Autolycus, Malda and Shinkuang and the American ship Exmoor.. Attack on Trincomalee By 8 April, the Eastern Fleet had withdrawn and the Japanese fleet was approaching Trincomalee from the east. The Japanese fleet was detected by a RAF Catalina at 15:17 on 8 April. The harbour at Trincomalee was cleared that night. Hermes, escorted by , was sent south along the coast. The Japanese air search on the morning of 9 April was limited as on 5 April, as British carriers were no longer expected. The Japanese strike group of 132 aircraft was detected at 07:06 on 9 April by the radar of AMES 272 at a range of . The defending fighters - 17 Hurricanes and six Fulmars - took off in time, and inflicted the first kills of the battle when a section of Hurricanes attacked three Zeroes and shot down two. The China Bay airbase and the port were heavily bombed. The monitor was damaged. SS Sagaing, a merchant ship carrying aircraft and ammunition, was set on fire and abandoned. Eight Hurricanes and a Fulmar were lost, although no serviceable fighters were lost on the ground. The Japanese lost four aircraft. At 07:16 another Catalina from 413 Squadron RCAF spotted the Japanese fleet, but was shot down while reporting. Blenheims attack the Japanese carriers Around 10:25, nine unescorted Blenheims from 11 Squadron RAF attacked Nagumo's force. They were not detected inbound by the combat air patrol (CAP). Hiryū spotted the aircraft but failed to relay a warning to the other ships. As a result, the attack achieved total surprise. The bombers unloaded at on Akagi; the bombs fell close to the target with no hits. Four bombers were shot down over the carriers by CAP A6M2 Zeroes (two of which were claimed by Kaname Harada), and another by Japanese aircraft returning from the strike on Hermes. In return, a Zero was shot down near the carriers and