mistaken her for Prince of Wales. After this, the Japanese force of six cruisers and several destroyers turned away to the northeast. The flare was also seen by the British force, which feared they had been identified and then turned away to the southeast. At this point, the forces were approximately 5 miles (9 km) apart but did not sight each other, and the Japanese force was not picked up on the radar of the Prince of Wales. At 20:55, Admiral Phillips cancelled the operation, saying that they had lost the element of surprise, and ordered the force to return to Singapore. On the way back, they were spotted and reported by the Japanese submarine I-58 at 03:40. I-58 reported that she had fired five torpedoes and missed, and then lost sight of the force three hours later. The British force did not see the torpedoes, and never knew they had been attacked. The report from I-58 reached 22nd Air Flotilla Headquarters at 03:15, and ten bombers of the Genzan Air Group were dispatched at 06:00 to conduct a sector search for the ships. Many more planes, some armed with bombs and some with torpedoes, soon followed. The Genzan Air Group took off at 07:55, the Kanoya Air Group at 08:14, and the Mihoro Air Group at 08:20. They were ordered to proceed to the best-estimated position of the ships. The Japanese air attack At 0050 that same morning, 10 December, Phillips had received a report from Palliser of Japanese landings at Kuantan, on the east coast of Malaya, halfway between Singapore and Kota Bharu; Phillips headed in that general direction, without however signalling Palliser his intentions (which would have revealed his position). Palliser failed to anticipate this and request air cover over Kuantan from Sembawang's Buffalo fighters. As it turned out, not until a radio message was sent by Repulse an hour after the first Japanese attack were RAF aircraft dispatched. At 05:15, objects were spotted on the horizon; thinking they were the invasion force, Force Z turned towards them. It turned out to be a trawler towing barges. At 06:30, Repulse reported seeing an aircraft shadowing the ships. At 07:18, Prince of Wales catapulted off a Supermarine Walrus reconnaissance aircraft; it flew to Kuantan, saw nothing, reported back to Prince of Wales, and flew to Singapore. Express was sent to investigate the area, but found nothing. Phillips was