 The hunt for German commerce raiders continued and the together with the light cruisers and , were sent to watch the sea lanes around Australia.During October, in an effort to hunt down German ships the Japanese force in the Indian Ocean was greatly strengthened with all vessels coming under the command of Vice-Admiral Sojiro Tochinai; ultimately employing two battlecruisers, "Ibuki" and ; three armoured cruisers, , and , and three light cruisers, "Hirado", "Yahagi" and "Chikuma".On November 1, in response to a British request, the Japanese assumed temporary responsibility for all Allied naval activity in the Indian Ocean east of 90 degrees longitude and remained in command for the rest of the month.