Between 29 October and 8 November, the catapults were removed to improve the firing arcs of No.3 and No.4 turrets. "Hyūga" and "Ise" departed on 11 November, loaded with troops and munitions for Manila, capital of the Philippines, but news was received of heavy American air attacks on Manila and they were diverted to the Spratly Islands. They arrived on 14 November and their cargo was unloaded so it could be transshipped to the Philippines. The 4th Carrier Division was transferred to the 2nd Fleet the following day. Reinforced by the battleship and three cruisers, the sisters proceeded on to Lingga Island, near Singapore, on 20 November. They arrived two days later and remained there until 12 December when they departed for Cam Ranh Bay, French Indochina, where they were on standby for an attack on an American supply convoy bound for the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima, commander of the 5th Fleet, hoisted his flag aboard "Hyūga" two days later. The attack was cancelled on the 30th and the ships sailed for Singapore where they arrived on 1January 1945 before continuing on to Lingga. That same day the Fourth Carrier Division was transferred to the Southwest Area Fleet and Shima hauled his flag down. On 6February, the division sailed for Singapore to participate in Operation Kita. The sisters and the light cruiser were loaded with critically needed strategic war supplies (oil, rubber, tin, zinc, and mercury) and 1,150 surplus oil workers to be ferried back to Japan.