At dawn on 2 March, a force of six RAAF A-20 Bostons attacked Lae to reduce its ability to provide support. At about 10:00, another Liberator found the convoy. Eight B-17s took off to attack the ships, followed an hour later by another 20. They found the convoy and attacked with bombs from . They claimed to have sunk up to three merchant ships. "Kyokusei Maru" had sunk carrying 1,200 army troops, and two other transports, "Teiyo Maru" and "Nojima", were damaged. Eight Japanese fighters were destroyed and 13 damaged in the day's action.