To provide security for the carriers' operations in the Gulf of Papua, Brown detached a surface force to remain in the waters of the Louisiade Archipelago, near Rossel Island, to intercept any enemy thrust toward Port Moresby and cover the arrival of Army troops scheduled to arrive at about that time at Nouméa, New Caledonia. He placed this force, "Astoria", , "Louisville", , "Anderson", "Sims", "Hammann", and "Hughes", under Rear Admiral John G. Grace, Royal Navy. While the patrol proved uneventful for Grace's ships, which rejoined TF 11 on 14 March, the Lae-Salamaua raid carried out by planes from "Yorktown" and "Lexington" forced the Japanese to husband carefully their amphibious resources, already on the proverbial "shoestring", for their planned operations in the Solomon Islands.