Time was against Layton, however, as were the current appreciations of Japanese capabilities. On 5 April 1942 Japanese aircraft attacked Colombo, Ceylon, sinking an auxiliary cruiser, a submarine depot ship and a destroyer. It could have been far worse; reacting to intelligence reports, warships and merchant ships had been ordered to disperse from harbours where they would have been easy targets. Two cruisers, however, were found at sea and sunk. On 9 April the Japanese attacked Trincomalee harbour and later found and sank an aircraft carrier, a destroyer and a corvette, all at sea. There were further Japanese raids on shipping along India's east coast. The Japanese returned to the Pacific, and on 11 April Layton sent a signal that the enemy had withdrawn from Ceylon to Singapore.