The next morning saw the arrival of the follow-up force, six LSTs, each towing an LCM, escorted by the destroyers and and and destroyer minesweepers and . The LSTs entered Hyane Harbour and beached, coming under mortar fire as they did so. , manned by a United States Coast Guard crew, replied with 3 in (76mm) and Bofors 40 mm guns. The LSTs were unloaded over the next seven hours. In the process, ammunition, construction equipment, and stores piled up. To accommodate a proper dispersal of stores, General Chase ordered an attack to expand the perimeter. An air strike was requested. B-25s of the 345th US Bomb Group were intercepted by an estimated fifteen Japanese fighters. These were driven off by eight escorting P-47 Thunderbolt fighters, which claimed eight Japanese aircraft shot down. Two B-17s of the 69th US Troop Carrier Squadron on a supply dropping run were also attacked, and claimed to have shot one of their attackers down. Two of the four B-25 squadrons dropped bombs in areas occupied by American troops, two of whom were killed and four wounded before the 12th US Air Liaison Party could correct the error. Both squadrons of the 5th Cavalry attacked at 15:00. All objectives were taken and a new, larger defensive perimeter was prepared. The 40th Naval Construction Battalion had landed expecting to work on Momote airstrip. Instead, they were ordered to use their equipment to clear fields of fire and construct fortifications, and were given a section of the perimeter to defend. Six trenches were dug out by a bulldozer and ten men stationed in each. Their ditch digger scooped out a trench which formed a secondary line of defence. The airstrip's revetments were transformed into heavy machine gun posts.