Another H6K spotted the Americans during the morning of 6 May and successfully shadowed them until 14:00. The Japanese, however, were unwilling or unable to launch air strikes in poor weather or without updated spot reports. Both sides believed they knew where the other force was, and expected to fight the next day. The Japanese were the first to spot the Americans when one aircraft found the oiler escorted by the destroyer at 0722, south of the Strike Force. These ships were misidentified as a carrier and a cruiser and the carriers "Shōkaku" and "Zuikaku" launched an airstrike 40 minutes later that sank "Sims" and damaged "Neosho" badly enough that she had to be scuttled a few days later. The American carriers were west of the Strike Force, not south, and they were spotted by other Japanese aircraft shortly after the carriers had launched their attack on "Neosho" and "Sims".