At 2314 on 28 March, lookouts sighted enemy planes on "Bunch"s starboard beam at extreme range, and she immediately went to general quarters. Still, the high-speed transport did not commence firing - on a plane that she identified as a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" twin-engined bomber - until 0110 on the 29th. Even then, the plane fell to gunfire from the ships astern, and "Bunch" secured from battle stations soon thereafter. Going back to general quarters for the dawn alert at 0525 on the 29th, "Bunch" spotted planes at 0605, but they remained out of range.