The same month Charlesworth assumed command, No. 76 Wing arrived from Cairns, Queensland, to coordinate and control minelaying operations in NWA by three Catalina squadrons. The Catalinas mined Manila Bay in December 1944, to support the Allied landing at Mindoro. No. 82 (Heavy Bomber) Wing—the RAAF's first—became operational under NWA's control at Fenton Airfield on 11 January 1945. Comprising two Liberator squadrons, the wing replaced the USAAF's 380th Group when the latter was transferred to the Fifth Air Force in the Philippines. The Liberators of No. 82 Wing sank seven Japanese ships in the Dutch East Indies during March. On 6 April, all of its available aircraft joined Mitchells of No. 79 Wing in an assault on a Japanese convoy that included the cruiser "Isuzu". Anti-aircraft fire and attacks by enemy fighters resulted in the loss of two Liberators; Allied submarines sank the damaged "Isuzu" the following day.