The carriers arrived at Kure on 29 December. They were assigned to the Southern Force on 8 January 1942 and departed four days later for the Dutch East Indies. The ships supported the invasion of the Palau Islands and the Battle of Ambon, attacking Allied positions on the island on 23 January with fifty-four aircraft. Four days later the carriers detached eighteen Zeros and nine D3As to operate from land bases in support of Japanese operations in the Battle of Borneo. On 30 January they destroyed two aircraft on the ground and shot down a Qantas Short Empire flying boat flying to Surabaya to pick up refugees.