On the night after the initial landings on Luzon, 9 January 1945, Halsey took TF 38 into the South China Sea for a week's rampage in which his ships and planes took a heavy toll of Japanese shipping and aircraft before they retransited Luzon Strait on 16 January 1945 and returned to the Philippine Sea. Bad weather prevented Halsey's planes from going aloft for the next few days; but on 21 January 1945, they bombed Formosa, the Pescadores, and the Sakishimas. The following day, the aircraft returned to the Sakishimas and the Ryūkyūs for more bombing and reconnaissance. The overworked Fast Carrier Task Force then headed for Ulithi and entered that lagoon on 26th.