The morning of 29 November 1943 opened with a sky the color of steel wool. The sea rolled slow and indifferent as Bonefish moved through the Flores Sea, stalking her patrol track with the quiet patience of a hunter. At 0525 the lookout broke the monotony with a single hard call that snapped every head around. Smoke on the horizon bearing 068 true at a distance of about twenty five thousand yards. The log placed Bonefish at latitude 06 34 south and longitude 116 47.7 east. Smoke at that distance meant a sizeable ship and the scale of the plume suggested speed and purpose.