There are eight of them - there are two of us. The layout before the fight
Not ours, but we'll play!
Seryozha! Hold on, we don't shine with you, But the trump cards must be equal.
V. S. Vysotsky
On November 11, 1942, one of the most amazing naval battles of World War II took place in the Indian Ocean southeast of the Cocos Islands. In general, the Indian Ocean has become the arena for many amazing stories, one battle of "Cormoran" against "Sydney" is worth a lot, but our story is about no less, and perhaps even more amazing battle.
In the Second World War, the participating countries Germany and Japan, following the example of the First World War, continued the practice of raiding. Only submarines were added to surface ships en masse.
Division of labor, so to speak. Submarines simply sank ships, and raiders often captured them and sent them to their ports with prize teams. The Japanese have replenished their fleet very well in this way.
And on November 11, what happened happened. A battle between two Japanese raiders and a British under-convoy consisting of a tanker and an escort corvette.
To begin with, I will introduce the participants.
There were two real raiders on the Japanese side. Real, because although they were built like passenger ships, but for the money of the military department, which means that these ships were converted into warships very quickly and easily. In general, they were planned as high-speed transports, but could also be used as raiders.
"Hokoku-maru" and "Aikoku-maru" had a displacement of 10 438 tons and a maximum speed of up to 21 knots. They were supposed to be used for flights to both America.
Aikoku-maru in 1943
But with the beginning of the war, they were converted into auxiliary cruisers. That is, if translated into normal language, they are raiders.
The main armament was 140-mm Type 3 guns, each ship carried eight of them. In addition, two 76-mm anti-aircraft guns, two twin 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft guns, two coaxial 13.2 mm machine guns and two twin-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. Cherry on the cake - each raider had two seaplanes. Without a catapult, it is true, but with cranes that made it possible to quickly launch and lift aircraft from it.
In general, it was pretty standard for the "auxiliary cruisers" of the time. Enough to arrange the finale for any civilian ship, which is what this sweet couple in general did. Moreover, quite successfully.
On account of the Japanese raiders were by that time the sunken American steamers Vincent and Malama, the British steamer Elysia, the captured Dutch tanker Genota, which the prize team delivered to Japan, and it became part of the Imperial Navy under the name Osho ", The New Zealand armed steamship" Hauraki ", included in the fleet as a supply transport" Hoki-maru ".
That is, in a very short period of time, two raiders supplemented the Japanese fleet with two ships. Plus, both ships regularly supplied fuel and food to the submarines that were operating in the area.
In general, they were busy with business.
On the morning of November 11, southeast of the Cocos Islands, Hokoku-maru observers found a small convoy on the horizon - a single tanker accompanied by an escort ship.
The Hokoku-maru turned towards them, the Aikoku-maru followed 6 miles away. Captain of the 1st rank Hiroshi Imazato decided to sink the warship first, hoping that after that the tanker would surrender without a fight, as had previously happened with the tanker Genota and the armed steamer Hauraki.
They say for sure: if you want to make the gods laugh, tell them about your plans.
Now it's worth talking about those who were caught up by the brave Japanese sailors.
The tanker was Dutch, it was called "Ondina", but it was used (the Netherlands was like everything already) by the British fleet. The ship was even smaller in displacement than the Japanese raiders (9,070 brt) and could move at a speed of as much as 12 knots.
When the British put the tanker into service, they armed it with one 102-mm gun and four anti-aircraft machine guns.
True, the calculations were not from somewhere, but quite normal career British servicemen.
The second ship was the Bengal corvette. In general, according to the documents, he passed as a minesweeper, but as minesweepers, these ships were not actually used, but they entered as escort ships.
It was a series of ships of the Bathurst project, which began to be called corvettes. The Bathurst corvette had a standard displacement of 650 tons and a total displacement of 1025 tons and could reach speeds of up to 15 knots.
Photo "Bengal" did not find, it is completely the same type to him "Tamworth"
The armament varied depending on what was available, but the usual set consisted of one 102mm Mk XIX gun and three 20mm Erlikons. To combat the submarines, the Type 128 asdik sonar and up to 40 depth charges were used. The ships had good seaworthiness, therefore they were widely used to escort convoys and landing operations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans throughout the war.
So, two 102-mm guns against sixteen 140-mm and 12 knots against 21.
In general, as Vladimir Semenovich sang in the song, "the alignment before the fight is not ours, but we will play." Indeed, the Dutch-Indian-British did not shine, since the gentle disposition of the Japanese was already notorious to everyone.
Observers from the "Bengal" discovered an unknown ship, and the corvette commander, Lieutenant Commander William Wilson, ordered the ship to turn towards the unknown, simultaneously breaking through a combat alarm.
Then the second raider appeared behind the first, both ships were sailing without flags, but the British fully recognized the Japanese auxiliary cruisers in the ships. Everything became sad.
Wilson was well aware that he would not be able to leave, the Japanese had a huge advantage in speed. Therefore, the captain decided to detain the raiders and give the tanker an opportunity to escape. And he ordered Ondine to leave on his own, setting a meeting point.
And he himself went into the last and decisive battle towards the raiders.
In general, the idea was not bad: to approach the enemy at a minimum distance in order to use their anti-aircraft guns. "I will not kill, so I will open it." Apparently, Wilson forgot about the Japanese torpedo tubes, or simply did not know.
But this also suited the Japanese, they hoped to drown the annoying corvette, and seize the tanker and send it to the metropolis.
And the Japanese ships opened fire on the Bengal.
A very strange event happened here. We will never know how frostbitten the captain of the tanker Willem Horsman was, but he was a very peculiar comrade.
Instead of trying to hide, Horsman calculated the odds of success (12 knots versus 21) and went into battle too!
And what? There is a weapon, there is ammunition (as many as 32 shells !!!), the gunners are British professionals, to die in battle is much better than rotting in a Japanese concentration camp or entertaining samurai as an object of torture.
And Horsman gives the command to go into battle too!
In general, the British Commonwealth team and the Netherlands attacked the Japanese raiders.
I guess the Japanese missed because they were choked with laughter. Such an attack cannot be called anything other than suicide. On the other hand, according to the code of samurai honor, everything was simply luxurious, the crews of British ships played on the same field with the Japanese.
But how…
Ondina's third shot hits the Hokoku-maru's wheelhouse. The sixth Bengal shot arrives there. The Japanese are somewhat confused …
"Aikoku-maru" also began to shoot at the "Bengal", but getting into this trifle was not an easy task. But then something happened that turned the situation upside down. Another shell hits the Hokoku-maru.
Disputes about who got it went on for a very long time. It is clear who the crews of both ships were for what they were, but in any case, the shell sent by the British gunners hit.
And he hit not just somewhere, but in the starboard torpedo tube, which was standing under the hinged platform on which the seaplane was located.
Both torpedoes in the vehicle, of course, exploded. The plane was thrown overboard, but as it flew away, it knocked the barrels of fuel, the fuel spread and caught fire, and then jumped off again. When the barrels of gasoline were finally detonated, and from them the ammunition load of gun No. 3, which also fired off.
In short, a demonstrative video on the topic of fire safety.
As a result of the fireworks, a hole was formed in the stern of the starboard side, reaching the waterline. The Hokoku-maru began to roll to starboard and slowly sink. Although the Japanese did not stop shooting at the Bengal, and in the end, they still hit.
True, the British planted a few more shells in the Hokoku-maru's cockpit, but this did not have any significant impact. In general, everything was going well, the raider was not only on fire, but they could not extinguish it in any way.
The Hokoku-maru was not built as a military one and therefore did not have the required number of internal bulkheads, and the fire extinguishing system was not designed for aviation gasoline burning in hundreds of liters. As a result, the fire caused by gasoline reached the engine room, and soon the entire power supply of the ship was out of order.
The Hokoku-maru pulled out of the fight and stopped firing.
On the "Bengal" it was decided that it was time to rip the claws, because the "Aikoku-maru" was unharmed, but the shells on the corvette ran out. Therefore, the British decided that was enough, they tried to hide behind a smoke screen, but the smoke buoys did not work. And the Japanese began to pursue the corvette, while still trying to get into it, if only for the sake of decency.
We got it. The shell exploded in the stern, in the officers' cabins. There were no casualties, since the officers were busy, a fire broke out, which were quickly extinguished.
The Japanese found themselves in a difficult position. On the one hand, "Bengal" showed a desire to get out of the party, got into a tiny corvette, it worked out, but on the corvette they were still able to turn on the setting of the smoke. On the other hand, "Ondina" is also going somewhere towards the horizon. But the fellow in the raiding was clearly not feeling very well.
About an hour after the start of the battle, Captain Imazato, the commander of the Hokoku-maru, received the extremely unpleasant news that not only had they not been able to extinguish the fire, he was still approaching the aft artillery cellar.
Captain Imazato ordered the crew to leave the ship, but not everyone managed to do this, because literally a few minutes later the Hokoku-maru exploded. A column of smoke and flame rose a hundred meters, and when the smoke cleared, only small debris remained on the surface of the sea. Of the 354 crew members, 76 were killed, including the ship's commander.
The Japanese were frankly shocked by this situation, and … they missed the Bengal, which, under the cover of a smoke screen, managed to leave.
Captain Wilson ordered an investigation of the damage. Of the approximately two hundred 140-mm shells fired at the Bengal, only two hit the ship. Accordingly, all the superstructures were hit by shrapnel, there were two holes above the waterline, the demagnetization winding was damaged, but all 85 crew members were intact. No one was even injured.
Not finding "Ondina" at the rendezvous point, Wilson ordered to move to the island of Diego Garcia. There, Wilson reported that Ondina had died.
The British command appreciated the Bengal battle and all sailors were awarded, and Wilson received the Distinguished Service Order.
Since the damage to the "Bengal" was very insignificant, then after a short cosmetic repair, he continued to serve. At the end of the war, he remained in the Indian Navy and served as a patrol ship for a long time. The Bengal was scrapped only in 1960.
And with "Ondina" everything was somewhat contrary to Wilson's report. "Aikoku-maru", having lost sight of the "Bengal", turned back, deciding to deal with the tanker, which nevertheless got hit by several shells.
Naturally, the raider easily caught up with the tanker, which had already fired at its huge ammunition reserve of 32 shells. "Aikoku-maru" opened fire practically at point-blank range, and Captain Horsman, being an original person, but not insane, ordered to stop the tanker and raise the white flag, and the crew to leave the ship.
Unfortunately, while they were lowering their flag and raising the white flag, the Japanese managed to fire a few more shells. The latter hit the wheelhouse, and the brave Dutch captain was killed.
The team was able to launch three lifeboats and two rafts, and began to withdraw from the doomed ship.
The Aikoku-maru approached the Ondina with a pair of cables and fired two torpedoes into its starboard side. After the explosions, the tanker banked at 30º, but remained afloat.
The Japanese, meanwhile, took up their usual sport, that is, shooting at boats. They shot, I must say, very badly. About the same as on ships from guns. Apart from the captain, four of the Ondina's crew perished: the chief mechanic and three machinists.
Having finished having fun firing at the unarmed crew of the tanker, the Japanese sailors decided that they should start saving their colleagues from the drowned Hokoku-maru.
Perhaps this is what saved the Ondina team from complete destruction. In addition, the Japanese were clearly nervous, not being sure that no alarm signals had been sent from British ships and that British or Australian cruisers were in no hurry to enter the area.
Therefore, after catching the remains of the crew of the unsuccessful raider from the water, they found on the Aikoku-maru that the tanker stubbornly did not want to sink. Then the last available torpedo was fired at Ondina and … they missed !!!
In principle, it is logical if the Japanese really started to get nervous.
It could have been finished off with guns, but the captain of "Aikoku-maru" Tomotsu decided that he would do it anyway. The tanker will sink sooner or later, so the raider turned around and left for Singapore.
But Ondina did not sink. When the Aikoku-maru disappeared beyond the horizon, a serious discussion broke out in the boats dangling on the waves. First Mate Rechwinkel, who took over command, ordered the crew to return to the tanker and take up the rescue.
People had to be persuaded for quite a long time and not without reason, since a pretty crumpled ship could sink at any moment.
However, the crew matched their captain, and a group of volunteers under the command of Bakker's second mate and engineer Leys boarded. It turned out that everything is not so bad: the car is not damaged, the bulkheads are intact, and the water flow can be stopped.
Although, of course, the Japanese did a good job of Ondina. The tanker was hit by six shells: two in the bow, three in the bridge and superstructure, and one more in the mast. And two torpedoes to the side.
As a result, we decided to fight for survivability. The fire was extinguished, plasters were put on, the bank was straightened by counter-flooding of the compartments.
After 6 hours of frantic work, the ship's diesel engine was launched and the Ondina trudged back to Australia.
The tanker knew nothing about the fate of the Bengal, which played a cruel joke. Ondina requested assistance in clear text over the air, as all secret codes and codes were thrown overboard before the crew left the ship.
Since the crew of the Bengal had already reached the base and reported that the Ondine was Khan, the radio messages asking for help were perceived as a trap from the insidious Japanese. And it was decided not to respond to calls. Although, in fact, it would be possible to send a battleship, but apparently there was nothing suitable in that area.
A week later, on November 17, a damaged tanker was discovered by a patrol aircraft 200 miles from Fremantle. and the next day he entered Fremantle harbor, having covered 1,400 miles in a week.
The ending of the story is remarkable.
I have already said about "Bengal" and its crew, with "Ondina" it turned out almost the same. The entire crew of the tanker's 102-mm guns were awarded the Dutch Bronze Cross, and Captain Horsman was posthumously awarded the title of Knight of the Military Order of Wilhelm, 4th class.
Considering how the Japanese finished the tanker, they decided not to restore it, but turned it into a gas station for American submarines, excluding it from the lists of the fleet and putting it up in Exmouth Bay on the west coast of Australia, where the American submariners base was located.
However, already in 1944, when the theater of operations began to expand, there was a shortage of tankers to supply troops and ships. They decided to revive and renovate Ondina. And the tanker went to the USA for repairs, and it took almost three months to crawl!
We repaired the Ondina in Tampa, Florida, and did it quite well, so that the tanker served until 1959 and was scrapped just a year before the Bengal.
More, however, the ships did not meet.
But whoever was unlucky was "Aikoku-maru". After returning to Singapore, the ship was sent to Rabaul. There, the raider was actually demoted from the cruisers, disarmed and used further as a transport. Was sunk in the lagoon of Truk Island (Caroline Islands, Micronesia) during Operation Hillston by American aircraft.
Captain Oishi Tomotsu spent six months under investigation, in April 1943 he was removed from the position of the ship's commander and transferred to the coastal service.
As a conclusion.
And it's not for nothing that they say that the gods patronize the brave and courageous. In fact, the suicidal attack of the corvette and tanker on the auxiliary cruisers turned into a triumph of the morale of the British sailors and their allies and simply a nightmarish humiliation of the Japanese.
Has the case helped? There are no such cases. Accurate sight, not trembling hands and everything else - and here's the result.
There was something like that, ours, in this battle. Therefore, as a demonstration of respect for the British, Dutch, Indians and Chinese, he put such an epigraph to this story.
