SINKING OF ENEMY CRUISER

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25548, 16 July 1948, Page 5

SINKING OF ENEMY CRUISER

WAR EXPLOIT OF DUTCH . TANKER (P.A.) WELLINGTON, July 15. The Admiralty has given an account of an “almost miraculous” action in the Indian Ocean in 1942 when the minesweeper Bengal and the Dutch tanker Ondina engaged two Japanese cruisers, sinking one of 10,000 tons. A description of the battle by men from the Ondina was given in “What Knots,” the shipboard magazine of the hospital ship Maunganui, which, in response to a signal from a Catalina flying-boat, steamed to the Ondina’s assistance.

The article said the Maunganui located the badly battered Ondina, gave medical treatment to the survivors, and took on board two injured men for immediate hospital treatment. These two men later described for “What Knots” the sinking of the Japanese cruiser. The Dutchmen said that when the Ondina was attacked by a raider the crew abandoned ship. They were machine-gunned in the boats. The tanker did not sink and the crew returned at dusk. No sooner had they reboarded it than they saw a second Japanese raider closing in. The after gun was quickly manned and the Japanese came unsuspectingly on to receive at point-blank range a burst of rapid fire. The enemy ship heeled over, and after an internal explosion sank in a few minutes

When the Maunganui sighted the Ondina, the tanker crew had hung a large notice over the stern gun reading: “One raider—two aeroplanes.” The aircraft had been secured on the Japanese cruiser’s deck.