MIDGET ATTACK

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 118, 15 November 1945, Page 6

MIDGET ATTACK

NEW ZEALANDER IN CREW

P.A. CHRISTCHURCH, November 14. The midget submarine commander, Lieutenant E. Fraser, who has just been awarded the Victoria Cross for a daring mining exploit in Johore Strait last July, had as his second-in-command a Christchurch man,- SubLieutenant W. J. L. Smith, who is now back in New Zealand on furlough. For hours the submarine bumped through minefields' to approach the Japanese cruiser Takao, and then, so that mines could be attached, Lieutenant Fraser wedged the submarine between the sea bed and the cruisers hull to such an extent that they could barely escape before the mines blew the cruiser out of the water. . The midget was one of six carried by the famous midget submarine depot ship, H.M.S. Bonaventure, commanded by Captain W. R. Fell, 0.8. E., D.SC., RN Wellington. After service in the North Sea, in which her midgets carried out a famous attack on the Tirpitz and harried German shipping off the coast of Norway, the Bonaventure sailed into-the Pacific with her babies. Bigger than the human torpedo oneman type, and capable of holding a crew of four or five, Lieutenant Fraser s submarine left the depot ship on July 31 hi company with another midget and headed for Johore Strait, where an air reconnaissance had disclosed the presence of two Japanese heavy cruisers, Takao and Myoko, which were moored as floating forts to defend Singapore. Each submarine; tackled one of the cruisers | Lieutenant Fraser sighted the Takao at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of July 31, and approached slowly through the heavily-mined waters of Johore Strait. At an estimated 250 yards from the cruiser Lieutenant Fraser raised the periscope,' but had to whip it down, for only 20 yards avfray was a Japanese motor-boat taking sailors ashore.

SEARCH FOR OPENING

They first tackled the bow end of the cruiser, and, after bumping heavily, could not get into position. The midget then cruised round the enemy vessel for nearly an hour trying to find some means of coming to close quarters. Eventually a hole in the sea bed was found under the cruiser's midships, and the submarine was literally forced into the hole like a cork into a bottle Leading Seaman J. J. Magennis, Belfast, then left the submarine through a hatch which could only be opened half-way. , He scraped off tlie coating of barnacles and seaweed onthe cruiser's hull and attached small mines. All the time the diver's self-contained suit was sending its tell-tale stream of bubbles to the surface, but the Japanese did. not notice. Magennis returned to the submarine, but it was then found that the mine carrier could not be detached, as it was jammed against the cruiser. Magennis then again negotiated the tricky hatch and, with a spanner and a hammer, forced the carrier clear. . Anxiety was mounting m the midget, for the mines were due to go off six hours after being placed, and much precious time had by now 'been lost. Freed of the carrier, which weighed four tons, the midget slipped clear, and was edging away from the cruiser when some fault developed and she broke surface. Again the Japanese failed to notice anything, and after a struggle with the damaged submarine she got back safely to the Bonaventure five days later. The second midget successfully fixed its mines to the other cruiser and withdrew after some inconvenience from Japanese patrol boats. A big submarine well out to sea subsequently saw a huge explosion at the cruiser's berth, and air reconnaissance later showed that both enemy vessels had f_ is3Dl^G3J!*Gd Other exploits of the Bonaventure's midgets were the sinking of Japanese shipping docked inside Saigon harbour and the cutting of the SaigonJbingapore and Saigon-Japan cables. The end of the war with Japan saw the midgets preparing for still more daring strikes against the heart of Japanese sea power.