CRUISER'S RECORD,

Evening Star, Issue 25577, 1 September 1945, Page 10

CRUISER'S RECORD,

IN FIRST NAVAL BATTLE OF WAR PRESENT AT END The cruiser Achilles, .. which was welcomed at Auckland to-day, left New Zealand on April 25 to join the British .Pacific Fleet. She also served with the United States^ Third Fleet. The cruiser has the distinction of having taken part in the first naval engagement of any consequence in the war, the Battle of the River Plato, and also in the.closing operations. "I feel very strongly that the carrier-borne aircraft attacks of the combined fleets really brought the Japanese to their knees, and that the atomic bombs and the Russian 'attack were the last straw," said Captain F. J. Butler, . M.8.E., R.N., commanding officer

of the cruiser, in an interview. " I feel also—and this is my personal opinion only—that the Japanese would not have surrendered otherwise without at least a token resistance. The fact that this ship did-.not do anything spectacular was merely the luck of battle. As the Duke of;Gloucester said. 'We cannot all be centre-for-wards, scoring goals.' We did see three Japanese aircraft, but they were all falling in flanies. " The nearest was about three miles away."

Discussing the operations, Captain Butler said they were boTed doing nothing, although they realised that at any moment they might* have to do a. lot. There were only two days in a month's operations when the Japanese made any attempt to attack the fleet, and that was in the main an effort by isolated aircraft, all of which were shot down by the Allied fighter cover. The Japanese did not give the impression of having any plan behind their attacks, although the threat could not be disregarded. The combined fleets were never more than 300 miles from the Japanese coast, and ' when they were actually attacking the enemy they were from 60 to 100 miles" away from the coast.

The Japanese resistance, said Captain Butler, was very weak, both on the sea-and over the land. .What was left of the Japanese navy was in the Inland Sea and was destroyed on July 28 by carrier-borne aircraft.

"It was a killing day," he said. " Our planes got three battleships, three or four carriers, four or five cruisers and five destroyers."The New Zealand cruiser Gambia took part in the bombardment of Honshu. The Achilles was to have taken part in an anti-shipping sweep at one of the entrances to the Inland Sea, but owing to the approach of a typhoon this was cancelled and the cruiser saw nothing and did nothing, although it was ready to defend the carriers if thev were attacked.