The Build Up of British Submarines in the Far East: January - September 1944

References
Patrolgram 24 War patrols in Far East Jan - Sep 1944 (1)(2)
Map 51 Operations in Far East Jan - Sep 1944
Appendix XIV Submarines in the Royal Navy 1st Jan 1944

On 1st January 1944, three submarines of the Fourth Flotilla were on patrol. Trespasser (Lieutenant Commander RM Favell RN) was off the Burma coast and the Andaman Islands, Templar (Lieutenant DJ Beckley DSO RN) in the northern part of the Malacca Strait and Tally Ho (Lieutenant Commander LWA Bennington DSO DSC RN) off the Sembilan Islands. Trespasser tangled with the local antisubmarine forces off Port Blair and was depth charged, and Templar, after a special operation to recover agents had failed, had to return early with defects to her high power periscope. Tally Ho had ten agents with folbots and stores on board and made periscope reconnaissances for them north of the Sembilan Islands and off the Bernam River. After a rendezvous with a junk, however, the situation was again judged too dangerous and the agents were not landed. On 9th January, Tally Ho sighted a Japanese light cruiser off Penang exercising with destroyers but could not get within range. She was able, however, to plot their route in and out of Penang and to take up a suitable position to intercept in the future. Two days later she sighted the same target and was able to close to within 1900 yards and fire seven torpedoes⁶, two of which hit and sank Kuma of the 16th Cruiser Squadron. The destroyer which was escorting her counter attacked with 18 depth charges but they were not very close. Then followed a period of intense anti-submarine activity and Tally Ho was bombed by an aircraft and slightly damaged. Kuma was zigzagging at 20 knots and this attack was made in only 15 fathoms of water. It was the first substantial success by the Royal Navy against the Japanese in the Second World War. On 14th, Tally Ho was submerged off Car Nicobar and sighted an escorted merchant ship that passed out of range. At dusk, she surfaced and pursued on the surface using radar and obtained a firing position by midnight. She submerged in moonlight and attacked firing six torpedoes at 5000 yards and scoring one hit which sank Ryuko Maru of 2962 tons.

Tactician (Lieutenant Commander AF Collett DSC RN) put to sea on 5th January and landed agents on the north coast of Sumatra but otherwise had a blank patrol. Templar was out again on 18th after changing her periscope and took up her position in the northern part of the Malacca Straits. On 24th January in the early morning, she sighted a Japanese U-boat and fired six torpedoes at a range of 4000 yards but it was flat calm and it seems likely that the enemy saw the tracks and avoided them. On 26th, she sighted a second light cruiser of the 16th Cruiser Squadron escorted by three destroyers. She fired a full salvo of eight torpedoes at 6000 yards and scored a hit on Kitagami. The cruiser, however, was only damaged. She was able to get back to harbour and was later repaired. On 31st, again early in the morning, she sighted another Japanese U-boat. Templar had expended all her bow torpedoes but got away three torpedoes from her stern tubes. The range, however, was 7000 yards and although she claimed a hit at the time, she missed. Templar also had a special operation to pick up agents but it was unsuccessful. Taurus (Lieutenant Commander MRG Wingfield DSO DSC RN) and Trespasser (Lieutenant Commander RM Favell RN) both left Trincomalee for patrol in January, Taurus for the Andamans and Trespasser for the Burma coast. Both had special operations to perform, Taurus landing 12 men and 9000 lbs of stores in the Andamans on 23rd, and Trespasser landing agents on Elphinstone Island on 5th February. Taurus shifted to the south west coast of Sumatra and sank a tug and a lighter by gunfire on 6th February. Trespasser on 18th fired six torpedoes at a merchant ship with two escorts at a range of 3600 yards, hitting with one of them and damaging Ouri Maru of 3400 tons.

The first of the six new submarines, on arrival from the United Kingdom, was thrown into the fray just as soon as she could be prepared for patrol. Stonehenge (Lieutenant DSMcN Verschoyle Campbell DSC* RN) sailed on 1st February for the Penang approaches, followed on 3rd by Tally Ho (Lieutenant Commander LWA Bennington DSO DSC RN) for a position south east of Penang. Truculent (Lieutenant Commander RL Alexander DSO RN) and Tactician (Lieutenant Commander AF Collett DSC RN) put to sea on 8th and 10th for the north coast of Sumatra and to relieve Stonehenge off Penang. On 5th, Stonehenge sank an 889-ton ferry by gunfire. She had first fired two torpedoes at a range of 800 yards but they ran under. Later the same day she fired another four torpedoes at a small merchant ship in ballast but the target sighted the tracks and avoided them. Between the 6th and the 8th, she carried out a special operation to land agents. On 12th, she attacked an escorted seaplane carrier, firing four torpedoes followed by a fifth in error. The range was 1200 yards and it was glassy calm and the enemy probably avoided the torpedoes. Stonehenge was counter attacked but got away her stern torpedo at the escort, hitting but only damaging Choko Maru⁷, a net tender of 890 tons. The hunt continued during Stonehenge's withdrawal and she suffered minor damage. Nevertheless she got away a single torpedo that completed the destruction of Choko Maru.

Tally Ho sailed with two agents and had a blank patrol, except for being put down by a twin-engine aircraft, until 15th. On that day she sighted a U-boat off the Dindings before it was light. The U-boat was northbound for Penang from Singapore. She fired three torpedoes from her stern tubes in a snap surface attack at a range of 3500 yards and at once dived. She hit and sank the German UIT23, an ex Italian submarine used for cargo running between Japan and Europe. Between 17th and 19th, Tally Ho attempted to retrieve agents from the shore but was unsuccessful. She was not able to find the junk in which she was supposed to land two agents either. Altogether she spent nine days on these special operations, during which targets were not allowed to be attacked. She had to let a medium sized escorted merchant ship go by, as well as the seaplane carrier Kamikawa Maru, without attacking. On 21st February, she fired five torpedoes at 1300 yards at the unescorted Daigen Maru No 6 of 510 tons and hit and sank her in a position 50 miles west of the Bernam River. On 24th she had a night encounter with the Japanese torpedo boat Keri. At first she thought she was a U-boat and as both Truculent and Tactician were in the area, she made the challenge. By this time she was too close to dive and tried to evade her on the surface but ended by colliding heavily. The whole of her port external main ballast tanks were seriously damaged but her pressure hull remained intact and she was able to dive and get away. It is now known that the enemy suffered considerable damage but got back to harbour. Tally Ho was able to get back to Trincomalee under her own power although she had a heavy list when on the surface. Her fore hydroplanes were also out of action and she was not easy to control submerged. Halfway across the Bay of Bengal, heavy weather was encountered but she was able to decrease the list by shifting torpedoes and jettisoning fuel compensating water. She proceeded to Colombo to dock and was repaired by Messrs Walker and Sons, the local shipyard. On 14th, Truculent fired four torpedoes on a rather late track at a small merchant ship escorted by a torpedo boat but the range was 7500 yards and she missed. Next day she fired four more torpedoes at 5500 yards at another ship escorted by a torpedo boat and with an aircraft in attendance but it was calm and the torpedoes missed or were avoided. However she sank a small coaster by gunfire on the same day. Tactician landed a beach reconnaissance party that had a measure of success, and on 20th February she missed a Japanese U-boat at long range firing five torpedoes at 5000 yards but under-estimating the speed. On 28th she came upon a coaster lying stopped and fired two torpedoes at 700 yards, one of which hit and sank her.

Six submarines put to sea for patrol in March, one of which, Stoic (Lieutenant PB Marriott DSO RN), was a new arrival and she was sent first to Penang and then to Sabang. On 12th March she had a night encounter with an escorted major unit and fired two torpedoes by asdic at periscope depth from close range but she missed. On 14th, she fired a full salvo of six torpedoes at a large merchant ship escorted by a torpedo boat but the range was 6500 yards and the track very broad and she failed to obtain a hit. On 19th she sighted a U-boat and fired four torpedoes at 3600 yards but the U-boat saw the torpedoes coming and avoided them. Templar (Lieutenant DJ Beckley DSO RN) on her fifth patrol, was unlucky, and saw no targets but encountered considerable patrol activity. Taurus (Lieutenant Commander MRG Wingfield DSO DSC* RN) and Trespasser (Lieutenant Commander RM Favell RN) were armed with a new weapon, the M Mark II mine. This was a 1000-lb ground magnetic mine laid by firing it from the torpedo tubes. It had recently come into service and it was hoped that it would be particularly useful in the Malacca Straits against shipping coast crawling in shallow water. Taurus and Trespasser each carried twelve mines in place of six torpedoes. Trespasser laid her field on 14th March by the Outer Mati Bank off the north coast of Sumatra and Taurus laid her mines on 19th off the Aroa Islands. One of these fields sank a small ship of 971 tons and on 27th April, the other damaged the Japanese U-boat I37.

Truculent (Lieutenant Commander RL Alexander DSO RN) attacked an escorted convoy on 28th March firing four torpedoes at 1600 yards and sank Yasushima Maru of 1911 tons and on 1st April, she sank a coaster by gunfire. Taurus, Trespasser and Tactician (Lieutenant Commander AF Collett DSC RN), who sailed on 31st March, all carried out special operations, landing and recovering agents in the Andaman Islands, on Langkawi and in North Sumatra. Trespasser's operation, however, was a failure. Tactician was still on patrol on 19th April when the Eastern Fleet made its first offensive move since the loss of Singapore. Aircraft from Illustrious and Saratoga attacked the harbour and storage tanks at Sabang. Tactician was positioned off Sabang for air-sea-rescue duties during the raid. She succeeded in rescuing an American pilot under fire from shore batteries and in sight of an enemy torpedo boat¹⁰.

In March, Maidstone arrived in Trincomalee from the Mediterranean and the twelve operational submarines in the Eastern Fleet were divided into two flotillas. The T-class submarines remained in the Fourth Flotilla based on Adamant while the S-class transferred to the Eighth Flotilla and Maidstone. Captain HMC Ionides RN, Captain(S) Four assumed the duties of Senior Officer (Submarines) Eastern Fleet and was responsible for the operation of the submarines of both flotillas. Captain GBH Fawkes CBE RN had brought Maidstone out but on arrival was relieved by Captain LM Shadwell RN as Captain(S) Eighth Submarine Flotilla¹¹.

Submarine operations had, by now, settled down to a routine. T-class submarine patrols normally were of 25 days at sea and S-class 20 days. This depended upon the air conditioning system being in working order. The few submarines without air conditioning, Surf, and later Severn and Clyde, could not be expected to do more than 10-14 days at sea. Periods in harbour between patrols varied according to the work to be done but were seldom less than fourteen days and sometimes were for three weeks. Half the crew were sent on leave for a week each time and could elect to spend it in Colombo¹² or at a rest camp in the hills at Diyatilawa. Tea planters were generous in accommodating crews on their estates if this was preferred.

Submarines normally sailed from Trincomalee on patrol just before it got dark. They were escorted to sea by one of the special escorts attached to the submarine flotillas¹³. About fifty miles from the coast of Ceylon, the escort would turn back and the submarine would go on alone. At dawn, most submarines would dive to ensure all was well and to adjust the trim and would then surface and stay on the surface day and night for the three or four days it took to cross the Bay of Bengal. Radar would be used, backed up by lookouts to ensure that the submarine would dive in time if ships or aircraft were sighted. The submarine would also zigzag as a protection against attack by enemy U-boats. On approaching the Andaman or Nicobar Islands, which were enemy territory, it was usual to proceed submerged by day at periscope depth and only to surface at night. The batteries would then be charged and as much distance made on the diesel engines as possible before it got light. On arrival in the patrol area, the same routine would be followed except that, after completing the charge, the submarine would remain on surface patrol until it got light. Radar would be used or not at the discretion of the Commanding Officer. There was a general belief that the Japanese possessed search receivers that could detect it. Asdic listening watch was always set when submerged but was not of very much use on the surface, when again watch would be set at the Commanding Officer's discretion. Air conditioning made life tolerable submerged and ventilation kept the submarine reasonably cool when on the surface at night. The routine was arranged for all activity and cooking to take place immediately after surfacing for the night. On diving in the morning, an undisturbed period of sleep, the enemy permitting, was indulged in. The rapid rising and setting of the sun in the tropics meant that the period when nothing could be seen through the periscope yet it was too light to surface was quite short. In the tropics too, the nights were always long enough to charge the batteries with plenty of time to spare. The return passage was made on the surface as the outward passage had been and the submarine escort was met fifty miles off Trincomalee generally at night and so navigation had to be accurate if they were not to miss each other. The submarine was normally alongside its depot ship by breakfast time or soon after.

In March, the Japanese Army in Burma attacked the British Fourth Corps in Assam at Kohima and Imphal and fierce fighting continued until July. It became important to prevent supplies arriving at Rangoon by the sea route through the Malacca Strait and to do this our submarines did their best. Fortunately the disposition required for this was much the same as that needed to prevent the Japanese main fleet making a sortie into the Indian Ocean and to take a toll of the German and Japanese U-boats operating from Penang.

Although the number of ships sunk during the first five months of 1944 was not large¹⁶, it represented a substantial proportion of the local traffic and was making it difficult and dangerous for the Japanese to use the Malacca Strait. Most of the traffic was now in small ships, coasters and local craft such as junks. In May the C-in-C obtained Admiralty approval to sink junks. It was rapidly becoming apparent that there were already more than enough submarines working in the Malacca Strait and that with reinforcements arriving every month that there was a need to expand their area of operations. Strategically there was a need for our submarines to operate east of Singapore and the Malay Peninsula to watch the Japanese Fleet based at Lingga and to attack the main sea communications of their army in Burma, which passed through the Gulf of Siam. This area was, however, in the South West Pacific and was under American command and would need their consent. The American submarine campaign in the Pacific was going extremely well and in the first five months of 1944 they had sunk 216 ships of 964,121 tons. This was clearly where the targets were and our submarines were keen to participate in this campaign too.

Although the US fleet submarines with their long range, high speed and surface search radar, were superior to the British submarines and would remain so until the arrival of the new A-class in 1945, they had one considerable disadvantage. This was their size and consequently their inability to operate in shallow water. The area east of Singapore and in the Dutch East Indies was shallow in many places and the British submarines certainly felt that they had an important role to play there. The employment of a British Fleet in the Pacific had been under discussion since early in 1943. A submarine element had always been included as a part of this fleet, but current negotiations had led to an agreement that the British Pacific Fleet was not required before 1945. Separate negotiations for submarines to work earlier than this in the Pacific, however, had now reached a conclusion. It was decided that when the third depot ship, Wolfe, arrived in August 1944 and British submarine strength reached twenty-five boats, a flotilla would be sent to Australia to operate from Fremantle in the South West Pacific Area. The US Navy, however, imposed two conditions. The first was that the logistic support should be provided entirely by the Royal Navy, and the second was that the submarines would come under the operational command of the Commander(Submarines), US Seventh Fleet. There was no difficulty about the logistics, but the change of command meant that the strategic purpose of the submarines would no longer be the business of the British C-in-C, Eastern Fleet but would be controlled by the Commander, US Seventh Fleet.

DURING JUNE, twelve submarines left Trincomalee for patrol. No less than five of these were newcomers on their first Far East patrol. Some of the earlier arrivals in the Far East were, however, due for refit and had begun to leave the station for home. Trespasser (Lieutenant Commander RM Favell RN) had left at the end of March and was followed by Tactician (Lieutenant Commander AF Collett DSC RN). The new arrivals were Tradewind, Clyde, Sturdy, Spirit and Stratagem. Only three submarines were given special operations. Tradewind (Lieutenant Commander SLC Maydon DSO* RN) and Truculent (Lieutenant Commander RL Alexander DSO RN) had orders to capture some Sumatrans to help with intelligence, which was successfully accomplished. Tally Ho (Lieutenant Commander LWA Bennington DSO* DSC* RN) was ordered to bring off some agents landed previously but this operation failed. Three submarines laid minefields, Tantivy (Commander MG Rimington DSO* RN) off the Sembilan Islands on 7th, Surf (Lieutenant D Lambert DSC RN) off Langkawi on 9th and Truculent off the Klang Strait on 14th. None of these minefields seemed to have sunk anything. Six submarines in June made a total of ten torpedo attacks altogether. On the 15th, Surf, north of Penang, fired six torpedoes in three pairs at three small ships escorted by four trawlers at a range of 800 yards but they all missed or ran under. She was counter attacked with depth charges but they were not close. On 18th, Storm (Lieutenant Commander EP Young DSC RNVR), also in the Penang area, fired four torpedoes at an escorted ship at a range of 3000 yards and scored three hits sinking Eiko Maru of 3011 tons. The counter attack of seven depth charges was not serious. Next day, on radio intelligence, Storm was ordered to a position 80 miles north east of Sabang to intercept a Japanese U-boat. She made a 125mile dash at full speed all night and at 0905 sighted the enemy. She fired a full salvo of six torpedoes at a range of 2500 yards but the U-boat saw the tracks and altered course away and avoided it¹⁷. On 20th June, Sea Rover (Lieutenant JP Angell RN) sighted a U-boat off Penang but was unable to attack. On 26th, she was detected by anti-submarine patrols and depth charges were dropped causing some damage. On 25th June, Sturdy (Lieutenant WStG Anderson DSC RNR), on the west coast of Siam, sighted a small merchant ship with one escort and fired four torpedoes but they missed although the range was only 1200 yards. On 26th, Truculent, the first submarine to penetrate the waters above One Fathom Bank in the Malacca Strait, made a difficult attack on a four ship convoy escorted by two submarine-chasers, a motor launch and an aircraft. She fired four torpedoes at the largest ship at a range of 3500 yards and obtained two hits sinking Harukiki Maru of 3040 tons^17a. She was counter attacked in shallow water and hit the bottom at 68 feet and although some depth charges were close, she survived. On 28th, Spiteful (Lieutenant Commander FH Sherwood DSC RCNVR), off the northwest coast of Sumatra met a convoy of seven coasters and fired three torpedoes at 1200 yards at the largest of them but they missed or ran under. Stratagem (Lieutenant CR Pelly DSC RN), in the Andamans area, expended all her torpedoes for no hits in three attacks. At the time she claimed hits in two of them but these have not been confirmed. All were between the 1st and 4th of July and all were at long range, the first, of four torpedoes at a small ship at 5000 yards, the second of six torpedoes at a larger ship at 7500 yards and the third with her last two torpedoes at a ship of the same size at 7500 yards. On 4th July, Sturdy, on the west coast of Siam, attacked a tug towing a large lighter, firing three torpedoes at 500 yards but they ran under. She then surfaced and sank both by gunfire. She also in the course of this same patrol, sank another tug, four junks and four small craft by gunfire and demolition charges.

Stoic (Lieutenant PB Marriott DSO RN), sailing from Trincomalee on 6th July, sank a landing barge and two junks off Penang by gunfire and demolition charge. Intelligence indicated that supplies for Burma, which arrived at Singapore by sea, were being sent by rail to Mergui and thence by sea again to Rangoon in coasters and other small vessels. Storm (Lieutenant Commander EP Young DSC RNVR) left Trincomalee on 15th for the area to investigate and had on board extra gun ammunition and a boarding party. She arrived off Tavoy on 20th and three days later decided to reconnoitre Port Owen. She met the 554-ton coaster Kiso Maru northbound and engaged with her gun at 800 yards, sinking her after firing 28 rounds and then taking two prisoners. She later entered Port Owen in heavy rain where it was too shallow to dive and engaged and sank two small patrol vessels at a range of 1200 yards. She had one member of her gun's crew wounded by the return fire. She left by the southeast entrance and went on to investigate Mergui. She engaged two landing craft but had to withdraw when her gun jammed. She was later depth charged when at 60 feet by the landing craft. In a night gun action on 1st August she sank a 350-ton southbound coaster expending fifty rounds. She then set the 100- ton schooner Kikaku Maru on fire and she sank too. After sinking another 250-ton coaster, she set a small vessel on fire and she blew up. Storm now only had 12 rounds of 3" ammunition left. She was back in Trincomalee on 7th August after this most successful patrol.

Tradewind (Lieutenant Commander SLC Maydon DSO* RN) only encountered some patrol activity inside the Malacca Strait; Tantivy (Commander MG Rimington DSO* RN) was sighted by an aircraft when attacking an escorted merchant ship in a flat calm on 1st August and had to abandon the attack; Thorough (Lieutenant Commander JG Hopkins RN) had an encounter with an antisubmarine trawler off Port Blair on 16th and was depth charged while Stratagem (Lieutenant CR Pelly DSC RN), on the west coast of Siam, had a completely uneventful patrol.

Terrapin (Lieutenant Commander DSR Martin DSO** RN) and Trenchant (Lieutenant Commander AR Hezlet DSC RN) were sent to the south coast of Sumatra off Benkulen for air-sea-rescue duties as part of a raid by American B29 bombers from Ceylon, on the oil facilities at Palembang in southern Sumatra. Before arrival in position, Terrapin attacked a small escorted merchant ship with four torpedoes at a range of 1000 yards but the target saw the torpedo tracks and took avoiding action. On 5th August, she sank a coaster by gunfire and left another on fire. On 5th August, Trenchant fired three torpedoes from her stern tubes at what she thought to be an escorted coaster but it was only a small fishing vessel with a motor launch in company and the torpedoes missed or ran under. On 9th, she sighted the same two ships and surfaced and engaged with her gun sinking both of them and picking up fourteen prisoners. The air-sea-rescue duties from 9th- 11th August were uneventful. Templar and Telemachus, on their way home on 22nd-25th July had also carried out air-sea-rescue duties for a carrier air attack and bombardment by the Eastern Fleet on Sabang.

Templar, who had suffered from a number of defects during her last patrol in July, was sailed for home and refit in August. She was replaced by no less than seven boats, which were Tudor, Severn, Statesman, Strongbow, Stygian, and the Netherlands submarines Zvaardvisch (ex-British Talent) and O19. On 19th August, the depot ship Wolfe²⁰ arrived in Trincomalee under the command of Captain JE Slaughter DSO RN, Captain(S) Second Submarine Flotilla designate. Captain Slaughter, as will be recalled, was an experienced Second World War submarine captain who had distinguished himself in command of Sunfish during the Norwegian campaign. The Eastern Fleet submarines by 1st September totalled twenty-seven boats and were re-organised in three flotillas²¹. It had already been arranged that the Eighth Flotilla should be based at Fremantle in Western Australia and should work with the US Navy in the South West Pacific Area under the Commander(Submarines) Seventh Fleet. Maidstone, escorted by the cruiser Nigeria, left Trincomalee for Fremantle on 25th August and arrived on 4th September 1944.

Fourteen submarines set out for patrol during August and they were divided into two groups. The first group consisting of submarines from the new Second Flotilla and the Fourth Flotilla, returned on completion to Trincomalee, while the second group consisting of submarines of the Eighth Flotilla, went on to Fremantle in Australia. Of the first group, Tally Ho (Commander LWA Bennington DSO* DSC* RN) sailed on 6th for the Malacca Strait and on 22nd August between Langkawi and Penang engaged a 300-ton coaster with her gun. The range was 2000 yards and it took 66 rounds to sink the wooden hulled vessel. On 24th August, Tally Ho sank three junks, of 50, 70 and 150 tons, all by gunfire. Tudor (Lieutenant SA Porter DSC RN), on her first patrol, went to the north coast of Sumatra and undertook a special operation, which was a beach reconnaissance, taking from 11th to the 24th. She also sank a coaster by gunfire on 22nd. Severn (Lieutenant RH Bull DSC RN) left on 7th to carry out two special operations. These were to land men and stores in Siam and Malaya, but both failed due to bad weather and serious engine defects. Severn had to abandon her patrol and limp back to base. She was found to be unfit for any further operational employment. Statesman (Lieutenant RGP Bulkeley RN), on her first patrol, was sent to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On 22nd August she fired four torpedoes at a range of 3400 yards at a ship escorted by two motor launches, two torpedo boats and an aircraft. She scored a hit and sank Sugi Maru No 5 of 1983 tons. Two days later, however, an attack on another convoy had to be broken off when she was detected by the escort. Strongbow (Lieutenant JAR Troup DSC RN), also on her first patrol, was on the west coast of Siam and off Langkawi. On 2nd September, she fired a single torpedo at a range of 500 yards and sank Toso Maru No 1 of 800 tons. She also sank or drove ashore a total of nine junks, a tug and two lighters with her gun, assisted by demolition charges. Stygian (Lieutenant GS Clarabut DSO RN) was also on her first patrol, which was on the west coast of Burma and off Mergui. She sank a schooner by gunfire and returned with some prisoners.

With the departure of the Eighth Flotilla for Australia, patrols in the Malacca Strait were reduced somewhat. In all, nine boats sailed for patrol during September. The pattern of patrols was the same. Spirit (Lieutenant AW Langridge RN) went to the west coast of Siam where she sank four junks by gunfire. She then did air-sea-rescue duties on the north coast of Sumatra while aircraft from Victorious and Indomitable bombarded Sigli and made some photo-reconnaissance flights. On 18th September she picked up the crew of a Barracuda aircraft. Terrapin (Lieutenant RHH Brunner RN) carried out a beach reconnaissance on the north coast of Sumatra from 11th to 16th and also did air-sea-rescue duty for the same air attacks as Spirit. Trenchant (Lieutenant Commander AR Hezlet DSC RN) sailed on 5th September for the north and east coasts of Sumatra with a landing party of Commandos to blow up a road and rail bridge over the Podada River. The first landing attempt by eight men in four folbots failed because the current coming out of the river mouth was too strong. Next night, the 12th September, the landing was made on the beach and the party struck inland until they met the railway and the bridge was successfully demolished. On 16th, Trenchant laid twelve M Mark II mines in Aru Bay in shallow water and this field sank Hozan Maru of 896 tons and Nikkaku Maru of 1946 tons but not until 23rd January 1945. Two junks were sunk by ramming on 19th after which information was obtained by radio intelligence of the rendezvous of two German U-boats with an escort off Penang. The Malacca Strait was crossed at full speed on the nights of 21st/23rd September and position taken up north west of Penang. There was a heavy swell and the first U-boat was not sighted until she had closed to 2000 yards. Three torpedoes of a stern salvo were fired at a range of 650 yards in a snap attack, one of them hitting and sinking U859. Eleven of the crew were rescued and taken prisoner. The other U-boat was not seen.

Tradewind (Lieutenant Commander SLC Maydon DSO* RN) carried out two special operations. The first was to land agents on the west coast of Sumatra, which was successfully accomplished. The second, which was to contact an agent near the Sunda Strait, however, failed. On 18th September, she sank the escorted JunyoMaru of 5065 tons with two torpedo hits out of a salvo of four at a range of 1500 yards.^23a This was done in spite of her lookout periscope being out of action. She also sank two barges loaded with cement using demolition charges. Thorough (Lieutenant Commander JG Hopkins RN) also carried out two special operations involving beach reconnaissance and landing agents on the west coasts of Burma and Siam and on the north coast of Sumatra. On 23rd, she sighted a U-boat but was unable to get into an attacking position. On 27th she sank a coaster by gunfire. Stratagem (Lieutenant AR Profit DSC RN) off the Andaman Islands during the last part of September only saw anti-submarine patrols, but on 30th she bombarded installations ashore at Ford Bay. Tally Ho (Commander LWA Bennington DSO* DSC* RN) after patrolling for two days seventy miles north of Diamond Point, was sent to the southern part of the Malacca Strait where it was restricted and shallow. On 27th at dawn she sighted a sizeable coaster coming north. She tried to head her off on the surface but was forced to dive by aircraft. On 30th September, she intercepted a convoy of three coasters escorted by three submarine chasers close inshore, and fired one torpedo at a range of 1200 yards at the leading coaster, but the torpedo was thought to have hit fishing stakes short of the target. Tally Ho then ran aground at periscope depth²⁴. On 4th October, she drove a coaster ashore by gunfire off the Jumpal Bank firing 34 rounds at 4500 yards. A motor torpedo boat then intervened and fired a torpedo but Tally Ho was able to avoid it and to reach deeper water and dive. On 6th, off Aru Bay, she surfaced and engaged Special Subchaser No 2 in a gun action at 2500 yards. Tally Ho sank her but not before her gunnery officer had been mortally wounded by the return fire. Tally Ho's bridge was holed in many places by 0.5" machine gun fire and a member of the gun's crew was injured by a shell case. A seaplane then appeared and was shot down by a Vickers gun, but the Gunnery Officer died of his wounds that night and was buried at sea. Tudor (Lieutenant SA Porter DSC RN) laid ten mines off Langkawi on 24th September and on 8th-9th October, a special operation on the west coast of Siam, to contact agents and land stores, was carried out successfully. Statesman (Lieutenant RGP Bulkeley RN) left to patrol off the Mergui Archipelago on 27th and on 6th October she sank two coasters with her gun and took prisoners.

The operations of the submarines from Fremantle will be described in a later chapter but the patrols of the first two fit more neatly into this chapter. The first British submarine to leave Fremantle for patrol was Porpoise (Lieutenant Commander HAL Marsham OBE RN), and as we have seen, she was not part of the Eighth Flotilla, but was lent from the Fourth Flotilla at Trincomalee to carry out Operation 'Rimau' which has already been outlined. After carrying out a number of exercises after her arrival in Fremantle, she finally sailed on 11th September with the twenty-four men of the attacking force under Lieutenant Colonel Lyon and the fifteen 'Sleeping Beauties' and other impediments. She transited the Lombok Strait on 18th without difficulty and set course for the Karimata Strait. Porpoise was not allowed, by her orders, to attack or give away her position except for an important target or reason and she had to let a convoy go on 20th and a large unescorted tanker on 23rd. She was, by now, having difficulty with a leak from an external oil fuel tank. This was temporarily solved by transferring the oil from this tank to one from which the fuel had been used up. The plan was to land the stores on Merapas Island, south east of Singapore, and set up a base. A junk was then to be captured that would be used to transport the assault parties with their 'Sleeping Beauties' to Singapore Roads where the shipping was to be attacked with limpet mines. Porpoise arrived in the eastern approaches to Singapore on 23rd September and during the next week the stores were all landed at Merapas and a junk was captured. Porpoise left on 30th to return to Fremantle. She was to pick the party up again between 7th November and 7th December. The return trip through the Java Sea was made in heavy rainstorms and was uneventful. The submerged passage south through the Lombok Strait was difficult. Strong eddies and currents were experienced and at times Porpoise was scarcely controllable. She arrived safely in Fremantle on 11th October and went straight into dock to have her leaking fuel tank repaired. The British and American commands, at this time, did not realise that Operation 'Rimau' had met with disaster. The junk with the assault force and the 'Sleeping Beauties' was intercepted by a patrol vessel and fire had to be opened. The men in several groups got back to Merapas Island but were attacked there later and had to flee from island to island. They were all eventually hunted down and killed or captured and executed. Porpoise was not repaired in time to pick up the Rimau party at Merapas Island and Tantalus undertook this duty instead. Tantalus, of course, found nothing except signs that the party had left in a hurry.