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MV KRAIT and Japanese Destroyer in 1943

by Phil Belbin

Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Place made:
St Ives, Sydney
Date:
1986
Setting:
Peace time operations
Photo courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy

The following excerpt is from the War Memorial website:

“Operation Jaywick was a raid on shipping in Japanese-occupied Singapore harbour between September and October 1943. The raid was carried out by members of Special Operations Australia (SOA) from Z Special Unit. The team comprised of four British soldiers, and 11 AIF and Royal Australian Navy personnel, commanded by a British officer, Major Ivan Lyon.

Disguised as Malay fishermen, Lyon’s team travelled from Exmouth in Western Australia to Subor Island, 11 kilometres from Singapore, in a captured boat, renamed the MV Krait. The Krait was a slow-moving, wooden-hulled vessel about twenty metres long and sporadically suffered engine trouble for the duration of the voyage.

On reaching the island three-and-a-half weeks after leaving Australia, the team launched three two-man collapsible canoes (folboats). Lyon and five others then paddled into Singapore harbour. Arriving at night they split up and slipped from ship to ship attaching limpet mines, paddling another 80 kilometres to rendezvous with Krait six days later on 2 October.

When the mines exploded, seven ships were sank or badly damaged. The Krait recovered its intrepid but exhausted canoeists and travelled back to Australia, arriving at Exmouth on 19 October 1943.”

For more information about this ship click on the following website:
Operation Jaywick | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)

  • About Phil Belbin

    Phil Belbin was interested in art from a young age and a prolific drawer. He is said to have produced his first comic book at the age of eleven and had his first published work, a calendar for a metallurgist, at the age of thirteen. He studied art for two years at East Sydney Technical College. In 1942 Belbin had further training for one year at Sydney's The Sun newspaper as an intern in the art department.

    In 1943 Belbin enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and served as an armourer in the Pacific Islands. Following his demobilisation in March 1946, Belbin found work at Frank Johnson Publications as an illustrator. In 1947 Belbin went to work for K.G. Murray Publishing Company. He created cartoons, comic strips and artwork for the company over the next 30 years.

    Throughout his time at the publishing house Belbin also worked as a freelance illustrator for other publications and illustrated campaigns for advertising agencies and numerous private commissions. Belbin's list of commercial art clients grew to include local and international engineering, aerospace, and transportation companies.

    In 1974 Belbin was awarded a 'Citation of Merit' by the New York Society of Illustrator and in 1984 he was elected as a fellow by the Royal Society of Arts, London.

    Throughout his life Belbin had maintained a keen interest in steam transport - ships and trains. In addition to his print illustrations, Belbin also painted scenes of shipping and steam trains whose accurate details were highly regarded.

    Belbin was asked to illustrate the book “The Royal Australian Navy: the first seventy-five years”. This book contains twenty-six outstanding ship paintings and several drawings by Phil Belbin. The text was by Ross Gillett. It was published by Child & Henry in 1989.

    Phil Belbin passed away in 1993, succumbing to motor neurone disease.

    More paintings by Phil Belbin
  • About Ships and aircraft in company

    In this section a wide variety of artworks with more than one ship, submarine or aircraft are featured. When two or more naval vessels are operating together they are said to be ‘in company’.

    The diverse nature of activities, exercises and deployments undertaken by ships, submarines and aircraft of the Royal Australian Navy means that a ship may spend long periods conducting single ship operations or periodically join with large numbers of other ships for such events as a naval review or fleet entry to a port. These latter events are generally scheduled to commemorate a particular event.  During such events a prominent or royal figure will review the fleet as part of the ceremony. Throughout its history ships of the RAN have participated in major fleet entries and reviews both in Australian waters and overseas.

     

    Details of Ships in the First Fleet

    Name Class Commission Dates
    HMAS Australia Indefatigable Class 21 Jun 1913 – 12 Dec 1921
    HMAS Melbourne Town Class Light Cruiser 18 Jan 1913 – 23 Apr 1928
    HMAS Sydney Town Class Light Cruiser 26 Jun 1913 – 8 May 1928
    HMAS Encounter Challenger Class Light Cruiser 1 Jul 1912 – 1 Jan 1923
    HMAS Warrego River Class 1 Jun 1912 – 22 Jul 1919
    HMAS Parramatta River Class 10 Sep 1910 – 22 Jul 1919
    HMAS Yarra River Class 10 Sep 1910 –  30 Sep 1929

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