On This Day
1942 > WW2
On This Day - 1942
- March 7, 1942
Australian Coastwatcher SBLT A.R. Olander, RANVR, was believed executed by the Japanese in New Britain.
HMAS IPSWICH, (minesweeper), was launched at Mort’s Dock, Sydney.
- March 6, 1942
HMAS MARYBOROUGH, (minesweeper), signalled the old coal-burning Dutch ship VERSPICK, which had straggled behind the convoy: “Get all those bloody passengers into the stoke hole”.
- March 5, 1942
VADM Nagumo’s fleet bombarded Tjilatjap, sinking 17 ships. The Dutch disputed the report, claiming 16 vessels had been scuttled in the port. Two days before the attack the Australian Minesweeping Flotilla was at Tjilatjap.
- March 4, 1942
HMA Ships, MARYBOROUGH, (CMDR G.L. Cant, RAN, Commander of the Australian corvettes), BURNIE, GOULBURN, BALLARAT, TOOWOOMBA, WOLLONGONG, and BENDIGO, (corvettes), were headed for Australia, from Tjilatjap.
The sloop HMAS YARRA, (LCDR Robert Rankin, RAN), MMS 51, (minesweeper), and the merchant ships ANKING and FRANCO, were overwhelmed and sunk in the Indian Ocean by Japanese fleet of 3 cruisers, (ATAGO, TAKAO and MAYA), and destroyers, commanded by VADM Kondo. YARRA, senior ship in the convoy, engaged the enemy fleet after ordering her convoy to scatter. Of the ship’s complement of 151, 138 lost their lives, and the 13 survivors were later picked up by a Dutch submarine. LS R. Taylor, in charge of the last remaining gun, continued to fire after the abandon ship order, until he too was killed.
- March 3, 1942
The Commonwealth Government appointed Mr Justice Lowe as Royal Commissioner to inquire into the circumstances of the Japanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942.
The Australian transport KOOLAMA was sunk by Japanese bombers at Broome, WA.
HMAS YARRA, (sloop), picked up 40 survivors from the Dutch merchant ship PARIGI that had been sunk by the Japanese south of Java. Unfortunately YARRA was sunk the next day and none of the Dutch survivors from PARIGI survived this second sinking.
HMAS BALLARAT, (minesweeper), sank HMS GEMAS, (minesweeper), at Tjilatjap, Java, to prevent it falling into enemy hands. The vessel did not have the range to reach Australia.
The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS PATRICIA CAM was commissioned. PATRICIA CAM was launched as a tuna fishing vessel for Cam & Sons Pty Ltd, Sydney.
- March 2, 1942
CAPT J. A. Collins, RAN, and staff of the Australian-British-Dutch-American Command, (ABDA), were evacuated by corvette HMAS BURNIE from Tjilatjap, Java.
The former Japanese fishing fleet supply vessel, KOFUKO MARU, 70 foot long and 68 tons, slipped out of the Inderagiri River in Sumatra hours before the Japanese seized the island. She was sailed to India by W. R. Reynolds and later to Australia where she was taken over by the Special Reconnaissance Department and renamed KRAIT.
- March 1, 1942
HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), was sunk by enemy action. 23 officers and 333 ratings lost their lives.
HMAS HOBART, (cruiser), evacuated 512 refugees from Padang and landed them at Colombo.
- February 28, 1942
Engaged in the Battle of the Sunda Strait, HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), and USS HOUSTON, (cruiser), were attempting to force their way through the Sunda Strait when they encountered a Japanese invasion force protected by several warships. In the ensuing battle a number of Japanese ships were sunk or damaged, but PERTH and HOUSTON were also sunk, with heavy loss of life. PERTH’S Commanding Officer, CAPT H.M.L. Waller, DSO and Bar, RAN, was killed in this action. He was later awarded a posthumous MID. Over half of PERTH’s ships company lost their lives in the battle and the rest were captured and made POWs in the ensuing weeks, including PERTH’s navigator LCDR J.A. Harper, RN.
HMAS WOLLONGONG, (minesweeper), attempted to tow the British tanker WAR SIRDAR off Jong Reef, Agentium Island. The tanker was later abandoned.
CMDR G.L. Cant, RAN, in HMAS MARYBOROUGH, commanding the six corvette strong auxiliary naval patrol in Sunda Strait, decided to return to Tjilatjap to refuel, but was ordered to return to Sunda Strait with MARYBOROUGH, TOOWOOMBA, BALLARAT, and GOULBURN.
- February 27, 1942
LCDR F. N. Cook, RAN, was Senior Naval Officer at the beach-head during the British Commando and parachute raid on German radio location stations at Bruneval, France. Cook was awarded the DSC for conspicuous gallantry in the operation.
The Battle of the Java Sea – HMAS PERTH, HM Ships EXETER, ELECTRA and JUPITER, USS HOUSTON and the Dutch ships DE RUYTER, JAVA and KORTENAER, engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the Java Sea. All the Allied ships except PERTH and HOUSTON were sunk in this disastrous engagement. CAPT H. M. L. Waller, DSO and Bar, RAN, commanded HMAS PERTH during this battle and made the decision to break off the engagement after the Dutch Admiral was killed when the cruiser DE RUYTER was sunk.
The cruiser HMAS HOBART, (CAPT H. L. Howden, RAN), with HM Ships DRAGON and DANAE, (cruisers), and two destroyers, were ordered by CDRE J. Collins, RAN, to attack an approaching western invading force. HOBART was later attacked by enemy aircraft in Tanjong Priok, and five ratings were wounded. HOBART left Tanjong Priok that night for Padang, Sumatra, to pick up refugees and proceed to Ceylon.
- February 26, 1942
RADM Karl Doorman, (Dutch Navy), sailed with his fleet of five cruisers, including HMAS PERTH, and nine destroyers, from Sourabaya. At the same time a striking force formed on HMAS HOBART, (cruiser), sailed from Tanjong Priok, to attempt the interception of a Japanese convoy approaching western Java.