History
HMIS Bengal was ordered from Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company, Australia for the Royal Indian Navy in 1940. She was commissioned into the RIN in 1942.
Operations in World War II
HMIS Bengal was a part of the Eastern Fleet during World War II, and escorted numerous convoys between 1942-45. [1]
On 11 November 1942, Bengal was escorting the Dutch tanker Ondina [2] to the southwest of Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Two Japanese commerce raiders armed with six-inch guns attacked Ondina. Bengal fired her single four-inch gun and Ondina fired her 102 mm and both scored hits on Hōkoku Maru , which shortly blew up and sank. [2] Both Ondina and Bengal ran out of ammunition. Ondina was badly damaged by shellfire and torpedoes, and her captain signaled "Abandon ship" before he died. Bengal seeing there was nothing more she could do, sailed away.
The other raider, Aikoku Maru , machine-gunned the lifeboats with Ondina's crew aboard, causing some casualties, picked up the survivors from Hōkoku Maru , and sailed off, believing that Ondina was sinking. [2] Ondina's surviving crew reboarded their ship, put out the fires, and sailed to Freemantle. Bengal too reached port safely. [3] [4]
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade.
HMS Hotspur was an H-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. During the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War, she fought in the First Battle of Narvik in April 1940 where she was badly damaged. After her repairs were completed, Hotspur was transferred to Gibraltar where she participated in the Battle of Dakar in September. A month later the ship was badly damaged when she rammed and sank an Italian submarine. She received permanent repairs in Malta and was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet when they were finished in early 1941. Hotspur participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March and evacuated British and Australian troops from both Greece and Crete in April–May. In June the ship participated in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign and was escorting convoys and the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942.
HMAS Norman (G49/D16) was an N-class destroyer operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. Entering service in 1941, the ship was on loan from the Royal Navy.
The Japanese raiders in the Indian Ocean were those vessels used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War to pursue its war on Allied commerce in that theatre. Possessing a powerful fleet of warships, prior to the start of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had strategically planned to fight a war of fleet actions, and as a consequence delegated few resources to raiding merchant vessels. Nevertheless, in 1940, two passenger-cargo vessels – Aikoku Maru and Hōkoku Maru – of the Osaka Shipping Line were requisitioned for conversion to Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC)s, in anticipation of the likely thrust southward by the Japanese. These vessels were subsequently used as merchant raiders attacking Allied commercial shipping along vital sea lanes of communication between Australia and the Middle East. Using their comprehensive armament and speed to their advantage, the raiders experienced a brief period of success. Japanese raiding in the Indian Ocean largely ceased by the end of 1942 after an action with a Dutch vessel, the Ondina and a Royal Indian Navy corvette, the Bengal in which the Hokoku Maru was sunk.
Tamotsu Oishi was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
HMS Severn (N57) was an ocean-going type of submarine of the River Class. She was built by Vickers Armstrong, at Barrow, and launched on 16 January 1934. She was completed on 12 January 1935.
The Hōkoku Maru-class ocean liner was a class of ocean liners of Japan, serving during 1940 and World War II.
HMIS Narbada (U40) was a Modified Bittern class sloop, later known as the Black Swan class, which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.
HMIS Sutlej (U95) was a modified Bittern-class sloop, later known as the Black Swan class, which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.
HMIS Kistna (U46) was a Black Swan-class sloop which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.
HMIS Cauvery, pennant number U10, was a Black Swan-class sloop which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.
HMIS Jumna (U21) was a Black Swan-class sloop, which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.
HMIS Hindustan (L80) was a Folkestone-class sloop which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II. Her pennant number was changed to U80 in 1940.
HMIS Bihar (J247) was a Bangor-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy. It transferred to the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during the Second World War.
HMIS Madras (J237) was a Bathurst class minesweeper that served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.
Aikoku Maru (愛国丸) was an armed merchant cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The ship entered service in 1940, the ship was later converted to an ammunition ship. She was destroyed in February 1944.
The 8th Submarine Squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy was based at Swettenham Pier, Penang, Malaya, until late 1944 during World War II. Its mission was to disrupt Allied supply lines in aid of Nazi Germany.
MV Ondina was a 9,070 GRT oil tanker built in 1939 and owned by Royal Dutch Shell; initially operated by the La Corona shipping company. In November 1942, during the Second World War, it was attacked in the Indian Ocean by two Japanese commerce raiders, one of which was sunk possibly by a shell fired by the Ondina. After the war it continued operating until decommissioned and broken up in 1959.
Hōkoku Maru (報國丸) was an armed merchant cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. She was the name ship of her class. The ship entered service in 1941, and was employed as a commerce raider and submarine tender. She was sunk in a surface action in November 1942.
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