"The Ondina Story" Topic

"…On November 11 at 11.45 in the morning, the naval authorities in Fremantle received a SOS-signal sent out by the Bengal, reporting that she and the Ondina were under attack by two enemy raiders, identified as being Japanese, in position 19.38 N – 93.5 E. The battle started when a lookout aboard Ondina sighted an unknown vessel at about 12000 metres away, bearing 270 degrees, followed by ship of similar size. As no allied ships were reported in the vicinity, they could only assume they were hostile and for some time these ships were even identified as Japanese carriers. On the Bengal, the lookouts saw the two AMCs a few minutes later. The ships both made a quick 90 degrees turn to starboard away from the enemy to a north-north-west direction. Bengal then turned and headed straight for the enemy, thus hoping to buy enough time for the Ondina to escape. She opened fire at 1200 hours from 3200 metres away, soon followed by the Ondina at 1205 8000 metres away. The sensible thing to do for the Ondina was to follow the order to escape, but the captain decided to stay, as his ship, armed with a 4-inch gun, was still the most powerful of the two. In addition, the Ondina could only do 12 knots versus 21 of the Japanese ships.

The Aikoku Maru (Captain Oishi Tamotsu) and Hokoku Maru (Captain Imazato Hiroshi) commenced firing at 1200 hours, and soon straddled the Ondina with their cruiser-armament. The first hit on Ondina ripped off a part of the main mast, leaving only a stump standing. The Ondina herself had her answer ready: the third shell fired was a hit in the superstructure of Hokoku Maru, but apparently did little to effect her speed or armament. Content with the hit, the gun captain then ordered the gunners to concentrate their fire on the stern. Only a few moments later, a lucky hit on the starboard torpedo mount turned the Hokoku Maru in a ball of red and yellow flames, and as the ship emerged from the smoke, she was listing heavily to starboard, and simultaneously started to settle by the stern. The explosion ripped off the stern and threw her two floatplanes overboard, while massive fires raged in the superstructure. Hokoku Maru was not built as a warship, and therefore didn't have a sufficient number of watertight bulkheads. Shells fell from their lockers as a result of the increasing list and threw sailors overboard. Men, covered with burns and blood tried to fight the flames. Reports came in indicating large fires in the engine room and the loss of all electricity. There was little hope of salvaging the Hokoku Maru, and Captain Imazato could do little else than to order "abandon ship".

The Aikoku Maru soon avenged her sister ship, scoring several hits on Ondina. Fortunately, shells and torpedoes have little effect on empty tankers, as the large number of watertight tanks keeps them afloat under the most difficult circumstances. Aikoku Maru also fired at the Bengal, which had shortened the distance to about 2200 metres. One shell from the Japanese hit her in the forecastle, luckily doing little damage. Her gunners had been firing continuously at the Japanese, claiming several hits. Unfortunately, the ammo supply was soon depleted [3]. At 1245, her last shell had been fired and her captain decided there was little he could do for the Ondina. He steamed away at full speed, chased by gun splashes. After laying a smokescreen, she took a hit in the stern which did little to hamper her escape. Last the men aboard Bengal saw was the Ondina trying to evade the shells, continuously straddled by the Aikoku Maru. A shell was seen hitting her abaft the bridge. Some time later, a second explosion was seen aboard Hokoku Maru, still burning and sinking. After leaving the scene, Bengal set course for Diego Garcia, where the captain reported the Ondina and one enemy AMC sunk…"
Full article here.
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Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

That's a really interesting article Tango. Thanks very much for posting the link. :o)

So happy you enjoyed it my friend! (smile).

Amicalement
Armand