HMIS Bengal

HMIS Bengal was a 1040 ton Bathurst-class corvette built to an Australian design for the Royal Indian Navy and only completed in August 1942 and brand new when she and the Dutch-built oiler MS Ondina left Fremantle Australia November 5, 1942, en route to Persia to fill the Ondina with oil.  It was expected to be a long and rather dull trip at about 10 knots for the two ships.  Bengal had British officers but an Indian crew of about 75 men, while Ondina's crew of some 50 or so was a mix of Dutch and Chinese merchant sailors with a British-Australian crew to man its single 4-inch gun for which they had a total of some 30 shells.  As for Bengal, she carried a single 3-inch, 12-pounder gun for which she also only had a handful of shells and no ammo at all for her 40 mm Oerlikons. On November 11, 1942, about 500 miles south of the Cocos Islands, they were intercepted by a pair of modern Japanese Armed Merchant Cruisers, the IMJS Hokoku Maru and Aikoko Maru, both much larger ships than the two Allied vessels, each powerfully armed for their type with numerous six-inch guns, torpedo tubes and either one easily exceeding the speed of the Dutch and Indian vessels. They had been hunting Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean but the pickings had been slim -- they had accounted for five ships between the two of them -- and these two looked like easy targets. Bengal's commander, Lieutenant Commander W.J. Wilson [RNR] knew immediately where his duty lay. He ordered Ondina to get out of there fast and, knowing it was virtually certain death, charged the two Japanese ships with his little corvette and its single 12-pounder gun and its very limited ammunition.  Bengal was immediately bracketed by shell splashes but she continued to close the enemy.  Meanwhile, Ondina set off to leave the combat but her commander, 33- year old Willem Horsman knew his ship would never be able to outrun the Japanese, and so he gave the order for the British-Australian gun crew to prepare for battle and turned to join Bengal, which by this time had been hit repeatedly. Ondina's single four-inch stern-mounted gun cracked out two shells to get the range (she had no range finder aboard and it was calculated entirely at the guess of the gun crew) and the third one struck home on the Hokoku Maru, the same ship being engaged by Bengal, starting a fire amidships.  Ondina shifted her fire to the stern of the Hokoku Maru and the crew was startled to see a massive explosion on the Japanese AMC.  Although it is unsure which of the two Allied ships fired the shot, it was fatal for the Japanese ship as the shell had detonated a live torpedo loaded into one of the tubes in the AMC, which set off ammunition stored in the ships' stern.  The Japanese ship began to list heavily.  Meanwhile her partner the Aikoku Maru hadn't been idle and had hit Bengal repeatedly, although the Indian ship's gunners stuck to their one weapon tenaciously until its ammunition had been exhausted, She made smoke, and thinking that the Dutch oiler had already left or been lost -- they'd lost sight of her--  herself shrouded herself in smoke and headed away. Ondina had also been seriously damaged and as the Bengal left the scene found the Aikoku steaming towards her.  Captain Horsman decided to surrender the ship to save the lives of its crew, but as it ran white sheets up the masts, the Japanese opened fire, killing Captain Horsman, and then began to rake the lifeboats with machine-gun fire and fired two torpedoes at the Ondina, both of which hit and left her with a heavy list.  Still, Ondina for all that had only suffered five fatalities including the captain, and the Japanese ship left (briefly to return having picked up the survivors from Hokoku Maru, fired a torpedo, missed and then left).  The crew decided to try to see if they could salvage the ship.  The engine was still working, and once they counter-flooded the empty oil holds the ship was again on an even keel despite being low in the water.  Within a few days, she was able to sail into Fremantle, Australia, while Bengal, very badly battered herself, managed to stagger into the port of Diego Garcia.  Against all odds, both Allied ships survived, while destroying a powerful Japanese AMC. The Japanese withdrew their AMC's and converted them into troop carriers as a result of this action.  Hokaku Maru was sunk at Truk by USN aircraft in 1944, while Bengal and Ondina both survived the war.