Indian Ocean raid (1944) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Second Indian Ocean raid |
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| Part of Pacific War | |||||||
 U.S. Navy recognition drawing for Japanese Aoba-class heavy cruisers |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Japan |
 United Kingdom |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Rear Admiral Naomasa Sakonju |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 3 heavy cruisers | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| none | 1 steamer sunk, 3 killed, unknown wounded |
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In March 1944, three powerful Japanese warships, called heavy cruisers, sailed into the Indian Ocean. Their mission was to attack Allied merchant ships during World War II. This secret operation was known as Operation SA No.1.
The cruisers left Japanese-controlled areas on March 1st, with help from other Japanese ships and planes. On March 9th, they found and sank a British cargo ship named Behar. One of the Japanese cruisers, the Tone, rescued over 100 people from the Behar. Fearing they might be discovered, the Japanese ships quickly returned to the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia), arriving on March 16th. Sadly, two days later, most of the Behar's crew and passengers were killed while still on board the Tone. After the war, the Japanese commander of this raid, Rear Admiral Naomasa Sakonju, was punished for this terrible act. The captain of the Tone, Haruo Mayuzumi, was also sent to prison.
Why the Raid Happened
In February 1944, the main Japanese navy fleet moved from its base in the Central Pacific to Singapore. Having such a strong Japanese naval force in Singapore worried the Allies. They feared these ships might attack Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean or even Western Australia.
To protect their ships, the Allies sent more naval and air forces to the area. Two British light cruisers came from the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas. Several U.S. Navy warships also arrived from the Pacific. More air units were sent to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the Bay of Bengal.
Admiral James Somerville, who led the British Eastern Fleet, was worried. He remembered a damaging Japanese raid in the Indian Ocean in 1942. He asked for permission to move his fleet away from its base at Trincomalee to keep it safe. However, the British Admiralty (the navy's headquarters) said no. They wanted the fleet to stay at Trincomalee unless a much stronger Japanese force directly threatened it. They believed moving the fleet would lower morale and hurt Britain's standing in the region. Still, it was agreed that the Eastern Fleet should not fight stronger Japanese forces and could retreat if Admiral Somerville thought it was necessary.
In late February, Vice-Admiral Shiro Takasu of the Japanese navy ordered three heavy cruisers—Aoba, Chikuma, and Tone—to attack Allied ships. These ships were to target the main shipping route between Aden and Fremantle. Rear Admiral Naomasa Sakonju, on board the Aoba, was in charge of this group. Vice Admiral Takasu gave Sakonju a harsh order: if they captured Allied merchant sailors, all prisoners, except radio operators and those with useful information, were to be killed. Sakonju did not question this order. The Japanese cruisers even had special teams ready to board and capture merchant ships, hoping to take them over to help Japan's own shipping problems.
The Raid Begins
The three Japanese heavy cruisers left their base on February 27th. Other ships, including the light cruisers Kinu and Ōi and three destroyers, helped escort them through the Sunda Strait on March 1st.
The raiding force also had air support. Ten medium bombers and three or four seaplanes from Sumatra and west Java flew patrols towards Ceylon. Three or four submarines also watched Allied ship movements near Ceylon and other islands.
The Allies did not know when the Japanese force left. However, an American submarine spotted the Kinu and Ōi near the Lombok Strait on March 6th. This made the Allies think that an enemy force might have entered the Indian Ocean. On March 8th, Admiral Somerville told all Allied ships in a certain area to change their routes and sail south or west to avoid danger.
After leaving the Sunda Strait, the Japanese heavy cruisers sailed southwest towards the main shipping route. The ships kept far apart during the day (about 50 kilometers) and closer at night (about 20 kilometers). They also kept radio silence so their location would not be discovered.
On the morning of March 9th, they found the British cargo ship Behar. The Behar was a 6,100-ton steamer sailing from Fremantle to Bombay, carrying zinc. It was about halfway between Fremantle and Colombo.
When Captain Maurice Symons, the master of the Behar, saw the Japanese ships, he ordered his radio operator to send an "RRR" distress code. This code would tell other ships and Allied bases that his merchant ship was under attack. The Tone's radio room picked up this message. The Tone repeatedly signaled the Behar to surrender. But the Behar kept trying to escape, so the cruiser opened fire. The Japanese cruiser did not try to capture the steamer because it was too risky to sail it back to Japanese territory. The Tone's guns hit the Behar's front and back, killing three of her crew. Five minutes after being spotted, the Behar's crew and passengers left the ship. The steamer sank soon after. The Tone rescued either 104 or 108 survivors.
The survivors from the Behar were treated very badly by some of the Tone's crew. Japanese sailors forced them to give up their personal belongings. They then tied the survivors in painful positions, making it hard for them to breathe. The ship's chief officer was beaten when he complained that this treatment violated the Geneva Conventions. However, the female survivors later had their ropes removed. When the survivors were taken below deck to be held, they were badly beaten by Japanese sailors.
After the attack, Admiral Sakonju decided it was too dangerous to continue the raid. He thought the Behar's distress message might have told the Allies where his force was. So, the Japanese ships turned back towards the Netherlands East Indies that same day. The heavy cruisers were again escorted through the Sunda Strait by the Kinu, Ōi, and five destroyers. They arrived back in the Netherlands East Indies on March 15th. During this time, the Behar survivors were kept in a small, very hot storage room on the Tone. They were given very little food, water, or access to bathrooms, and no chance to exercise.
Even though Sakonju was worried, the Allies did not immediately know about the attack on the Behar. Only one Allied merchant ship picked up her distress signal, and that ship did not report it until it reached Fremantle on March 17th. Meanwhile, Admiral Somerville had decided on March 16th that surface raiders were no longer a threat. He allowed Allied ships to go back to their normal routes.
The Terrible Event
Soon after the Behar survivors were rescued, Admiral Sakonju sent a radio message to Captain Haruo Mayuzumi, the commanding officer of the Tone. Sakonju was angry that Mayuzumi had taken non-essential people prisoner and had not captured the merchant ship. In this message, Sakonju ordered that the survivors be killed.
Captain Mayuzumi did not want to do this because it went against his Christian beliefs. His second-in-command, Commander Junsuke Mii, also disagreed with killing the prisoners. Mayuzumi radioed Sakonju, asking if the prisoners could be put ashore, but Sakonju refused. Mayuzumi then visited the Aoba to argue his case, but Sakonju would not change his mind and told Mayuzumi to "obey my orders." Despite his strong feelings, Mayuzumi decided to follow the order to kill the prisoners.
On March 15th, the three heavy cruisers anchored near Java. After this, some survivors (either 15 or 36) were moved to the Aoba. This group included Captain Symons, the Behar's chief officer, several senior officers, and both of the ship's female passengers. All of these people were later taken ashore.
The three cruisers sailed from Java towards Singapore on March 18th. That night, all the prisoners still on board the Tone were killed by several of the cruiser's officers. Captain Mayuzumi watched the killings from the ship's bridge, but Commander Mii refused to take part. The number of crew members killed was between 65 and at least 100.
What Happened Next
The Aoba, Chikuma, and Tone arrived in Singapore on March 25th. This Indian Ocean raid was the last operation by surface raiders (ships that attack on the ocean's surface) during World War II. Because of this, the Behar was the last Allied merchant ship sunk by surface raiders in the war.
The raid itself did not achieve much militarily. It failed to stop Allied shipping in the region, as the route changes ordered by Admiral Somerville were canceled by March 16th. The only clear result was the sinking of one ship, the Behar. In contrast, enemy submarines sank three ships in the Indian Ocean during the same time. The raid was also less successful than similar attacks by other surface ships. The Japanese did not use their greater number of ships in the region, and by the end of the month, their advantage was gone. More ships joining the Eastern Fleet allowed Admiral Somerville to start a series of aircraft carrier raids, beginning with an attack on Sabang on April 19, 1944.
The Behar survivors who had been taken ashore were first held in prisoner of war camps in Java. The male prisoners went to a camp near Batavia, and the women were held in a women's camp nearby. After they were questioned, the survivors were separated and sent to other camps in Java or forced to work as laborers in Japan. All the survivors were freed after the war ended in August 1945. One of the survivors, Mrs. Agnes (Nancy) Shaw, had been traveling to India to join her husband. They had been separated when they escaped from Malaya on different ships. She was imprisoned at Camp Makassar in Batavia, where she worked in the camp bakery. She was reunited with her husband after Java was freed.
After the war, the Allies brought to justice the officers responsible for the killings on board the Tone. Vice Admiral Takasu had died from illness in September 1944. However, Sakonju was tried by the British in 1947 in Hong Kong. He was sentenced to death and executed on January 21, 1948. Mayuzumi was also found guilty for his part in the killings and sentenced to seven years in prison. Sakonju stated that he was "retaliating against the execution and inhuman treatment of Japanese prisoners by the allies in Guadalcanal." He also claimed that the Tone killed the prisoners after the operation had ended and the Tone was no longer under his direct command. Mayuzumi stated that he was following Sakonju's orders. Mayuzumi received a lighter sentence because he had repeatedly asked for the prisoners' lives to be spared.
See also
- Japanese raiders in the Indian Ocean
