Ndawu (Xinglou) naval battle

brief Introduction of the content

1942 65438+1October 26th, that is, after the end of the air battle in Ndahui, two old destroyers of the allied forces broke into Ndaou port at night and attacked the Japanese transport fleet.

1942 65438+1At the end of October, the Japanese army planned to transport Songkhla 96th Airport Brigade and a large amount of fuel and ammunition to the front airport with two transport ships to cooperate with the siege of the Singapore fortress.

Two transport ships, Canberra Maru and Kansai Maru, carried the 96th Airport Brigade, 80 tons of aviation bombs (300 bombs of 100 kg, 50 bombs of 1000), 13000 aviation machine gun bullets, and nearly 5000 barrels of aviation fuel and lubricating oil.

On October 24th, 65438+2300/KLOC-0, the Japanese transport fleet set sail from Songkhla, Malay Peninsula, arrived at Ndaou Port on October 26th, 65438+ 2300, and began to unload troops and materials.

On the afternoon of October 26th, 65438/KLOC-0, the British Far East Air Force assembled all the aviation forces in Singapore and launched three waves of air strikes against the Japanese transport fleet that was unloading at Ndawu Port, but it suffered heavy losses under the interception of Japanese fighters. On that day, the British lost 19 fighter, but failed to cause damage to the Japanese transport fleet.

65438+1On October 26th, Lieutenant General Ernest spooner, commander of the Singapore Navy, ordered HMAS Vampire (D68) and HMS Thanet (H29, old S-class) destroyers to form a formation, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Moran, to launch a night attack on the Japanese transport fleet that was unloading at Ndaou Port.

Cenit is an old S-class destroyer built during World War I, with a displacement of 19 18 and a maximum speed of 36 knots. It is equipped with three 4-inch main guns and two double torpedo tubes. His ship number is H29, and the crew number is 102.

1939, Cenit was sent to Hong Kong and became a member of the Royal Hong Kong Naval Fleet.

19411On February 8th, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War broke out. According to the scheduled plan, three old S-class destroyers in Hong Kong will be evacuated to the Singapore base to join the Far East Fleet.

On the night of the 8th, the reconnaissance and Sennett evacuated to Manila base in Luzon, Philippines, where they learned the unfortunate news that the capital ships "Prince of Wales" and "Counterattack" of the Far East Fleet had been sunk by Japanese aviation, and Admiral Phillips, commander of the Far East Fleet, was also killed with the ship.

The two destroyers immediately stopped at Surabaya Port in Java for replenishment, and arrived at the Singapore fortress at194112+13.

The flagship Vampire, also an old ship of World War I, with the ship number D68, belongs to the V-class expulsion pilot ship, with a slightly larger displacement than that of Cenit, 1 188 tons, with a maximum speed of 34 knots, equipped with 4 102 mm 4-inch main guns and 2 triple torpedo tubes.

During the war, he belonged to the Australian navy and fought in the Mediterranean theater. He is mainly responsible for second-line patrol, escort and anti-submarine missions. These old World War I ships are no longer suitable for first-line operations and are dubbed "scrap iron fleet". 194 1 June, vampire was sent to Singapore base for maintenance due to power system failure.

19411February 10, vampires took part in combat operations as the cover forces of the Prince of Wales and the Counter-Terrorism Elite, and witnessed the destruction of these two giant ships. Vampires rescued 225 survivors and retreated to Singapore.

194265438+1October 26th 16: 30, two destroyers set sail from Singapore port. According to the false information of the British Air Force, the enemy's escort force is only two destroyers. But in fact, the Japanese army responsible for the cover is the Third Mine Team under the command of Major General Hashimoto Tōru, which has six snow-blowing destroyers of light cruisers Kawauchi (flagship), 1 1 and the 20th expulsion team.

Japanese reconnaissance plane spotted British ships.

At 0/6: 50 p.m./kloc-0, the reconnaissance plane of the 22nd Air Force of the Japanese Navy spotted two British ships and informed the Japanese cover forces of their position and direction.

1650 The enemy lightly patrolled two ships, located at Cape Garne 45 degrees 100 nautical mile, with a heading of 35 degrees and a speed of 24 knots. The weather nearby is fine, with thin clouds in the upper layer and 30 nautical miles on the horizon. The Japanese mistakenly identified the ship types of two old destroyers as cruisers. At this time, the British ship was 200 nautical miles away from the port of Ndaou, and Major General Hashimoto Nobutaro, commander of the Third Mine Team, ordered his subordinates to enter a state of alert.

Focusing on two transport ships, the Japanese army used the light cruiser Kawauchi, six destroyers, six minesweepers, three submarines and two modified patrol boats to pose a three-layer ring defense posture, as shown below.

1 midnight, 5 1, two British destroyers sailed for Ndawu at a speed of 15 knots (28km/h).

Although vampires and Cenit own 10 torpedo tubes (6+4), vampires and Cenit only carry three torpedoes each.

At 02:37, the vampire saw a Japanese destroyer (probably the Tianwu). He passed quietly without being discovered by the Japanese.

At 02: 40, another Japanese warship was found, which was the W-4 minesweeper of the First Mine Clearance Unit. William Moran ordered the torpedo attack, and the vampire increased the speed to 25 knots, and then fired two torpedoes at close range, one of which passed about 14- 18 meters in front of the bow of the W-4 minesweeper, and the other was due to its deep depth.

W-4 minesweeper found two unidentified ships passing at high speed, but somehow, he didn't fire a warning shot or shine a searchlight on the suspicious allied ships.

The following is the guess of flying pig ~

Perhaps the W-4 minesweeper was not prepared for the night battle, the key personnel were not at their posts, and they could not fire in time, nor could they illuminate the suspicious ship with searchlights.

At 0305, 20 minutes after the W-4 minesweeper was torpedoed, the destroyer blowing snow near the W-4 minesweeper forwarded the warning message that the W-4 minesweeper reported the discovery of suspicious ships on the radio communication channel to the Third Mine Team.

To make matters worse, the W-4 minesweeper reported the wrong position of the enemy ship. "Two enemy ships were found in the northwest of Sembilanco Island." In fact, two allied destroyers are located in the eastern part of Rajako Island and the northern part of Kapan Island. When this alarm was issued, allied destroyers gradually approached the transport ship moored at the first anchorage of the Japanese army.

William Moran ordered a search for the Japanese transport ship and reduced the speed to 15 knots again. The night of 26th is a dark night without the moon, and the moon falls at 0 148, which depends entirely on visual inspection. Half an hour passed, but two allied destroyers still didn't find the Japanese transport ship.

At 03 13, the allied forces increased the speed to 25 knots again, headed southeast and prepared to leave the war zone.

Only 5 minutes later, on 03 18, the destroyer Vampire found the Japanese destroyer Snow White in the bow direction on the port side. After slightly adjusting the course, the vampire and Cenit fired three torpedoes at Snow White at a distance of 1500 yards. Si Nuo also found the allied ships, and he adjusted the course in time to avoid the torpedoes launched by the allied forces.

At the same time, the destroyer Snow White sent a light signal to the allied forces, trying to confirm the identity of the target. Because there was no response, Captain Snow White ordered the searchlight to be turned on to illuminate the leading allied destroyer Vampire.

033 1, Snow White fired first, and William Moran was forced to fight back. However, the two old destroyers designed during World War I only had seven 4-inch main guns, while only one Japanese destroyer, Snow White, was equipped with six127mm 5-inch main guns.

At a distance of 4 100 m (4,500 yards), Si Nuo first fired at vampires with a main gun of 127 mm, and fired 18 shells with one shot. A gunshot from the rear main gun tripped Snow White's main switchboard. After a short power outage for 2 minutes, the Japanese army resumed power supply.

In the first wave of shelling, the Japanese army observed that vampires were shot and caught fire. At the same time, the vampire released smoke and turned to retreat to the south. At this time, the subsequent destroyer Cenit just appeared in Snow White's field of vision.

0333, in the next 15 minutes, Snow White fired 82 rounds of 127 mm main gun shells, aiming at the allied destroyer Cenit, which was 3050 meters away.

Moran's destroyer evacuated to the southeast at high speed while playing. Just before Cenit had time to fire three shells, it was destroyed by Snow's 127mm main gun, which made Cenit lose the power and power of the whole ship and slowed down.

At 3: 38, the Japanese destroyer "Xiyu" found the Cenit and fired at the Cenit 7800 meters away with a 127 mm main gun.

At 3: 45, Xizhi reported that Major General Hashimoto "discovered two enemy destroyers", and Hashimoto Nobutaro responded by ordering Xizhi and Asahina's enemy ships to advance. At this time, both Snow White and Evening Fog observed that the speed of Cenit slowed down obviously.

Nearby Japanese ships gathered around, and the flagship ships of the Third Mine Team, Kawauchi, Chuixue, Chuxue, Chaoyu and W- 1, all fired at Cenit, ignoring the vampires who released smoke in the dark.

After the baptism of 455 Japanese naval shells, the Cenit was doomed. 04 18, Cenit sank, Japanese ship rescued 1 officer and 30 sailors. Bernard Davies, commander of Cenit, led four other surviving officers and 665,438+0 sailors to escape from Japanese waters and return to Singapore for rescue.

Ammunition consumption of Japanese ships

72 rounds in Sichuan (140mm)

Blowing snow? 102 hair

50 the first snow

Snow 18 (target vampire) +82 rounds (target Cenit)

Chaowu 6 1 fa

65 rounds of evening mist

6 rounds of fog

W 1 17

W4 2 (Target Vampire)

The escaped destroyer Vampire returned to Singapore port on1the morning of October 27th1942 10. Commander William Moran was criticized by many parties. He failed to complete the task of attacking the Japanese transport ship and lost the crew. However, for a ship without radar, it is an adventure to act at night.

(1) When an enemy ship is found, both visual signals and radio signals should be used to give an alarm.

Smoke is released in a short time during the day, and a flare gun is used at night to launch a luminous flare in the form agreed in advance. This paper aims at the problem that W-4 minesweeper failed to detect enemy ships in time.

(2) unified command is needed at night. (comment later)

(3) The Japanese army thought that it concentrated on attacking one ship and ignored another British ship, thus missing the opportunity to destroy the enemy.

Commanders need to organize powerful troops to resolutely pursue the fleeing enemy ships.

In the Enda Wuhai War, the Japanese warships of 1, 20/and1were almost in their own way, which was a mess. I think this is related to the disposal and command ability of Major General Nobutaro of the Third Mining Team.

First, let's review Japan's defense deployment.

With two transport ships as the center, the Japanese army deployed various ships in a scattered way, forming a three-layer ring defense structure, with the outermost three destroyers of the 20th expulsion team, the innermost three destroyers of the 1 1 expulsion team, and the flagship Sichuan in the middle for coordination, with the defense facing the northeast.

This can't be said to be a mistake, because on the 26th, after three consecutive waves of air strikes by the British army during the day (actually, the fourth wave didn't hit), Hashimoto Tōru laid out this circular defense formation, which was suitable for air defense operations.

But after the navy sent a telegram saying that two enemy cruisers were approaching, is there any problem in continuing to use this air defense formation? Let's analyze it from actual combat.

In the Battle of Enda Wuhai, the Japanese army approached the British ship and shelled it, except for the snow, the first snow and Tianwu of the 1 1 expulsion team. The movements of the remaining Japanese ships are very confusing:

The first thing to say is the minesweeper W-4, which failed to give a warning in time after being torpedoed by enemy ships. I guess I won't go into details. Later, when the British ship turned to the southeast to evacuate, it did not take the initiative to participate in the battle to intercept and evacuate the enemy ship. Let's just say that minesweepers and destroyers are just ahead, and I can barely accept this behavior.

Next, let's look at the snow blower. 0305 forwarded the radio warning telegram sent by the W-4 minesweeper. Instead of searching for the target position, it is far away from the battlefield. It seems that the action route is that the captain wants to join the flagship Kawauchi.

At this time, the flagship Kawauchi, commanded by Nobutaro Hashimoto, was firmly stationed in Zhong Jun's tent after the war, and only shot at the target 10 km away, so the action could be said to be vacillating.

This behavior can barely be explained by "the enemy light cruiser ship found in the dark night sky has not yet appeared, and the flagship Sichuan must guard the vital transport ship". But personally, I think this is a sign of the timidity of Major General Hashimoto Tōru.

Chaowu: It seems that it wants to approach the battlefield with its flagship Kawauchi. This is a prudent and safe method.

Sunset Fog: Although I was ordered by Hashimoto to accompany Asahi Fog in the pursuit of enemy ships, I turned around after a short chase to the southeast and did not pursue vampires in depth. The explanation of this action in the Japanese Battle Report is: worried about the mines laid by the British army in the southeast, the Japanese army 1 mine clearance team was sent here to clear these British mines, and it has been working continuously all day on the 26th.

If the British attack is not two old destroyers, but a cutting-edge destroyer detachment, then the Japanese ships are deployed in a ring shape, scattered in position, and their actions and operational ideas are not unified, which is likely to be defeated by the British night attack troops in the battle of local superiority. Unfortunately, the British did not send a ship carrying a maritime search radar as its flagship to participate in this battle.

After returning to Singapore, Lieutenant Colonel William Moran, commander of the British army, reported to the top that the Japanese army's night fighting ability was very poor, which had a lot to do with its poor performance in the Great Sea War.

1942, 15 In February, the Singapore fortress surrendered, and some survivors of the Cenit fled to heaven on the last British ship that left the Singapore fortress, but the rest of the crew were forced to enter the Japanese prison camp and spent the remaining four years in the prison camp. Five crew members of Cenit died in the prison camp and did not witness the victory of the war.

They were luckier than the 3 1 sailor captured by the Japanese, because except Richard Henry Tangier, the mine manager, who was detained by the Japanese ship "Snow", the other 30 sailors disappeared after being handed over to the Japanese on the coast of Ndaou Island. The allied forces speculated that Japanese officers and men might secretly kill these allied forces in retaliation for the resistance of the Australian 2/ 18 Battalion.

Richard Henry Danzhe, a naval officer, survived in a Japanese prison camp. After the victory of World War II, she married Alexandra de Ville in June 5438 +0949+10. 1997 65438+February, he died in London.

Today, the sunken ship Cenit is still lying outside Ndaou Port, 20 meters below the seabed of Kapan Island.

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