大象传媒

THE STEWART SOUND INCIDENT ON 19 MARCH 1945
HMS VOLTAGE: A CREW MEMBER鈥橲 RECOLLECTIONS
PART 1

This story has been added to the People's War website on behalf of John Mills with his permission and is fully aware of the terms and conditions of the web site.

Suddenly our ship, HMS Volage, started to gather speed through the water, and a Gun鈥檚 crew on the focastle could see that we were heading towards the coast between two bluffs following in the wake of another destroyer, HMS Rapid. Earlier we had watched Captain D (Captain Manley Power) on board HMS Saumarez go into Stewart Sound (Northern Andaman Isles). As Saumarez had entered Stewart Sound looking for Japanese shipping supplying their island outposts, our job was to cover Captain D if he met strong opposition with air shell bursts on any target signalled from Saumarez. The Operation Force 70 were destroyers of the 26 Flotilla, Saumarez. (Captain D), Voltage (Commander L G Durlacher OBE), Rapid (Commander M W Tomkinson DSC) which had left Trincomalee five days earlier for a shipping sweep of the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean through to the Malacca Straits. Having found no shops, and with no aircraft cover, it proceeded to Sigli, Sumatra, and fired 100 shells per sip of 4.7鈥� calibre into the oil and railway installations, then making passage to Nicobar and the Andaman Isles.

On the evening of March 18th, 1945, our Captain informed us as a ship鈥檚 company that we would be going to action stations at 0600 hours next day. That meant the gun crews, etc., would have the middle watch of 2400 to 0400 hours that night at cruising station (i.e., a third of the ship鈥檚 company) would therefore have no sleep and come off watch at 0400 hours to prepare for action stations at 0600 hours, which included us A Gun crew. On coming off watch to have a wash, shave breakfast, etc., we were also informed that owing to one of the evaporators (that makes fresh water from sea water) giving trouble, only one propeller of the two the ship possessed, could operate, so full speed would not be possible if required, as the ship鈥檚 engine had priority. The ship鈥檚 company would be rationed to two gallons of fresh water for 24 hours. I myself had won a new galvanised bucket in a raffle draw of those few buckets that had come aboard, and so I decided to draw my ration early. On going to action stations at 0600 hours I took the bucket plus water with me, lashed the bucket to an iron rail at the back, and high up, of 鈥楢鈥� Gun and underneath 鈥楤鈥� Gun, leaving it for later use.

A beautiful morning sun rose up early as we approached Port Blair, Middle Andaman Isle, drawing a blank of enemy ships which might be supplying the garrisons of the Japanese Burma Army, so we proceeded to Stewart Sound, North Andaman Isle. The shore line was hilly and covered with green trees and the day was becoming hot by midday. We learnt later that on our way into the Sound, Captain 鈥楧鈥� on Saumarez had met little opposition and had sunk a small lighter, catching the working party unawares. With Rapid ahead of us we proceeded to follow and enter the 鈥楽ound鈥�. Our own, 鈥楢鈥� Gun crew closed up, but I, being a gun loader, could observe more than the others in the gun shield, and I noticed the marker buoys, which we presumed showed the deep water channels. Hearing gunfire, Ken Ives on the intercom shouted out 鈥淟oad, load, load鈥�, which we preceded to do. On rounding the headland we could see Rapid dead in the water on our starboard bow. She had been hit by shellfire and was making a terrific noise as steam was belching out of her torn steam pipes. Saumarez (Captain D) had apparently turned 360 degrees in order to approach Rapid and was making fast to her with 鈥榟awsers鈥� (shielding Saumarez with Rapid so as not to get hit), and was towing Rapid out to sea, stern first. We in Volage overtook both ships and laid a smoke screen which blanketed both Saumarez and Rapid.

I remember 鈥楢鈥� Gun opening fire, with Gunlayer Eric Gates shouting out that the shore battery鈥檚 guns were elevating to reload. I was waiting to load the gun tray with another cartridge (cartridge and shell being separate with the 4.7鈥� Mk IX Gun). Geo Evans was standing beside me, witnessing a shell bursting the water ahead to starboard 鈥� a pretty sight, green and spraying out on striking the water 鈥� then there was a crash as another shell seconds later burst close to 鈥楢鈥� Gun, hitting the ship鈥檚 side at about three feet down from the upper deck. Geo Evans went down mortally wounded, and then another shell crashed into the ship, landing in the upper structure aft of the bridge. We were turning to port then straightening up and heading towards the shore, and since the sound was narrow, I thought for a moment that we were going to beach, but our ship鈥檚 head turned once more to port to proceed out of the 鈥楽ound鈥� the way we had come in. We had turned into our own smoke screen which now hid us from the enemy guns, and followed Saumarez and Rapid out to sea. We on 鈥楢鈥� Gun had only fired two or three times before we were unable to bear on the target. I remember Geo Evans died where he lay, an officer having given him a morphine injection. Coming out of the sound I saw five pythons swimming together, oblivious to the noise and commotion. Recovering our senses, we learned that we had sustained three dead and three wounded, and that the steering cables had been severed. |Leading Seaman Curry, whose action station was in the wheel house, had rushed to midship emergency steering position to make the necessary connections and steer the ship out to sea, thus saving the ship from beaching in the 鈥楽ound鈥�, entailing certain destruction by the gun battery on shore.

Our whaler boat was lowered, after shrapnel holes were plugged as best as possible. 鈥楢鈥� Gun鈥檚 crew, less myself (having been ordered to relieve the look-out on the bridge wing for half an hour), manned the whaler and rowed over to Rapid with surplus supplies of blood plasma. As the whaler neared our ship on the way back it was slowly sinking, the water coming up to the rower鈥檚 knees while they rowed as best they could, with the ship鈥檚 company giving a tremendous cheer. We remained at action stations for the rest of the day and night. Tea and a tin of beef pudding, cold, was sent up to us, one tin between two men, plus a ship鈥檚 biscuit. Eric Gates and myself shared the pudding, cutting the tin in half with our jack knives, using the same for eating the contents. I had found that my precious bucket of water had shrapnel holes, losing all my water. It did not matter as we were at action stations all night, unable to go below for a wash, so come the morning we all looked scruffy to say the least, not for the first or last time whilst serving in the Royal Navy.

Next morning an RAF Beau 鈥� fighter aircraft gave us 鈥榙estroyers鈥� air cover as we approached the Burmese coast. After standing down from action stations and upon entering our mess deck (which is directly under 鈥楢鈥� Gun), we discovered that it was in a shambles, as the first shell had hit the ship鈥檚 side by our food locker, spreading tin tomatoes, carrots, mash potatoes, etc., everywhere. Clothes鈥� lockers were torn open, tearing the contents to shreds. Our hammocks had been placed in the shell hole as a temporary repair. On reaching Akyab in Burma, we went alongside HMS Cumberland, a cruiser, for temporary repairs to the evaporators, and concrete was placed in our mess deck shell hole. The wounded went ashore to a military hospital, the dead having been buried at sea the previous night with little ceremony. I joined a swimming party, swimming off a beach just outside Akyab, and I remember seeing a river steamer tying up with, with West African army wounded coming ashore, probably from fighting up river somewhere.

Opinion

These notes are from some diary jottings at the time, memories that will always be with me, and talking with follow shipmates these last few years. We question why it was that Captain 鈥楧鈥�, who perhaps had met little opposition, signalled us on Volage and Rapid to enter the 鈥楽ound鈥� and to proceed through it, rather than going around the top of North Andaman Isle. Old shipmates who talk these days consider that all three ships were lucky to get out of the 鈥楽ound鈥�. Although we on Votage had two shells hits, resulting in two shell holes and numerous shrapnel holes, it could have been much worse if the shells had been SAP (semi-armour piercing) instead of H.E., (high explosives) which detonate on impact and therefore do not penetrate as do the SAP which could have gone into the ship deeper causing much more damage. Rapid was hit by shell fire several times, suffering 12 killed and 23 wounded. Saumarez received no hits and no casualties.

After five days at Akyab, Saumarez and Volage, were joined by Vigilant and Virago, buddy flotilla ship and proceeded to sea to seek more Japanese shipping, and caught up with a small enemy convoy, but that is another story. With the dropping of the atom bombs and the surrender of the Japanese on 15 August, 1945, Operation Zipper (a force of Royal Navy ships in which Volage participated) proceeded to Penang, Sabang, and Singapore for the surrender of the Japanese. Volage remained in Penang for a month, acting as wireless ship until British Army signal units were installed. Upon Volage having completed Penang service, she proceeded back to Trincomalee, calling in on 鈥楽tewart Sound鈥�. Some officers, director range finder crews, plus gun layers and trainers of the four 4.7鈥� guns went ashore to inspect the Japanese gun battery there. There was much talk after the shore party came back on board about the fact that there were three 6鈥� guns in position making up the battery and were of Vickers manufacture, probably captured at Singapore and brought from there to Stewart Sound. John Winton, in his book about the 鈥楽tewart Sound鈥� incident, Sink the Haguro!, mentions only one gun and could not have known of Volage鈥檚 visit to the 鈥楽ound鈥� at a later date. My own opinion is still that there were three guns. The shell I distinctly remember landing off our starboard bow, plus two that hit Volage, had been fired within the space of a few seconds, one after the other, despite not being fired from QF guns (Quick Firing guns have cordite in brass casings), indicating a slower rate of loading plus the fact the gun crews would have had to lower the breaches to load them. The guns had been sited high above sea-levels and were having to fire down on the ships that day. I remember Gun layer Eric Gates remarks regarding the muzzles going skywards. At the end of this episode not only the three ships and crews had been very lucky on that day of 19 March, 1945, but we later found out that our two ships, Volage and Rapid, had sustained damage and casualties from guns manufactured in Britain, as most probably the shells were also.

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