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Part 17
OPERATIONS OF THE R.I.N.
34. The main work of the Royal Indian Navy in the period under review has been convoy duty. Several Japanese submarines were known to be operating in the Indian Ocean, but no ship in convoy was lost. A number routed independently were sunk, chiefly in the vicinity of the Mozambique Channel, but generally speaking enemy submarines were not numerous. Ships of the R.I.N. made a number of depth charge attacks on possible submarines, but no sinkings were claimed.
On the 11th November H.M.I.S. Bengal, commanded by Lieutenant Wilson, while, on passage from Australia q India convoying the Dutch tanker Ondina, encountered two Japanese armed merchant cruisers south of Cocos Island. Though the enemy was greatly superior in strength, H.M.I.S. Bengal closed at once and fought a most spirited action at close range, sinking the larger of the enemy ships. The Dutch tanker gallantly supported Bengal. This action reflected the greatest credit on the commanders and crews of Bengal and Ondina.
Launches of the R.I.N. and of the Burma navy operated from Chittagong in support of the army's advance in Arakan.
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