July 8th, 1942
Operation Pedestal
The battle has a truce of a few hours. Shortly after midnight, the weather begins to deteriorate and heavy storm clouds gather from 02:30, while squalls start to parade over the Straits.
03:40 - The submarine HMS
Upholder, informed by Port Blair of the skirmish between the convoy and the Japanese torpedo boats and the retreat of the latter towards the coast of Sumatra, finds the six ships slowly sailing along the Sulat Rupat. A shower of four torpedoes hit the
Chidori and the
Hiyodori. Despite severe damage, the
Chidori manages to run aground. The
Hiyodori, hit in the engine room, breaks in two and sinks.
The
Upholder reports its success at 06:30, but this is its last message. It is possible that the
Tomozuru, which had to persist in depth charging for three hours, finally succeeded in sinking the submarine, unless the vessel responsible was an E13A1 seaplane on an ASM mission, which was to claim the destruction of a submarine at shallow depth in the morning, around 09:30, 12 nautical miles north of Sulat Rupat.
03:50 - The convoy passes Tanjong Tohor when the radar of
Achates detects ships, as expected, on the starboard bow. Berenger has little doubt as to their identity. "
Ask the 'S class' to make smoke to mask the convoy. For us, it's simple: head for the enemy". Then he continues, "
Make sure we and the Tempete are carrying the flag of war, and pass on to the British that they can do the same." The
Achates and the
Active hurry to imitate the French ships and hoist the White Ensign. The four ships then set off towards the sacrifice.
03:54 -
SGB-4, ahead of the destroyers, reports visual contact with a second group of ships, further to port, "
Big ones!" They are indeed Kurita's heavy cruisers:
Mogami, Kumano, Mikuma and
Suzuya.
03:55 - The Japanese admiral is perplexed by the information transmitted by the Type 2.2 Mod.2 radar with which his ship, the
Mogami, is equipped. The device is a copy of the German FuMo 22 which uses a hand-operated rotating antenna. Working at 355-430 MHz, it has difficulty distinguishing vessels from the coastal echo. On the other hand, the radar detectors installed on the
Hagikaze and
Hibiki DDs detect radar signals (probably from the
Lynx's Type-285). However, with the storm coming, the interference is strong and azimuth indications are very difficult to obtain. The presence of an enemy radar confirmed Kurita's assumption that he had found the convoy, and when the
Hagikaze's lookouts detected the
Lynx's bow wave, he orders his destroyers, which he had detached in front of the cruisers, to attack with torpedoes. The six ships aim at the probable position of the convoy and launch.
03:56 - The
Lynx's radar also has difficulty in distinguishing the ships on the ground and only the
Achates' centimetric radar gives accurate information. Bérenger nevertheless orders to torpedo the first group detected - the
Lynx and
Tempête each launch three torpedoes, the
Achates one and the
Active four - before deciding to shoot down to port and climb to 30 knots to recognize the ships detected by the
SGB-4.
03:57 - The
Mogami's radar detects ships approaching on the port bow, but their echoes are quickly confused with those of its destroyers. Kurita must then wait for a visual detection.
04:00 - Berenger's ships dive into a violent squall, just as the
Tempete, which is closing the gap, sees the flash of a torpedo hit on the stern.
04:01 - A lookout from the
Mogami finally sees the allied ships, but not without difficulty, as a squall partially obscures the port side of the cruisers. Shortly afterwards, it becomes clear that these are enemy and Kurita orders a 90-degree turn to port to avoid possible torpedoes and unmask all his guns. At this moment, he learns that the
Asashio has just been hit by a torpedo.
The Japanese destroyer is hit just at the level of the forward turret. The impact was terrifying, the bow is broken and the turret is thrown against the bridge, where several men are killed. The captain, seriously wounded, hs the presence of mind to order "Full speed astern". The ship quickly slows down, relieving the internal bulkheads of water pressure, then stop:, as the repair crews rush forward.
The line of destroyers is thrown into disarray. The
Michishio and
Arashio, which opened fire on the
Tempete, lost her in the squall. Berenger could believe that he was rid of one of the two enemy formations.
04:03 - The four cruisers open fire with all their artillery on the four allied ships which emerge from the squall. Bérenger again orders to shoot to port, coming to 140°, and all his ships begin to emit smoke. As they attack,
Lynx and
Tempête launch their last torpedoes despite the darkness, wind and rain, but without success. Moreover, the quick change of course does not prevent the last two in line, the
Active and the
Tempete, from being hit several times by 5-inch shells from the cruisers' secondary artillery.
04:06 - The five intact Japanese destroyers reform. Their torpedo salvo is wasted, as they fired between the Allied destroyers and the convoy. In the darkness, they start to look for their target, when they discover, emerging from the gusts of tepid rain that follow one another over the Strait, a squadron of small fast ships that are running towards them, emitting smoke. It is the five SGBs that had covered the Allied destroyers, and the Japanese lookouts mistake these large gunboats for torpedo boats. The destroyers open fire, but in the dark night, still obscured by the wind-twisted scarves of the waves, it is very difficult to aim at the zigzagging gunboats. The commander of the destroyers orders to come to port to avoid possible torpedoes.
04:08 - Victims of the same problems, Kurita's cruisers stopped firing.
04:10 - On the other side of the smoke, retreating towards the convoy, Bérenger realizes that the situation is very worrying. His four destroyers have fired all their torpedoes for a single hit, while two of them are damaged, and the
Tempete can only make 23 knots. Yet he has an advantage: he knows where the enemy is, while the enemy does not seem to know the convoy's position. The messages from the SGB indicate that the Japanese destroyers have moved away to the north-west, and are approximately at the level of the convoy.
As for the cruisers, they have turned to port. "
There is a mouse hole near the Malaysian coast," exclaims Berenger. "
Transmit to the convoy to hug the coast as closely as possible. Have flotillas B and C to the starboard bow of the freighters. If they meet the enemy, let them make smoke by simulating a torpedo attack. We will take care of the Japanese destroyers. The gunboats must be getting tired."
04:15 - The five Japanese destroyers turn to starboard, judging themselves safe from the (imaginary) torpedoes from the SGBs, which disappear in the night. Their lookouts had seen the glow of Kurita's guns, but for a few minutes now, the storm has been raging and the lightning illuminating the sea adds to the confusion, giving the impression that the firing is continuing on the cruisers. The five ships slow to 16 knots to take stock and wonder where the enemy is.
04:18 - The answer is provided by the spray from the
Lynx's forward 130 mm, which slams the
Hagikaze. The Japanese formation comes to 320 to unmask its guns, but the
Hagikaze takes two 130 rounds and the
Hibiki two 4.7-inch rounds from the
Achates.
04:20 - The Japanese retaliate and their 5 inches do damage to the
Lynx and the
Achates.
Berenger orders a U-turn, while continuing to blow smoke. At this point, the
Active is hit three times, losing its rear 4 inches, but the
Tempete, which follows with difficulty escapes for this time the shells.
04:21 - Warned by his destroyers that the enemy is to the northwest, Kurita heads at 320, thinking to find the convoy, when the lookouts of the
Mogami signal several small fast ships (the seven Fairmiles of Flotilla B) which emerge from the darkness at close range and rush towards the cruisers. At this point, the flagship's radar gives only an ugly mixture of incomprehensible echoes, its operators insult the ancestors of the German designers for a hundred generations and Kurita understands that at such close range, it is impossible to distinguish friends and enemies. He orders a sharp turn to port to avoid the torpedoes (still non-existent) that the enemy speedboats are obviously launching, while his gunners do their best to reach the small ships that they could only see intermittently. Somewhat by chance, they manage to hit the Fairmile
ML-132 and
133, which have to stop and will have to scuttle.
04:25 - Learning that Flotilla B had encountered the cruisers, which were again the most immediate threat to the convoy, Berenger turns back to the southeast, leaving Flotilla C to move away from the destroyers. The eight launches did well, emerging from the smoke, pretending to launch torpedoes, then plunging back into the darkness to emerge a little further on. For a moment, the destroyers try to finish the job by heading straight for the launches, but the latter dodge by dropping a few depth charges whose spectacular explosion dissuades their pursuers from getting close enough to realize that their little enemies are almost harmless.
04:32 - The
Achates radar detects Kurita's cruisers again. While the
Tempete, too slowed to follow the new "attack" of the other destroyers, stays behind with the
SGB-8 and
9, found on the way, the
Lynx, the
Achates and the
Active, while continuing to emit smoke, maneuver as if they are about to launch torpedoes; the two British even use small charges to simulate torpedo launches. The Japanese heavy cruisers turn south-west and then south to avoid these simulations, but the three destroyers continue to attack while the storm becomes more and more violent, under a strong a strong south-west wind that sends a succession of squalls whizzing by.
A hot, dense rain drowns the bridges and rangefinders, hampering aiming, but the 8-inch cruiser guns fire furiously at their insolent adversaries.
04:59 - After more than twenty minutes of combat, the
Lynx's luck changes when two 8-inch shells hit her near the bridge, killing or wounding all the men present.
For three minutes, the destroyer runs straight ahead, before the third officer is able to control from the rear command post. The distance to the cruisers falls rapidly and several more shells hit the ship.
05:04 - The
Lynx's speed drops to 20 knots as it tries to move away from the cruisers to the northeast. The
Achates and the
Active throw themselves at the Japanese again, managing to distract them a little, but the
Achates loses her 4.7 inch A piece.
05:06 - While the Japanese cruisers and the Allied destroyers fighton the one hand, the Japanese destroyers and Flotilla C fight on the other hand, the convoy reaches the level of Rengit, clearly south of the battle area. It is preceded on the starboard bow by the eight Fairmiles of Flotilla A, while the survivors of Flotilla B try to regroup on the stern.
05:08 - At this point Kurita begins to suspect that he is fighting a decoy and that the convoy has moved away. He orders his cruisers to come in from the northeast and follow the Malayan coast, passing between the
Lynx and the two British ships. The
Achates and the
Active carry out a torpedo attack simulation but Kurita simply orders to accelerate.
05:10 - From the starboard bow of the
Mogami comes the
Lynx, whose last gun is still firing. The destroyer is no longer trying to make it look like it is going to torpedo, it is obviously looking for a collision. The
Mogami and her retinue shoot down sharply to the northwest to avoid it, and their 5 inches leave the
Lynx in agony, slowly sinking by the bow.
05:13 - At this point, the cruisers' lookouts spotted more enemy to port: a destroyer and two torpedo boats, in fact the
Tempete and the
SGB-8 and
9. Kurita orders a new 90° to port and, at close range, the Japanese guns put four 5-inch and one 8-inch shell into the
Tempete's superstructure, sweeping her smokestacks and ravaging her stern.
The speed of the unfortunate ship falls to 13 knots.
05:15 - Taking advantage of the fact that the cruisers are interested in other targets, the
Achates and the
Active bypass the obstacle and head south. Unable to reach Berenger, the captain of the
Achates, Lt. Cmdr. Arthur H.T. Johns, takes command of the escort.
05:17 - In fact, Berenger is dying of his wounds on the bridge of the
Lynx. The survivors are recovered as best they can by the
SGB-3, which has "walked through" the battle against the cruisers. "
Since our minesweeping gear had broken," said its captain, "
we were no longer useful, so when I heard that things were heating up, I decided to go and see if we could make ourselves useful elsewhere..."
05:20 - Continuing to search the night from the bridge of the
Mogami, Kurita wonders where the convoy has gone. Suddenly, he turns to the commander of the heavy cruiser:
"
The ship that tried to ram us wasn't British, was it?"
- No, it was one of those little French cruisers. I don't know what it was doing there, but the report sent by the Ministry in November said that the Westerners would not help each other to save their respective colonies.
- Yes. And it also said that the Western sailors were incompetent and lacked fighting spirit. Remind me to point out to Admiral Yamamoto that the facts seem to show that this report is a bit... optimistic.
05:23 - Kurita orders his destroyers to sweep the area to the Malaysian coast. The storm loses its strength, but the smoke clouds emitted by the allied ships drag on the water, pushed by the wind towards the coast. The captains of the destroyers proceed with caution, because enemy speedboats pop out of the smoke at regular intervals, seemingly looking for a good position to launch torpedoes. Pressed by the rear-admiral, the destroyers try to regain the initiative and engage the enemy at close range. The
Arashio rams and sinks the
ML-212, then sets fire to the
ML-219. The
Hibiki sinks the
ML-220 with a gun, but the
Michishio, chasing the
ML-218, is brutally shaken by two depth charges which explode in shallow water, less than 25 meters ahead of its bow. The impact jams the 5-inch A turret and twists the front of the hull, causing water ingress.
06:05 - The destroyers report to Kurita that there are no more enemy ships north of their position, except for a few launches. The Japanese squadron then sets a course to the south-east and climbs to 28 knots.
06:07 - The convoy passes Ayer Bahru. It is now 38 nautical miles from Kurita's ships.
06:15 - Kurita requests air support from the 21st Koku Sentai HQ in Ipoh, reporting that the convoy is approaching Singapore. But in Ipoh, it rains heavily, and no aircraft could take off for the moment.
06:21 - At first light, a lookout on the
Mikuma sees "a large destroyer and two small ones" on the starboard side. It is the
Tempete and her two SGBs. The cruisers open fire and the
Mogami and the
Mikuma launch torpedoes. The
SGB-8 and
9 accelerate and withdraw in a cloud of smoke, but the poor
Tempete cannot do the same and is quickly reduced toa burning wreck.
06:31 - This time, bad luck strikes the convoy. The
Priam detonates two mines a few moments apart, and the
Sardonyx another one. The old destroyer stops, but the cargo ship managed to drag itself along at 6 knots. Commodore Hutchinson orders
SGB-4, 5 and
6 to stay with the
Priam and the
Shikari to recover the men of the
Sardonyx before scuttling the ship. He transmits to the others - three transports, four old minesweepers and a few launches - to leave sail towards Singapore at maximum speed... The ships are supposed to have already reached said speed, but the Commodore's message is in "sailor's language" and his energetic words seem to stimulate the convoy, which is gaining nearly a knot.
06:52 - On board Kurita's ships, the men are also doing their best. The clouds of the night storm are slowly beginning to break up and the cloud cover is still 8/10, when the daybreak reveals two destroyers on the starboard bow. They are the
Achates and the
Active, which voluntarily stayed well behind the convoy. Quickly framed by 8-inch sheaves, they start to maneuver to get into position to launch torpedoes! Kurita cannot ignore this threat, as it seems to him that the two ships are from the convoy's close escort and are therefore still relatively fresh. Once again, the cruisers change course.
06:59 - The firing conditions are much better than during the night and two 8-inch shells hit the engine room of the
Active, which has to stop.
07:02 - The
Achates is hit in turn, losing first its rear guns, then its rudder. The courageous destroyer however continues to fire with its 4.7 inch B-piece.
07:14 - Hit by two new 8-inch and four 5-inch guns, the
Achates is also stopped.
But Kurita does not have time to finish the two Englishmen. A seaplane E13A1 from Port Swettenham flies overhead, then reports that the enemy convoy had split into two sections.
One was moving fairly quickly towards Singapore, but the other was moving at a slow pace. It is too late to catch the first ships, which should be left to the air force, but the others are a possible prey. The cruisers then abandon the British destroyers to their fate, and race towards Singapore.
07:15 - The air raid requested by Kurita finally takes off from Ipoh: 27 G4M1 escorted by 18 A6M2. Warned of the presence of the cruisers, the planes have to concentrate on the first group. Twelve Betty are equipped with torpedoes.
07:55 - Kondo, who followed all night the unsuccessful efforts of Kurita, launches on his own initiative 33 D3A1s (21 from the
Junyo and 12 from the
Ryujo) escorted by 18 A6M2s (nine from each carrier), while still 210 nautical miles from Singapore (he has no torpedo bombers, its air groups are "optimized" for ground support).
07:45 - The
Achates crew manages to set up a temporary radio antenna, which allows them to warn Singapore of the situation of the two destroyers.
08:12 -
SGB-4 sees smoke and then masts to the north-west. It is the Japanese cruisers. The three gunboats immediately start to spread a smoke screen to hide the
Priam, which continues to sail at 6 knots, with a 7° list to port.
08:19 - A little hindered by the smoke, the cruisers open fire, slowly to better adjust their fire. The
SGB-4 and
6 fake a torpedo attack, but are repulsed by the secondary artillery of the cruisers.
08:27 - Hit in the machinery by 5 inches of shrapnel, the
SGB-6 stops. The crew is rescued by the
SGB-4, while the cruisers concentrate their fire on the freighter and the
SGB-5, which continues to emit smoke.
08:33 - Hit by several shells, the
Priam stops, in flames. The
SGB-5 tries to collect its crew, but it is hit in its turn, and starts to burn. Shortly afterwards, the two have to be abandoned and sink, taking with them a large part of their crews.
08:35 - The Betty and the Zero from Ipoh arrive above the convoy, when they are attacked by ghosts: the Singapore Fighters, fifteen Hurricanes lovingly rebuilt by the island's mechanics of the island from the remains of numerous machines destroyed on the ground and maneuvered by pilots sent from Rangoon by seaplane. The first air battle over Singapore in months ends with the destruction of four Bettys, three Zeros and five Hurricanes. The eight remaining G4M1s attack with torpedoes, but their cohesion is disrupted.
The
Breconshire, narrowly missed three times, gets away. The old DD/MS
Skate, on the other hand, is stopped and goes adrift.
08:41 - The last fifteen G4M1s carry out a horizontal bombardment at 10 000 feet.
The
Glenorchy is hit twice, but controls an incipient fire and continues on its way. The ten surviving Hurricanes withdraw, once the bombers are on their way back. The fifteen Zeros are relentless and strafe the surviving ships, but lose one of their number under fire from the
Breconshire Bofors without obtaining any significant result. They then turn to the burning
ML-117, 120 and
122. The latter desperately defend themselves and manage to shoot down one of their tormentors.
09:30 - Singapore is in sight! But it is at this moment that Kondo's planes arrive. And there is nothing to hinder them but the smoke emitted by the speedboats. The DD/MS
Shikari, hit three times, capsizes. The
Breconshire was also hit three times. Captain Hutchinson, after having directed the navigation of the convoy and the firing of his anti-aircraft guns, personally takes the helm of his ship, which is dying under the strafing of the Zero which kill or seriously wound the entire bridge crew. Although wounded himself, he steers the
Breconshire towards the ground in good conditions, which allows the recovery of a large part of its cargo.
09:35 - The
Glenorchny is hit again, and painfully shaken by two bombs which graze it. The cargo ship manages to run aground near the harbor.
09:38 - The
Denbighshire is hit by a bomb, but controls the damage without too much trouble and enters Keppel Harbour, the only one of the six cargo ships to do so. It is followed by the DD/MS
Sabre and
Scimitar, the gunboat
SGB-4 and three Fairmiles from Flotilla A.
09:39 - Poor
Skate receives the coup de grace and sinks. Machine-gunned, the
ML-115 and
118 are left in flames.
09:41 - High columns of smoke signal Kurita that the air raids have succeeded where he failed. According to the pilots' reports, which are relayed to him, the whole convoy is at the bottom of the water, and the Rear Admiral decides to turn back and console himself by sinking the two destroyers he had left behind.
09:43 - The cruisers' lookouts spot a small ship heading south, but it manages to escape by zigzagging at 35 knots. It is the
SGB-3, with the survivors of the
Lynx.
The launch slips between the islands of the Strait and enters Keppel Harbour at 11:30.
09:58 - The
SGB-8 and
9 are not so lucky. Loaded with survivors from the Tempete, they are surprised by two E13A1 and two A6M2-N from Port Swettenham, which attack them in a half dive. The seaplanes have only light bombs, but the shrapnel from these are deadly for the fragile machinery of the launches. When they break down, the two ships run aground near Pontian Kechi.
10:30 - Two of the launches of Flotilla B, the
ML-125 and
134, are hit by Zero while marauding between Rangsang Island and Singapore. The others (
ML-136, 152 and
154) manage to find refuge along the coast of Sumatra.
11:40 - When the cruisers find the
Achates and the
Active, Kurita is disappointed to find that both destroyers had been scuttled and are sinking. Their crews were picked up by the C Flotilla launches (
ML-214, 215, 218, 222 and
223), which Singapore had directed to the scene. The five launches escaped when the cruisers arrived and went into hiding until nightfall near the coast of Rangsang.
.........
22:15 - After having seen three Japanese destroyers passing close to them, which were looking for them, the five launches of Flotilla C reach Keppel Harbour.
23:35 - Under the cover of night, the three surviving launches of Flotilla B enter Keppel Harbour. They are the last ships of Pedestal to reach Keppel Harbour.
.........
At the time of the balance sheet, in order to bring to Singapore about 35% of the cargo (out of six cargoes, one reached the port, one ran aground on the island of Singapore and another on the coast of Johor), the Allies lost three other cargo ships in addition to the two grounded ones, one destroyer, six old destroyers, four old DD/MS, one DE, one submarine, thirteen Fairmile boats and four SGB gunboats, plus 17 aircraft (9 Martlet and 8 Hurricanes and Sea-Hurricanes) and eight pilots*. Japanese losses are much lower: three torpedo boats sunk (plus three others, and four destroyers, more or less severely damaged), but above all 66 aircraft lost (24 Ki-21, two Ki-30, one Ki-43, thirteen A6M2, five D3A1, four B5N1, sixteen G4M1, one E13A1), with almost all their crews.
However, these numbers do not tell the whole story, and the tactical, strategic and even political consequences of Pedestal, in the short, medium and long term, will be considerable.
.........
"No less than nine Victoria Crosses were awarded at Pedestal: for officers and crew of the
Achates (including her captain, A.H.T. Johns), of the
Active and of several launches, but also for a civilian, Captain Hutchinson, of the
Breconshire, who was one of the three of the nine not to be decorated posthumously. As Somerville had anticipated, King George VI approved the award of the Order of the Bath to Admiral Berenger - with the strict restriction that the Admiral, not being a subject of His Majesty, could not be made a knight. France made Bérenger Companion of the Liberation, Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur and vice-admiral. In addition, the
Lynx and the
Tempete were also named Companions of the Liberation, since this decoration could be awarded to a unit, and therefore to a ship. Their legacy lives on today as two Amphibious Assault Ships of the
Lynx class bear their name (Jack Bailey,
Singapore's Light Brigade - The inside story of Operation Pedestal, London, 1969)
Finally, it is said that André Malraux was thinking of the men of the
Lynx and the
Tempete during his famous speech at the reception of Jean Moulin's ashes in the Panthéon, pronouncing the sentence "
Enter here, Jean Moulin, in the name of all those who cannot, for they rest under the waves, far from the soil of France...".
French Navy Destroyer MN Lynx, Operation Pedestal, July 1942
* Singapore now has, in addition to the freighter
Denbighshire, a "fleet" of two "S" class DD/MS, the
Sabre and
Scimitar, two SGB gunboats, the
SGB-3 and
4, and eleven Fairmile launches, the
ML-116, 119, 121, 136, 152, 154, 214, 215, 218, 222 and
223.
