Operation Jaywick - The Attack

The Attack

In mid-1943, the Krait travelled from a training camp at Broken Bay, New South Wales to Thursday Island. Aboard was a complement from Z Special Unit of three British and eleven Australian personnel, comprising:

• Major Ivan Lyon (Mission Commander)
• Lieutenant Hubert Edward Carse (Krait's Captain)
• Lieutenant Donald Montague Noel Davidson
• Lieutenant Robert Charles Page
• Corporal Andrew Anthony Crilley
• Corporal R.G. Morris
• Leading Seaman Kevin Patrick Cain
• Leading Stoker James Patrick McDowell
• Leading Telegraphist Horace Stewart Young
• Able Seaman Walter Gordon Falls
• Able Seaman Mostyn Berryman
• Able Seaman Frederick Walter Lota Marsh
• Able Seaman Arthur Walter Jones
• Able Seaman Andrew William George Huston

On 13 August 1943, the Krait left Thursday Island for the U.S. Naval Base at Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, where it was refuelled and repairs were undertaken.

On 2 September 1943, the Krait left Exmouth Gulf and departed for Singapore. The team's safety depended on maintaining the disguise of a local fishing boat. The men stained their skin brown with dye to appear more Asiatic and were meticulous in what sort of rubbish they threw overboard, lest a trail of European garbage arouse suspicion. After a relatively uneventful voyage, the Krait arrived off Singapore on September 24. That night, six men left the boat and paddled 50 kilometres (31 mi) to establish a forward base in a cave on a small island near the harbour. On the night of 26 September 1943, they paddled into the harbour and placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships before returning to their hiding spot.

In the resulting explosions, the limpet mines sank or seriously damaged seven Japanese ships, comprising over 39,000 tons between them. The commandos waited until the commotion over the attack had subsided and then returned to the Krait, which they reached on 2 October. Their return to Australia was mostly uneventful, except for a tense incident in the Lombok Strait when the ship was closely approached by a Japanese patrol boat; however the Krait was not challenged. On October 19, the ship and crew arrived safely back at Exmouth Gulf.