The Battle of the Malacca Strait, or referred to in Japanese sources as the “Battle off Penang” (ペナン沖海戦), was a naval battle that resulted from the British search-and-destroy operation in May 1945, called Operation Dukedom, that resulted in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Haguro.
In May 1945, amidst the celebration of the end of World War II, one final naval drama was unfolding in the warm, uncertain waters of the Malacca Straits. The Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro—one of the last of its kind still afloat—was on a desperate mission: aiming to evacuate troops from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Singapore, escorted only by the destroyer Kamikaze. British forces, fresh from victories in Europe, have to now turn their attention back to Southeast Asia’s monsoon-laced waters for one last pursuit.
British intelligence had caught wind of Japanese naval movements and launched two overlapping operations. The first operation was codenamed Operation MITRE, which aimed to carry out an air and sea sweep of the Malacca Strait and the South Andaman Sea for Japanese auxiliary vessels. It was to be conducted jointly by vessels under Admiral Walker’s command and RAF Liberator bombers from 222 Group. The second operation, codenamed Operation DUKEDOM, had a more focused aim: to hunt and destroy the Haguro.
On May 9th, after two British submarines confirmed a sighting of a cruiser and destroyer headed northwest in the Malacca Strait, the British command sprang into action.
In brief, Force 61 was made up of aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers—a powerful mix of both firepower and mobility. But the key players would turn out to be the destroyers of the 26th Flotilla: Saumarez, Venus, Virago, Vigilant, and Verulam. These were the ships that would ultimately make contact.
The chase reached a turning point on May 15th. Unaware they were being closely tracked, Haguro and Kamikaze waited off the coast near Penang before attempting a night passage toward the Andamans. At the same time, British aircraft from the escort carriers launched airstrikes, albeit ineffective.
Late that night, the British destroyers took over the pursuit. Moving swiftly and in near darkness, they executed a carefully coordinated maneuver to trap the Japanese ships in the narrow confines of the strait. Just after midnight, Venus picked up the Haguro on radar and the flotilla moved in for the attack.
The Haguro, unaware of the full scale of the trap, adjusted course—ironically, turning directly into the path of the destroyers! At 1:05 a.m., British ships opened fire. What followed was a relentless assault and the night sky soon lit up. The destroyer Saumarez was hit, its funnel and boiler room damaged, but it remained in the fight. The other ships closed in too, launching torpedoes in rapid succession.
By 2:06 a.m., less than an hour after the first shots were fired, the end was here; Haguro was gone, sunk by six torpedo hits and a hail of gunfire. Over 900 Japanese sailors perished, including Vice-Admiral Hashimoto and Rear-Admiral Sugiura. The Kamikaze, though damaged, managed to escape and later returned to rescue survivors—320 men from the doomed cruiser.
The British destroyers, having just fought the last major surface gun-and-torpedo battle of the Second World War, regrouped and sailed back to join the rest of the fleet. Only one of their own had been seriously damaged, but the mission was complete: the Haguro was gone, and with it, one of the last shadows of Japanese naval power in Southeast Asia had disappeared beneath the waves.
In 2003, the wreck was discovered sitting upright and was subsequently partially explored by a group of specialised shipwreck divers aboard MV Empress. In 2010 another diving expedition, also aboard MV Empress, surveyed the wreck in detail. However, in 2014, the wreck was ravaged by illegal salvagers for scrap metal. While that concludes the physical end of Haguro and the Battle of the Malacca Strait, the stories we tell (and remember) of our history helps to ensure our past lives on.
If you are interested in ship archives that date back to the 19th century and would love to help out in reconstructing the historical rainfall patterns of Southeast Asia, do check out Monsoon Voyages! At time of writing, we have uploaded a second batch of data archives and would greatly appreciate any help. Thank you for reading! Do leave us a comment for feedback and/or articles you would like to see next.
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