Operation Crimson
(Operation Crimson)
| date | July 25, 1944 |
|---|---|
| place | Sabang , Sumatra |
| output | Tactical victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 2 aircraft carriers 3 battleships 1 heavy and 6 light cruisers 10 destroyers 2 submarines |
div. coastal batteries 10 fighters |
| losses | |
|
7 fighters |
|
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The Operation Crimson was a sea-based, Allied air raid under British leadership on 25 July 1944, the Japanese occupied Sabang , during the Pacific War in World War II .
prehistory
From February 14 to March 28, 1942, the Japanese took Sumatra during the invasion of Southeast Asia . Sabang with its important industrial plants and oil refineries was occupied by them on March 12th.
The battle
For Operation Crimson, the British Eastern Fleet assembled under Admiral Somerville in the port of Trincomalee , which they left on July 22, 1944 with a course for Sumatra. The fleet included the British aircraft carriers Illustrious and Victorious , the battleships Queen Elizabeth , Valiant , Renown and the French Richelieu , the cruisers Phoebe , Cumberland , Nigeria , Kenya , Ceylon , the New Zealand Gambia , the Dutch Tromp , and the destroyers Relentless , Rotherham , Racehorse , Rocket , Raider , Roebuck , Rapid , Quilliam , Quality and the Australian Quickmatch . Two submarines, the Tantivy and the Templar , were used as sea lifeboats.
At around 8:40 a.m. on July 25, a Japanese unit in Sumatra reported air attacks by nine bombers on factories near Sabang. A Japanese reconnaissance aircraft sighted two battleships and five cruisers about 30 km northwest of Sabang at 9:10 a.m. The Japanese expected an Allied landing; however, no DropShips could be sighted.
A total of 34 Corsairs from the Victorious and the Illustrious had started early in the morning with the task of bombing airfields and industrial plants in the vicinity of Sabang. The four battleships and six cruisers and seven destroyers began with artillery fire from the sea. In the afternoon, a cruiser and three destroyers ran into the port of Sabang and fired volleys and torpedoes at the ships lying there. Japanese coastal batteries received a few light hits on the ships while repelling this attack. A Japanese air attack, carried out with ten planes, was repelled by 13 corsairs. Seven Japanese planes were shot down; the Allies lost two.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945 - Edited by the Library for Contemporary History (Württembergische Landesbibliothek), Stuttgart 2007 . Retrieved May 12, 2013
- ^ Imperial Japanese Navy Submarine, Air Base and Marine Oil Terminal at Sabang, Sumatra (Bob Hackett with Sander Kingsepp) . Retrieved May 12, 2013.