HMAS Kuttabul

[Tiger-pie]

A small ceremony was held at Rookwood Cemetary on Friday the 1st of June in rememberance of the sailors killed in Kuttabul.

On 1 June 1942 three Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney Harbour just after midnight. The Japanese submarine M24 fired two torpedos at USS Chicago. They missed their target but one torpedo detonated under the converted ferry Kuttabul, then used for sailors accommodation at Garden Island. The old ferry was badly damaged and began sinking.

Twenty-one men on board Kuttabul died. Nineteen were Australian and two were from the Royal Navy.

Of the three midget submarines that attacked that night, two were destroyed. The bodies of four Japanese submariners were recovered. They were given funerals with full military honours and their bodies were cremated.

The fate of M24 remained a mystery until late last year when a group of recreational divers located the submarine around 5km off Bungan Head, Sydney. It is presumed the remains of the submarine's two crew members are contained in the wreck.

The name HMAS Kuttabul was passed on to the Navy base at Potts Point on 1-Jan-43, which administers Garden Island Dockyard, where the ill-fated ferry was berthed. The current base was built in the 1960's.

Regards;

Johnsy

Edited June 4, 2007 by Tiger-pie

[Tiger-pie]

Kuttabul underway.

[Tiger-pie]

Kuttabul after the attack by Jap subs.

[Tiger-pie]

Headstones of those lost.

They have no grave but the cruel sea,

No flowers at their head,

A rusting hulk is their tombstone,

Afast the ocean bed.

[Tiger-pie]

Mr Neil Roberts is the known surviving member of the Kuttabul. Fellow survivor Neil Roberts, who served in the RAN 1941-46, had recently joined the Kuttabul from his initial training at HMAS Cerberus and was awaiting a draft to the corvette HMAS Dubbo. He was an Ordinary Seaman and only 18 years old at the time.

"I was on sentry duty at Kuttabul Steps for the First Watch and when my relief had not arrived at midnight I ran onto the wooden ferry Kuttabul and up to the top deck to wake him up. I then ran back to my sentry post."

"When my relief arrived he apologized for being late as he had not been given a shake. To save me the time of making up my own hammock below decks he offered me his hammock on the top deck."

ORD Seaman Roberts had only just got into the hammock when at 0030 the torpedo detonated against the retaining wall at Garden Island where HMAS Kuttabul was tied up alongside. The enemy torpedo had not only passed under its target the USS Chicago but also the Dutch Submarine K-9 and the Kuttabul.

The accommodation ship was lifted by a huge wave caused by the explosion and sank by the stern.

The action of accepting his shipmate's hammock on the top deck probably saved Neil's life.

[JimZ]

Hey tiger,

Any pics of the midget submarines themselves or similar ones. Curious to see what these looked like and get an idea of dimensions etc...

Jim

[Tiger-pie]

Sorry Jim, I don't really have any decent shots. I thought that I had taken a few at the Australian War Memorial, but the only one I could find was looking up into the guts of it when it was blown up. See this thread by Bob Lyons on the mini-subs.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18551

Regards;

Johnsy

Edited June 8, 2007 by Tiger-pie

[Herr General]

Interesting to read that the Japanese soldiers received a military funeral. Was that common?

[Tiger-pie]

Interesting to read that the Japanese soldiers received a military funeral. Was that common?

Fair dinkum, I should be slapping myself on the forehead!! There is a fecking great display in the main foyer of Kuttabul of original and copied photos and documents, including a cover of a Japanese newspaper covering the funeral for the sailors. I will get some photos in the near future. Because they died on our soil it was considered the honourable thing to do.

Regards;

Johnsy

[Greg]

My grandfather, Joseph Lee, was is the Dockyard Police, Garden Island (RAN base Sydney) and billetted on the HMAS Kuttabul at the time of the Japanese midget submarine attack. He was on duty at garden Island during the attack but was actually supposed to be off duty and asleep on the Kuttabul. He always claimed to have swapped duties with another man who was a bit under the weather - without official permission. That man died in the explosion. There was difficulty identifying the bodies and there was one body not immediately identified at all. Because Constable Lee was supposed to have been on board, they assumed the body was his. Grandma still tells of her horror the following day when two Naval officers came to her door and told her that her husband was dead - followed about three hours later by a very much alive and cheeky Joseph Lee !!!

Here are some photos of the damaged submarines.