Minor naval action between the Japanese and British in WW II
The action of 11 January 1944 was a minor naval action that resulted in the sinking of the light cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy by the British Royal Navy submarine . "Kuma" was being escorted by the destroyer about north-west of Penang, Malaya.
"Tally-Ho" was patrolling from her base at Trincomalee, Ceylon searching for Japanese vessels and on 9 January, sighted the Japanese light cruiser "Kuma" off Penang. "Kuma" was on anti-submarine warfare exercises. She was flanked by destroyers and "Tally-Ho" could not get within range. She was able to plot the Japanese's route in and out of Penang and to take up a suitable position to intercept the cruiser.
On the morning of 11 January, "Tally-Ho"'s commander, Leslie Bennington, spotted a Mitsubishi F1M2 "Pete" floatplane flying westwards along the route on which the cruiser that had been sighted on 9 January was to be expected. It was felt that this heralded the approach of the cruiser. Just before 09:00, the officer of the watch sighted the masts of the cruiser on the port bow. "Kuma" had a destroyer—"Uranami"—as an escort. Whilst north west of Penang, at midday, Bennington fired a seven-torpedo salvo from . "Kumas"'s lookouts soon spotted the torpedoes' wakes, and Captain Sugino shifted his rudder hard over. "Kuma" was hit starboard aft by two torpedoes. Bennington decided to head toward the shallows along the shore. The destroyer "Uranami" counterattacked with 18 depth charges, but all missed the submarine. A fire raged on board the "Kuma" and she soon began to sink by the stern. As she sank, her own depth charges detonated. "Uranami" then picked up the survivors, including Captain Sugino, while 138 crewmen were lost.
After his success, Bennington managed to slip away and returned to Trincomalee.
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