Japanese battleship Ise
Despite the expensive reconstruction, the ship was considered obsolete by the eve of the Pacific War, and did not see significant action in the early years of the war. Following the loss of most of the IJN's large aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway in mid-1942, she was rebuilt with a flight deck replacing the rear pair of gun turrets to give her the ability to operate an air group of floatplanes; lack of aircraft and qualified pilots meant that "Ise" never actually operated her aircraft in combat. She participated in the Battle of Cape Engaño in late 1944, where she decoyed the American carrier fleet supporting the invasion of Leyte away from the landing beaches. Afterwards the ship was transferred to Southeast Asia; in early 1945 "Ise" participated in Operation Kita, where she transported petrol and other strategic materials to Japan. The ship was then reduced to reserve until she was sunk during American airstrikes in July. After the war "Ise" was scrapped in 1946–1947.
Irene incident
The "Irene" was then burning well so additional vessels were sent for. Most of the "Irenes" 258 passengers were saved though fourteen were never seen again. All the survivors were taken on board the submarines and later transferred to the Admiralty S Class destroyer HMS "Stormcloud", the cruiser and the minesweeper HMS "Magnolia", which also assisted in putting out the fire on the ship. The British put out the fire but because they had sprayed so much water into the vessel she eventually capsized and sank the following day. Several men received decorations for their conduct in rescuing survivors, including Lieutenant Halahan who received the Distinguished Service Cross. The Hong Kong police managed to filter out several of the pirates who tried to blend in with their hostages during the rescue and seven more were taken by the "L5". Jones said that they found the pirates naked in a lifeboat and crying so they were assumed to be civilians and taken aboard in blankets. It was a few days later when the crew of "L5" were informed that the seven men they picked up were responsible for the hijacking.