Gangway No.1 Spring 1976 - BlueStarLine.org

The escape
The Japanese attack on Singapore began
on 6 February 1942. In the early hours of
12 February, the 10,800 ton Blue Star ship,
Empire Slar, commanded by Captain
Selwyn N Capon, with the Gorgon,
escorled by H M ships Durban and Kedah,
sailed from the city for Batavia with
evacuated military personnel and civilian
refugees.
Empire Star, already heavily loaded with
RAF equipment and stores, was a crowded
':ihip: according to her Master, she carried
some 2160 people, but this was probably
an under-estimate. This number included
35 children and 160 women, mainly nurses
of the 10th and 13th Australian General
Hospitals.
The convoy had only just cleared the
Durian Strait, just south of Singapore,
when six enemy dive-bombers came
hurtling down. The guns of all the ships
burst into action. On board Empire Star,
RAF gunners supplemented the vessel's
normal armament. One plane was brought
down, and splashed into the sea, disappearing
in a sparkle of red flame and a
pyre of curling black smoke. Another was
hit, and fled with smoke pouring from its
tail.
But the Japanese were determined ;
Empire Star sustained three direct hits,
which killed 14 people and severely
wounded 17 others, amongst them the
Second Officer, J D Golightly. \'