Jan and Apr 1991 - Navy League of Australia

CAPTURE OF MV KRAIT
four barges. One minute after this order had
been received by Goulhurn, her sister
corvette Burme signalled that she had made
contact wi(h a submarine. At 12.10, ten
minutes after placing a boarding party and
prize crew on board the arrested enemy ship,
Goulburn also delected a submarine, about
450 metres distant Leaving Gunnery Officer
N.O. "Paddy" Vidgen. First Lieutenant Jack
Langlcy. Petty Officer Sandy Boxsall. three
armed sailors and the ship's multi-lingual
Chinese steward on the Japanese ship.
Goulburn joined Burme in the submarine
chase. After an hour's fruitless search bv the
two corvettes, during which four depth
charges were dropped. Goulburn broke off
the attack to retrieve her seven crew
members from Shofuku Harm, which was
ordered to proceed Singapore. When Paddv
Vidgen returned to Goulburn in the ship's
After the war comes
the Battle.
24 The Navy, J.nunry-March. 1991
CAPTURE OF MV KRAIT —
continued
whaler he brought two souvenirs — two
brass tubes containing Shofuku Maru's
confiscated ship's papers and the identity
documents of two of the Japanese on board.
including the ship's captain, Saburo Izumi.
Vidgen retained one set of identify papers,
while Goulburn's captain. Lieutenant Basil
Paul, RANR, kepi the rest.
Just on dusk at 6.40 the following
evening (December 12), Goulburn was
again ordered to proceed to the Horsburgh
Light, this time to take over a Japanese
fishing vessel towing six barges, recently
captured by the British destroyer HMS
Encounter. By 8.15 a boarding party from
Goulburn had been lowered in the ship's
whaler to relieve Encounter's party, which
then returned to the destroyer.
By the time Singapore fell on February
15 1942, the tally of fishing vessels in
custody was considerable. For the month of
December alone, there had been many small
craft apprehended by 1st Auxiliary
Minesweeping Group, with nineteen being
captured on December 16 — fourteen by
Bendigo and another five by Dragonfly.
With all this activity going on, it is not
surprising that, more than thirty years later,
incidents have become telescoped and the
identity of Kofuku Maru confused with that
of Shofuku Maru and, occasionally, the
Japanese ship captured on December 12.
Indeed, from the hand-lettered label on the
brass cylinder which held the papers
retained by Goulburn's commander, it
appears that Basil Paul himself (despite the
fact that the papers were clearly marked
Shofoku Maru), believed them to be those of
Kofuku Maru. With Kofuku Maru's
surrender to Singapore authorities
documented as occurring on December 8,
Maryborough's Report of Proceedings
revealing that the ship captured on
December 8 was most likely Kofuku Maru,
Goulburn's Log confirming this capture and
recording that Shofuku Maru was
apprehended and taken as a prize on
December II. Vidgen's confirmation that
papers were retained by him and Paul, and
the internal configuration of the ships being
quite different (the single masted Kofuku
Maru having five holds and the twin-masted
Shofuku Maru only one — situated between
the foremast and the wheelhouse). there is
not the remotest possibility that Shofuku
Maru is Kofuku Maru. Furthermore,
company executives in Tokyo have revealed
that the Tai-O Fishing Company was not
formed until 1949, that it owned no ships
named Kofuku Maru or Shofuku Maru, and
that its vessels have always operated almost
entirely in (he fishing grounds of Taiwan.
It is highly unlikely that anyone would
have had reason to recall the events of
December 1941 and not Krait become a
vessel of such significance — albeit long
after (he event. Indeed, it is worth noting
that such is the accuracy of information
volunteered by Paddy Vidgen and others on
the boarding of Shofuku Maru and the
apprehension of the second ship on
December 12, that it differs only in minor
details from the entries in the Goulburn's
Log. Unfortunately, this information, offered
in good faith and in the sincere belief that
the captured vessel was Kofuku Maru.
relates entirely to Shofuku Maru, a ship
which plays no part in the history of Krait or
HMAS GOULBURN
Operation Jaywick. For almost thirty years,
the widespread and unquestioned acceptance
of the "fact" that Goulburn captured Kofuku
Maru has caused Shofuku Maru and.
occasionally, the unnamed second vessel, to
assume the identity of Kofuku Maru.
It is quite impossible thai Kofuku Maru.
the one time Japanese fishing vessel which
occupies a special place in Australian
wartime history as MV Krait, was captured
by HMAS Goulburn. In the absence of any
evidence to the contrary, it appears that this
honour must pass to the crew of HMAS
Maryborough.
' For the complex documentation and
evidence which indicates that the vessel
captured by Maryborough is Kofuku Maru.
apply lor access to Lynette Silver, The
Origins and Capture of MV Krait (an
academic paper on which this article is
based). Australian War Memorial Canberra.
Compiled by Lynette Silver from wartime
documents researched by Major Tom Hall
and from the evidence of Lieutenant-
Commander N.O. Vidgen. The Heroes of
flimau was released in October 1990. A book
by Silver and Hall, which will document the
full history of Krait, will be published in late
1991.
C LYNETTF RAMSAY SILVER 1M0
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