SURVIVOR'S STORY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 12, 5 October 1943, Page 3

SURVIVOR'S STORY

SINKING OF THE KOMATA

RAIDER ACTION OFF NAURU

Describing the action of a Japanese raider in the Pacific, Mr Albert Sanders, now serving with -the Merchant. .Navy as a seaman aboard a well known boat on the East Coast run, gave a graphic account of the sinking to a BEACON representative while he was in Whakatane recently. "We were on a voyage to Nauru Island," he said,, '"and although we arrived on time we were forced to stand off and await suitable weather conditions in order to enter the exposed, harbour. When about 2J miles west of the Island the raider appeared over the horizon in the guise of a British Merchant vessel. No one on board, the "Komata" took more than a casual interest in her. Suddenly the camouflage screens over her guns were dropped and. a shot was fired t across our bows as a signal to heave "to„ Naturally we tried to make a run for it but the raider gave us a broad-side with devastating effect. The bridge was wiped out; the wireJess room wrecked; the port lifeboat smashed completely, and the starboard one badly damaged. One of the officers was killed While a number of, the crew were injured. The wireless operator struggled desperately to get the emergency set into working order but was; only able to send the first few words of a message, before this was also put out of commission. "I made my way forward through the wreckage," continued Mr Sanders, "and sounded the alarm to abandon ship. We succeeded in launching the starboard boat and rowed as d - rected over to the ra.dei' whiuh on closer inspection turned cut to lithe "Manumaru"' —a Japaiv.s: sh.p manned by a German crew. Ave were searched, thoroughI}'1 }' Cor concealed weapons, then bund cd back into our boat and, covered by machine guns—our boat sinking under us. we were forced to row across to the raider's supply ship,, the 'Tokyoma; n

which had also made its appearance, i We were searched again, then locked in tlie holds, and there, in between decks, we were astonished to find the crew of the "Rangifatu;" which had fallen a victim to the raider a month prcvionsly. Describing life on the prison ship, Mr Sanders said: "The conditions were terrible. The diet was very hard to get used to and the heat in the hold at times grew almost unbearable. Besides the crews of the "Komata" and the "Rangitane'" there were, also about 50 captured airmen on their way to prison camps in Germany. They gave us, r'iee and black coffee for breakfast, macaroni for dinner,, and black bread, and water for tea, while we slept on thin bamboo 'mats on the crowded floor of the hold. "One morning," continued Mr Sanders, "we heard firing, learnt later that the raider had shelled the wireless station on Nauru Island pi eparatory .to landing us there. "nowever the weather wis still rough, and the raider w*is forced to put into the Marshall Islands in order to pick up supplies. She returned to Nauru but was aga'.n unable to get c.ose enough to uuul us, so she returned to an island in the Lower Archipelago group, and the next day we were put ashore. Before landing, however, all those to be left on the island were made to sign an agreement stating that they would not ta.vc up arms against Germany on their return to New Zealand. The. raider and supply ship then left the island, but before sailing she put ashore a boat and two rifles on condition that she be given 24 hours grace before we made any attempt to reach the. nearest klaml with a radio .station —a distance of 20 miles. Fortunately, uot long uftc/ the raider left a mission launch chanced to put in and we were utile to get. the'sick and wounded away for me.lk'al attention. A week later a Sunderland flying boat flew over and dropped supplies, then one morning we woke up and there, standing a few miles off the island was a passenger liner." A few days later the crews of" botli ships were in Australia and it was -not long before they were back in acw Zealand.