World War II Chronicle: December 13, 1941
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Today’s front page reports that the Dutch Navy sunk four loaded Japanese troop transports, presumably taking some 4,000 lives.
The submarine HNLMS O 16 spotted a Japanese ship east of British Malaya and silently followed it to a port (see map on page 2) where they discovered three other armed Japanese transports already at anchor. The harbor waters were too shallow for a submerged approach, so O 16 crept in at night with her electric motors and fired all but one of her torpedoes. The submarine quickly left the harbor without being detected, having sunk Tosan Maru, Akosan Maru, and Kinka Maru, and damaged Ayatosan Maru.
As she sailed south to Singapore O-16 ran into an enemy mine in the Gulf of Siam on Dec. 15. O-16 was destroyed but six sailors that had been stationed on the bridge escaped and began to swim for safety. One by one they slipped under the waves from exhaustion, leaving only quartermaster Cor de Wolf who swam an incredible 50 miles over 34 hours before reaching Dayang Island.
Horribly sunburned, dehydrated, and fatigued to such a degree that few people could understand, the sailor manages to find fresh water and makes contact with a native. After a trek across the rugged island, which shreds the soles of his bare feet, de Wolf boards a sailboat and returns to Singapore. He survives the war and retires as an Opperschipper (warrant officer) in 1962. His account is printed in Jan. 24’s newspaper (see page five).
Considering the ships were anchored in shallow water, O 16‘s attack most likely didn’t take out many enemy soldiers. But that shouldn’t diminish the risk taken by the crew. As for the troop ships, all are eventually repaired, but sunk again later in the war… War Communique No. 6 on page 12… Sports section begins on page 14
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 13 December 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-12-13/ed-1/
