The three survivors from the old HMAS Kuttabul next to the former berth of the Kuttabul on June 1. From left is Neil Roberts, Colin Whitfield (RNZN) and Bill Williams. Photo by ABPH Yuri Ramsey.

Australia has remembered the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour and the sinking of HMAS Kuttabul by an enemy torpedo with the loss of 21 sailors on June 1, 1942.

At the wardroom of the Potts Point naval establishment, which now proudly carries the Kuttabul name, an anniversary dinner was held on May 30th to honour the event of 60 years earlier.

The RAN Reserve Band-NSW conducted by POMUSN Dennis Mercer provided the evening's entertainment.

At the invitation of the XO, LCDR Carmel Barnes, were two Sydney locals who were survivors from the WW2 depot ship Kuttabul - Mr Bill Ross Williams of Hunters Hill and Mr Neil Frederick Roberts of Northbridge.


They Thought I was Dead

Bill who served in the RAN 1939-51 was then a leading Stoker who had served in the cruiser HMAS Australia and was being temporarily accommodated aboard the Kuttabul.

"I remembered going to sleep in my hammock on the lower deck and next waking up in Sydney Hospital. I had been blown into the water and picked up by Leading Stoker 'Lockey' Peterson, a crew member of a passing officer's motorboat," said Bill.

"Apparently they thought I was dead but when the medical officer arrived he realized that I was still alive."

"I spent five weeks in hospital and then given a month's sick leave to my hometown of Inverell NSW where I was given a hero's welcome."

Bill had unknowingly survived the Japanese attack on Sydney Harbour and the torpedo that had been aimed at the cruiser USS Chicago moored off Rushcutters Bay.

The torpedo had been fired by an enemy midget submarine, positioned off Bradley's Head. Its second torpedo also missed the Chicago and hit the NE point of Garden Island unexploded.

For ease of classification I will refer to this midget submarine as Midget (I-24) to denote it being launched from its mother submarine the I-24. The midget submarines however did have their own individual numbering separate to its mother submarine. Some publications refer to the Midget (I-24) as the M-24 or Midget-A. On board were SBLT Katsuhisa Ban and PO Mamoru Ashibe.


Three Midgets

There had been three Japanese midget submarines in Sydney Harbour on the night of 31 May - 01 June 1942, launched from their larger mother submarines the I-22, (Midget-21), the I-24 (Midget-A) and I-27 (Midget-14), some seven miles east of Sydney. A plane from a fourth submarine the I-21 had reconnoitred Sydney before daybreak on May 30. It was sighted at Georges Heights but with its false markings was mistaken for an American Curtiss Falcon floatplane. A fifth submarine the I-29 was also positioned off Sydney that night.

Each midget sub carried an officer and a Petty Officer, two x 450mm torpedoes, and was battery powered. They were 23.9m long and had a beam of 1.8m.

Fellow survivor Neil Roberts, who served in the RAN 1941-46, had recently joined the Kuttabul from his initial training at HMAS Cerberus and was awaiting a draft to the corvette HMAS Dubbo. He was an Ordinary Seaman and only 18 years old at the time.

"I was on sentry duty at Kuttabul Steps for the First Watch and when my relief had not arrived at midnight I ran onto the wooden ferry Kuttabul and up to the top deck to wake him up. I then ran back to my sentry post."

"When my relief arrived he apologized for being late as he had not been given a shake. To save me the time of making up my own hammock below decks he offered me his hammock on the top deck."


Hammock Change Saves Life

ORD Seaman Roberts had only just got into the hammock when at 0030 the torpedo detonated against the retaining wall at Garden Island where HMAS Kuttabul was tied up alongside. The enemy torpedo had not only passed under its target the USS Chicago but also the Dutch Submarine K-9 and the Kuttabul.

The accommodation ship was lifted by a huge wave caused by the explosion and sank by the stern.

The action of accepting his shipmate's hammock on the top deck probably saved Neil's life.

Also at the anniversary dinner was current serving member LCDR Lachlan King who was representing his father Donald Deviney King.

"My father had completed his basic training at HMAS Cerberus and joined the Kuttabul as an ORD Gunner on the Sunday afternoon- the eve of the Japanese attack," said LCDR King.

Lachlan tells how his father was supposed to be sleeping in the lower deck but because it was stuffy swapped with another sailor for the upper level deck. This decision also saved his life.

After the explosion Dick McGregor, now a retired dental surgeon in Dalby Qld, helped Donald out of the water. Donald was in shock and it was thought that he was going to die such was the bleeding from his wounds.

His mate ORD Seaman "Bluey" Raymond Owen Venning died aboard the Kuttabul. For many years afterwards Donald would visit "Bluey's" family in Pinaroo S.A.

"It seems ironic that I am a submariner in the RAN yet it was a submarine that torpedoed my father," said Lachlan.

Donald now lives at Caloundra Qld where a memorial stands in memory of the hospital ship Centaur sunk by the Japanese submarine I-177 off Morton Island on May 14,1943.


Memorial Service at Garden Island

On Sat June 1 a memorial service was held at Garden Island opposite where HMAS Kuttabul sank on the same date in 1942.

The gathering of over 200 included a contingent of sailors from HMAS Kuttabul, many of whom were from FIMA-Sydney which also provided the catafalque party led by POB Linton East.

The former RAN Director of Music, CMDR Ashley Greedy, acted as the master of ceremonies.

The many wreath layers included Senator Bill Heffernan, the Deputy Maritime Commander CDRE Les Pataky and representatives from the NSW Parliament, local Sydney Councils, Legacy and the Japanese, New Zealand, UK, USA and Netherlands consulates.

The outgoing NSW President of the RSL Rusty Priest performed his last official duty by also laying a wreath.

Many senior Naval personnel such as CDRE Syd Lemon, DG Maritime Support; and former HMAS Kuttabul CO, CAPT David Garnock from the Defence Staff College in Canberra attended.

Prayers were said by SNR CHAP Brian Rayner RAN with the Naval Systems Commander CDRE Russ Crane giving the First Reading and LSNPC Max Walker the Second Reading.

Vocalist ABMUSN Tracy Burke led the gathering with the singing of hymns accompanied by the RAN Band-NSW led by Bandmaster LEUT Paul Cottier and Drum Major WOMUSN Leslie Wright.

"This event brought the war to Sydney...we thought the war was so far away...the ships in harbour had returned from the Battle of the Coral Sea," said CMDR Vicki McConachie, the current CO of HMAS Kuttabul.


Kiwi Flies in

Friends and relatives of the Kuttabul survivors and those who had died aboard her were also in attendance, as were survivors Bill Williams and Neil Roberts. They were joined by fellow Kuttabul survivor Colin Whitfield, who had flown into Sydney the previous day from Matamata in Waikato, New Zealand.

Colin read the honour roll of the 21 sailors who had died and then recited the Naval Ode.

They have no grave but the cruel sea,
No flowers at their head,
A rusting hulk is their tombstone,
Afast the ocean bed.

AB Colin R Whitfield was one of several RNZN sailors being accommodated aboard the Kuttabul. He was 18-years-old.

"I had just got out of my hammock when the torpedo exploded," said Colin, who was preparing to go on watch after realizing he also had not been given a shake.

"I found myself below deck and up to my knees in water. There seemed to be injured men everywhere."

A shipmate, Bandsman J Cummins who become a hero on the night for his many dives amongst the wreckage to rescue those trapped or injured, rescued Whitfield.

Colin had both ankles broken from the blast and was taken to Sydney hospital. A doctor told him that he would have to amputate his feet the next day. A sick bay attendant however put them in splints overnight and the feet were saved. He still wears callipers today.

"We can forgive but there are some things we can't forget," said Colin.

CDRE Crane presented a Kuttabul ship's crest with plaque to each of the three survivors to commemorate the 60th Anniversary event.


Sunk Three Times

Keith Joseph Smith of Lewisham also attended the memorial service. He was an RAN Writer 1942-47 and in 1943 served with POWTR T.E. McCalley RN at HMAS Penguin.

Keith tells us that PO McCalley had not only survived the Kuttabul but also the sinking of the British Battle Cruiser HMS Repulse by Japanese aircraft near Singapore on Dec 10, 1941. He was again rescued off Colombo when his ship the County Class cruiser HMS Cornwall was sunk by Japanese aircraft on April 5,1942.

"PO McCalley was sleeping on the mess deck table of the Kuttabul when the explosion catapulted him into the sea," said Keith.

"He thought he was dreaming when it happened and went to put his head back down on the pillow - he was in the water."


Town Hall Remembers

The 60th Anniversary of the Japanese submarine attack gained coverage in many Sydney newspapers. At Paddington Town Hall the City of South Sydney Council hosted a presentation Sydney Under Attack which featured guest speakers, survivors and eyewitnesses.

CMDR Vicki McConachie and Kuttabul survivor Neil Roberts attended as guest speakers.

Another invited speaker was the past president of the Naval Historical Society, and retired naval shipwright officer, Vince Fazio. Vince told how his father Petty Officer Torpedoman Victor Warren Fazio was the duty warder at Garden Island on the night of the attack.

"Dad was from Tuncurry, joined the RAN in 1928 and had prior to GI served in HMAS Hobart. He was walking towards the Kuttabul to meet up with a mate aboard, PO Torpedoman Leonard Walter Howroyd of Penrith, when the torpedo went off," said Vince.

"Lenny had swapped a duty with PO Gunner Bob Scanlon so that Lenny could meet his wife arriving from Melbourne the next day. Sadly Lenny was killed that night."

It was PO Scanlon that was in charge of the funeral firing party at Rookwood cemetery a few days later for the funeral service of his shipmates.


The Enemy Below

Also at the presentation was Mrs Marjorie Hancock (nee Brown) of Merrylands who on the night of the attack was living it up on the harbour aboard The Showboat.

"I was with a friend, Leading Signalman Geoffrey Moses. He was from HMAS Australia but had been seconded to USS Chicago for the Battle of the Coral Sea. To think we were dancing away while below us was a Japanese midget submarine," said Marjorie.

Earl Brabazon now of Clovelly was an army Gunner 1941-44. In 1942 he was stationed at Rose Bay and recalls when the Japanese mother submarine I-24 returned on the night of 7-8th June. From 18 kms away it fired ten shells just after midnight, all landing in Sydney's eastern suburbs

"Two landed unexploded near our radar unit. I got detailed off with some others to pull them out of the muddy holes but they just kept slipping back in," said Earl.

On the same night the submarine I-21 fired 36 shells off Newcastle, which saw Fort Scatchley's guns reply. On Sat 01 June the PM John Howard attended a service there to commemorate the first time shore guns were fired in anger in Australia.


One Escapes

The Midget (I-24) managed to escape but was never seen again. It is believed that she sunk in deep water off Sydney Heads. Midget (I-22) was sunk by depth charges in Taylor's Bay and Midget (I-27) when caught in the torpedo net off Georges Heights set her own demolition charge. Both crews died.

The four bodies were recovered and they were given a funeral service with full military honours.

The mother submarines then commenced their attacks along the east coast of Australia. Between June 1942 and June 1943 there were 17 merchant ships sunk with the loss of 440 lives.

A display of the Midget submarine attack was exhibited in Hyde Park and included the conning tower of Midget (I-22).

WOPH John O'Brien and his team from NIU-East provided a photographic exhibition of the attack displayed at MHQ and the Finger Wharf at Woolloomooloo.

At Sydney's North Head on June 31, cadets from TS Condamine (Manly) formed the catafalque party for a memorial service. Defence speakers included CMDR McConachie and LTGEN Peter Cosgrove, who will become the new Chief of the Defence Force in July.

We will Remember Them.

By LCDR Mick Gallagher