HMIS Bengal (J243)
| Career (India) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Bengal |
| Ordered: | 24 September 1940 |
| Builder: | Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company |
| Laid down: | 3 December 1941 |
| Launched: | 28 May 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 8 August 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 1960 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Bathurst class corvette |
| Displacement: | 650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load) |
| Length: | 186 ft (57 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draught: | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | triple expansion engine, 2 shafts, 2,000 horsepower |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) at 1,750 hp |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: |
1 x 4-inch gun 3 x 20 mm Oerlikon guns Machine guns Depth charges chutes and throwers |
HMIS Bengal (J243) was a Bathurst class corvette of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) where she served during World War II.
History
HMIS Bengal was ordered from Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company, Australia for the Royal Indian Navy in 1940. She was commissioned into the RIN in 1942.
Operations in World War II
HMIS Bengal was a part of the Eastern Fleet during World War II, and escorted numerous convoys between 1942-45.[1]
On 11 November 1942, Bengal was escorting the Dutch tanker Ondina[2] to the southwest of Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Two Japanese commerce raiders armed with six-inch guns attacked the Ondina. Bengal fired her single four-inch gun, Ondina fired her 102 mm and both scored hits on the Hōkoku Maru which shortly blew up and sank.[2] The other raider, the Aikoku Maru escaped.[2] Although both Bengal and the Ondina were damaged in the action, they reached port safely.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Kindell, Don. "EASTERN FLEET - January to June 1943". ADMIRALTY WAR DIARIES of WORLD WAR 2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Visser, Jan (1999-2000). "The Ondina Story". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942.
- ↑ Kindell, Don. "INDIAN OCEAN & SOUTH EAST ASIA, including Burma". CAMPAIGN SUMMARIES OF WORLD WAR 2.
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