HMIS ''Indus'' was a of the
Royal Indian Navy
The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.
Fr ...
launched in 1934 and sunk during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1942. She was a slightly enlarged version of other vessels in the ''Grimsby'' class. She was named after the
Indus River
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
. ''Indus'' served mainly as an escort vessel, and she was therefore lightly armed. Her
pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
was changed to U67 in 1940.
[HMIS Indus (L 67 / U 67) at uboat.net.]
/ref>
History
''Indus'' was a part of the Eastern Fleet
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
* Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air L ...
during the war.
In March 1942, British Indian Army and British Army troops from Rangoon had to be withdrawn, as they were overwhelmed by the superior numbers as well as the air command of the Japanese. Akyab was the next port to be attacked by the Japanese in April. The Flag-Officer-Commanding of the Eastern Fleet refused to withdraw ''Indus'' and from the anti-infiltration patrol off Akyab. On 6 April, ''Indus'' suffered 3 direct bomb hits in an air raid by Japanese Mitsubishi G3M
The was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II.
The Yokosuka L3Y (Allied reporting name "Tina"), was a transport variant of the aircraft manufactured by the Yokosu ...
bombers, and sank in 35 minutes. There was no loss of life to her crew although 10 were injured.[Shores, Cull and Izawa, 1993, p. 405.]
Fate
On 6 April 1942 ''Indus'' was bombed and sunk by Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
aircraft off Akyab
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptyi ...
, Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
in position
Commanding officers
''Indus'' commanding officers during her service were:
*Commander Eric George Guilding (24 November 1938 – 23 September 1941)
*Lieutenant Commander Jesser Evelyn Napier (23 September 1941 – 6 April 1942) - promoted to commander on 25 October 1941
*Commander James Wilfred Jefford
Vice Admiral James Wilfred Jefford CB, CBE (22 March 1901 – 1 January 1980) was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Navy, serving from its inception in 1947 until 1953. Most of his early career was in the Royal Indian Navy.
...
See also
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Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Indus (U67)
Grimsby-class sloops of the Royal Indian Navy
Sloops of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft
1934 ships
World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean
Maritime incidents in April 1942