MV ''Harpa'' was an oil tanker of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company (later Royal Dutch/Shell) and was in service with the British Merchant Navy during

World War II 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 ...

World War II

It was bombed on 22 December 1941 at the beginning of the

Malayan Campaign The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...

Port Swettenham Port Klang ( ms, Pelabuhan Klang) is a town and the main gateway by sea into Malaysia. Known during colonial times as Port Swettenham ( ms, Pelabuhan Swettenham) but renamed Port Klang in July 1972, it is the largest port in the country. It is l ...

, with the loss of 4 men. The remains were buried at the site of what would later become the Cheras War Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur.

Sinking

It was sunk by a British seamine in Main Strait, Singapore† en route to

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

with a full cargo of aviation spirit on 27 January 1942 with the loss of 7 British officers, 2 Royal Navy DEMS gunners and 25 Chinese crew. †Tom Simkins MBE, Chief Radio Officer of SS Pinna, stated the sinking to be in the Rhio Strait (now Riau Strait, between Batam and Bintan Islands).

Sources

Oil tankers World War II tankers 1930 ships Maritime incidents in January 1942 World War II shipwrecks in the Strait of Malacca Ships sunk by mines {{Merchantship-stub