The Royal Indian Navy minesweeper Ondina was not supposed to be a match for the heavily armed Japanese raiders that found her in the Indian Ocean on November 11, 1942. Yet the small, unglamorous ship fought back so hard that the battle ended with a Japanese captain abandoning his own sinking ship, and it started an argument between the British and Australian navies that has never been fully settled. The Ondina was a converted civilian trawler, her gun crew was made up of British and Australian sailors, and her commander, a Royal Australian Naval Reserve officer named William Horseman, had been in command for just 11 days. She was sailing with her sister ship, the Bengal, another converted trawler, and the two were escorting a Dutch tanker, the Ondina, which was carrying a heavy load of aviation fuel.
The Ondina had been built as a passenger ship and was known for her speed, but she had been fitted with guns, torpedo tubes, and a seaplane. She was a raider, and she was accompanied by another converted liner, the Hokoku Maru, and the two of them had spent a year terrorizing the Indian Ocean, sinking ships and laying mines. The Ondina and the Bengal were not supposed to be in the same league as the raiders, but they were. The Ondina was only able to fire one of her two 4-inch guns, and she had no fire control system, so her gun crews had to correct their aim by eye.
The Bengal was even more lightly armed, with a single 12-pounder. The two ships had been ordered to sail to Fremantle, and they were on their way there when they met the raiders. The raiders had been spotted by a reconnaissance plane from the Ondina, and the two ships had been told to expect trouble. They had been sailing in company for a few days, and the Ondina had been carrying out gunnery practice.
When the raiders were sighted, the Ondina and the Bengal turned away, but the raiders were faster. The Hokoku Maru opened fire, and the Ondina and the Bengal responded. The Ondina scored a hit on the Hokoku Maru, and the raider began to burn. The Ondina then turned to close with the raider, and the two ships exchanged fire at close range.
The Ondina was hit several times, but her captain, Horseman, refused to give up. He ordered his ship to close the range and fight it out, and the Bengal came to her support. The raiders were forced to break off the action, and the Ondina and the Bengal escaped. The Ondina had been badly damaged, but she managed to reach port.
The battle had been a significant victory for the Allied ships, and it was a major setback for the Japanese. The Hokoku Maru was sunk, and the Aikoku Maru was forced to retreat. The Japanese never sent another raider into the Indian Ocean. The Ondina was later sunk by a Japanese submarine, but her crew was rescued.
The battle was a remarkable example of courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds, and it is a story that deserves to be remembered.