Sydney World War II Attack Remembered
31 May 2010
The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel, Alan Griffin, today remembered the 21 Australian and British sailors who sadly lost their lives in a World War II attack on Sydney Harbour.
Mr Griffin said, “A memorial service was held at the HMAS Kuttabul Memorial at Garden Island in Sydney to mark the 68th anniversary of when three Japanese midget submarines launched an attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942”.
One of two remaining survivors of the attack on HMAS Kuttabul, Mr Neil Roberts, attended the ceremony with his family.
“The ceremony honoured the memory of 19 Royal Australian Navy and two Royal Navy personnel who died when the converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul was sunk by a Japanese midget submarine just after midnight on 1 June 1942,” Mr Griffin said.
“One of the Japanese midget submarines, M24, fired two torpedos at the United States Heavy Cruiser USS Chicago, which was moored off Garden Island.
“One torpedo ended up on the beach at Garden Island and the second passed ahead of the USS Chicago, under the Dutch submarine K9, also moored off Garden Island, before detonating against the sea wall where HMAS Kuttabul was berthed.
“The bottom of HMAS Kuttabul, then used for sailors’ accommodation at Garden Island, was ripped out, killing 21 of the men on board.
“The name HMAS Kuttabul was passed onto the Navy base at Potts Point which administers Garden Island and every year the Royal Australian Navy holds a service in memory of those who died,” Minister Griffin said.
Of the three midget submarines that attacked that night, two were destroyed. The bodies of four Japanese submariners were recovered. They were given funerals with full military honours and their bodies cremated.
The fate of M24 remained a mystery until 2006 when a group of recreational divers located the submarine around 5km off Bungan Head, Sydney.
A section of one of the Japanese submarines is on display at the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre at Garden Island, Sydney.
