HNLMS Bantam

Dutch minesweeper sunk and repaired by Japanese

History
Kingdom of the Netherlands
NameBantam
BuilderDroogdok Maatschappij
Launched1938, Tanjung Priok
FateScuttled, 2 March 1942
Empire of Japan
NameNo. 117
AcquiredRepaired by the Empire of Japan, 1943
Commissioned10 August 1943
FateTorpedoed and sunk by USS Hardhead, 23 July 1945
General characteristics
Class and typeABC-class minesweeper later submarine chaser
Displacement145 long tons (147 t) standard[2]
Length31.59 m (103 ft 8 in) overall[1]
Beam5.46 m (17 ft 11 in)[1]
Draught1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Installed power296 bhp (as Bantam)[2] 320 bhp (as No. 117)[1]
Speed12.0 knots (22.2 km/h; 13.8 mph)[1]
Complement17 (Bantam)[2]
Armament
  • Dutch:
    2 × 3.7 cm cannon
    2 × 7.7 mm (.303 caliber) Lewis machine gun[3]
  • Japanese
    1 x Type 4 15 cm howitzer
    1 x Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun
    1 x 13.2 mm machine gun (jp:ホ式十三粍高射機関砲)
    12 depth charges[4]

HNLMS Bantam (Dutch: Hr.Ms. Bantam) was an ABC-class auxiliary minesweeper (HMV 4) of the Royal Netherlands Navy that was scuttled by her crew during World War II. She was later re-floated and repaired by the Japanese and converted into auxiliary submarine chaser Cha-117 or No. 117 (Japanese: 第百十七號驅潜特務艇).

History

She was launched and completed in 1938 at the Tanjung Priok, Java drydock of Droogdok Maatschappij and named Bantam after the city of Bantam on the Indonesian island of Java. She was one of six ships in her class (Alor, Aroe, Bantam, Bogor, Ceram, and Cheribon),[3][2] built for the Gouvernementsmarine, the Dutch civil maritime law enforcement force for the Dutch East Indies, as coastal minesweepers.[5] She was requisitioned by the Dutch Navy and set up as auxiliary minesweeper 4. On 2 March 1942, during the Battle of Java, she was scuttled in the harbor of Tandjong Priok.[4][2]

She was raised by the Japanese and converted into submarine chaser No. 117.[4] On 10 August 1943, her conversion was completed and she was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy.[4] She was mostly engaged in escort duties around Java.[4] On 23 July 1945 she was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine USS Hardhead off the northeast coast of Bali at coordinates (08°10′S 115°29′E / 8.167°S 115.483°E / -8.167; 115.483).[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Toda, Gengoro S. (21 September 2019). "驅潜特務艇 (Cha - Stats)". Imperial Japanese Navy - Tokusetsukansen (in Japanese).
  2. ^ a b c d e Womack, Tom (1 December 2015). The Allied Defense of the Malay Barrier, 1941-1942. McFarland & Company. pp. 61–62. ISBN 9781476662930.
  3. ^ a b "ABC-klasse hulpmijnenvegers in Nederlands Oost-Indië". tracesofwar.nl (in Dutch).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Toda, Gengoro S. "第百十七號驅潜特務艇の艦歴 (No. 117 submarine chaser - Ship History)". Imperial Japanese Navy -Tokusetsu Kansen (in Japanese).
  5. ^ Lenton, H. T. (1968). Navies of the Second World War: Royal Netherlands Navy. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. pp. 80, 83, 87, 111.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1945
Shipwrecks
  • 2 Jul: Empire Fal
  • 3 Jul: Hoei Maru
  • 4 Jul: Bahia
  • 8 Jul: HNLMS O 19
  • 10 Jul: Sakura Maru
  • 11 Jul: Sakura
  • 14 Jul: Hakuhō Maru, Tachibana
  • 15 Jul: Francis Preston Blair, I-351, HMS Ludlow, HMS Maori, Walter L M Russ
  • 16 Jul: USS Gamble, I-13, Nankai
  • 17 Jul: HMS Athlete, John H. Hammond
  • 18 Jul: Decommissioned Destroyer No. 18, I-372, Kasuga, Yakaze
  • 20 Jul: Kiyokawa Maru
  • 23 Jul: Cha-117
  • 24 Jul: Aoba, Amagi, Hyūga, Iwate, Settsu, HMS Squirrel, Tone, USS Underhill
  • 25 Jul: Kotobuki Maru, PB-2
  • 26 Jul: HMS Vestal
  • 28 Jul: USS Callaghan, Haruna, Ise, Izumo, Ōyodo
  • 30 Jul: Hatsushimo, USS Indianapolis, Okinawa
  • Unknown date: HMCS St. Francis
Other incidents
  • 18 Jul: USS Gabilan, USS Hank, USS Wallace L. Lind
  • 24 Jul: USS Colahan, USS Toro
  • 25 Jul: SS Howard M. Hanna Jr.
  • 26 Jul: USS Marlin