Battle of the Malacca Strait

Part of the Pacific theater of World War II

Japanese cruiser Haguro.

Date	15–16 May 1945
Location	Strait of Malacca
Result	British victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

Manley Laurence Power

Shigeru Fukudome

Shintaro Hashimoto †

Kaju Sugiura †

Strength

5 Destroyers

1 Heavy Cruiser
1 Destroyer

Casualties and losses

1 destroyer damaged,
2 killed
3 wounded

1 heavy cruiser sunk,
1 destroyer damaged,
927 killed

The Battle of the Malacca Strait, sometimes called the Sinking of the Haguro, and in Japanese sources as the Battle off Penang (ペナン沖海戦), was a naval battle that resulted from the British search and destroy operation in May 1945, called Operation Dukedom, that resulted in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Haguro. Haguro had been operating as a supply ship for Japanese garrisons in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal since 1 May 1945.

On 9 May, Haguro left Singapore, escorted by the destroyer Kamikaze, to re-supply the Port Blair garrison on the Andaman Islands and to evacuate the troops in Port Blair back to Singapore. The Royal Navy was alerted to this by a decrypted Japanese naval signal, subsequently confirmed by a sighting by the submarines HMS Statesman and Subtle. Force 61 of the Eastern Fleet set sail on 10 May from Trincomalee, Ceylon to intercept the Japanese flotilla. The Japanese were unwilling to risk any battle and, on receipt of an air reconnaissance warning, they returned to Singapore.

On 14 May, Haguro and Kamikaze tried again and left Singapore. The next day, they were spotted by aircraft from Force 61. The subsequent bombing attack by Grumman Avenger IIs of 851 Naval Air Squadron caused only minor damage to Haguro, for the loss of an aircraft whose crew was taken prisoner by the Japanese.

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