• Rear Admiral Hashimoto Shintaro

• DD HMAS Vampire

  Commanding officer: Cmdr. W.T.A. Moran, RAN
• DD HMS Thanet (sunk)

  Commanding officer: Lt. Cmdr. B.S. Davies, RNR

This was a raid by the two British/Australian destroyers against the Japanese landings at Endau. The Allied force successfully penetrated the anchorage, but were unable to find the transports. Upon their withdrawal, they were spotted by the Japanese who gave chase. In the running gunfight, HMS Thanet suffered a hit to her engine room, disabling her. The Japanese closed in and shelled her into sinking. However, this let HMAS Vampire escape.

Some sixty-five survivors from HMS Thanet including Lt. Cmdr. Davies were able to make their way in small groups down the coast back to Singapore. Another 31 survivors, consisting of a Lieutenant and 30 enlisted men, were picked up by the Japanese destroyer Shirayuki after the battle. The Lieutenant was held for interrogation and survived the war but the thirty enlisted men were handed over to the Army at Endau the following day. They are all believed to have been executed shortly afterwards and no trace of them has been found.

"Night Action, Malaya 1942" article in "Warship 2015" by Peter Cannon
"A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1941-1945" by P. Dull
"The Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific War" by Mark E. Stille
"Action off Endau" by Peter Sinfield at the Naval Historical Society of Australia website
"Light Cruisers" at the Nihon Kaigun website
"Long Lancers" at the Nihon Kaigun website