Action of 13 December 1964

Action of 13 December 1964
Part of Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Date13 December 1964
LocationSingapore Strait
Result Australian victory
Belligerents
 Australia  Indonesia
Commanders and leaders
Australia Keith Murray Indonesia Unknown
Strength
1 minesweeper 2 sampans
Casualties and losses
None 1 sampan captured
3 killed
4 captured

The Action of 13 December 1964 was a minor naval action between the Australian minesweeper HMAS Teal and two Indonesian vessels on 13 December 1964 during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. HMAS Teal was engaged by Indonesian vessels in the Singapore Strait. Return fire from the Australian ship killed three, whilst four other Indonesians were subsequently captured.[1]

Action

HMAS Teal whilst conducting patrols of the Singapore Strait intercepted two Indonesian sampans off Borneo at night. Upon interception of the unlit sampans, Teal was fired upon with automatic weapons from the sampans. The sampans turned towards Indonesian waters, however one sampan was overpowered and surrendered to Teal following further small arms engagements that killed three Indonesian crew members.

Aftermath

Lieutenant Keith Murray was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, for his coolness and judgment during the action. The Distinguished Service Cross was the only award for gallant or distinguished service made to the Royal Australian Navy during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.

See also

Notes

  1. Coulthard-Clark (2001), p. 274.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, September 10, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.