World War 2 was the epitome of Naval Warfare

 

World War 2 was the epitome of Naval Warfare (at least at the time of this writing). Huge ships with big guns trying their hardest to survive against waves of nimble planes, while also firing at each other. No battle better captures this sentiment than the insane Battle of Leyte Gulf.

However, there was one battle that called back to simpler times, when boats relied on the wind, and naval battles involved up close and personal fighting.  On the 21st of August 1945, while sailing from Shanghai, a group of Allied soldiers in Chinese Junks encountered a heavily armed Japanese Junk. Yes, junks as in what those old wooden sailboats famous with Eastern merchants and pirates, with their heyday being well before 1945.  The Japanese junk had a crew of around 83 men and was armed with a howitzer as well as an assortment of machine guns and rifles.  The Allied junks, led by American Lieutenant Livingston Swentzel, Jr, only had 20 Chinese guerillas on board as well as 6 other Americans. Though they did outnumber the Japanese in junks. As the Japanese had a superior weapon, they fired first and struck the Allied junks, sending them into a panic. However, Lieutenant Swentzel was able to control the situation, and using a handheld walkie-talkie, was able to coordinate a counterattack with the 2nd junk.  The Allies used all of their onboard weapons (a 50 cal machine gun, a 30 cal machine gun, some rifles, and grenades, as well as 2 bazookas) as best they can, but they weren’t enough to defeat the more heavily armed Japanese junk.  So Lieutenant Swentzel decided on the unthinkable, he brought his ship alongside the Japanese junk and ordered his men to take the enemy ship by force. Short on ammunition, his men wielded whatever tools they could get their hands on.  With incredible bravery and skill, as well as excellent grenade usage, the Allies took control of the Japanese ship, killing 44 of the Japanese sailors and wounding 35 while only losing 4 men.  For his actions, Lieutenant Swentzel was awarded the Navy cross. ***************************************************

This post is an ode to our former Braved channel. Pearl Harbor was not only an attack on the US Pacific Fleet, it was a signal for Japanese forces to attack the possessions of the Western Powers in Asia. Possessions like the International Settlement in Shanghai. Though Shanghai proper fell to the Japanese years before Pearl Harbor, they had respected the International Settlement there since they did not war with the West at that time. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Marines boarded the Western Ships moored in Shanghai, including the Royal Navy river gunboat HMS Peterel. Hopelessly outgunned, the Peterel tried its best to stall the Japanese, to buy time for scuttling charges to be placed, and important documents destroyed. But the Japanese did not back down, prompting the Captain of the Peterel to scream "Get Off My Bloody Ship!" The Japanese complied, but the nearby Japanese ships and shore batteries opened fire on the humble river gunboat. Hopelessly outgunned, and with little chance of survival, the crew bravely returned fire. With only their deck-mounted Lewis Machinegun serviceable, they sprayed the nearby Japanese, inflicting some casualties before the ship capsized from overwhelming point-blank fire. 6 crewmen died and the rest taken prisoner. This show of bravery was the first taste the Japanese got of British resilience that they would soon taste again in the jungles of Burma.

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