HMS/M XE-3 and XE-6

XE7, similar to XE3.

XE8

By the middle of 1945, the Japanese were retreating all across South East Asia, but they still held on to the vital naval base at Singapore. An attack would hopefully induce the Japanese to abandon it for the safer bases of their homeland.

The naval base at Singapore lies on the northern shore of Singapore island, several miles up the Johore Strait. A submarine could not have hoped to get through the long narrow channel undetected so it was decided that a midget boat might have a better chance. The boat selected was XE3, commanded by Lt. Ian ('Titch') Fraser, RNR. Her target was the 9,850-ton Japanese cruiser Takao. XE1, commanded by Lieutenant Smart, had been tasked with attacking another cruiser, the Myoko, also at Singapore. In addition to the big side charges, XE-craft carried an outfit of limpet mines, fixed to the target by a diver.

The Japanese cruiser Takao

XE3 was towed from Brunei to the vicinity by HMS/M Stygian, while XE1 was towed by HMS/M Spark, on 31st July 1945.

To reach his target, Fraser had to get XE3 40 miles up the Johore Strait. He deliberately left the swept channel, which was guarded with hydrophone listening posts, and instead took his boat through shallower waters at the side of the channel, which were known to be mined. The journey took 11 hours but he reached the harbour in safety and slipped past the trawler guarding the boom gate. Two hours later he sighted the cruiser, lying close inshore and well camouflaged.

During his final approach to the target he was nearly run down by a cutter, but escaped detection. For the last part of her run in, XE3 had to bump along the sea bed in very shallow water, in some places not more than 15 feet deep. She fell into a deeper hole and for eight minutes her propeller churned up mud until at last she managed to get out. Forty minutes later she arrived, hitting the Takao amidships in a heavy collision which, somehow, passed unnoticed on board the cruiser.

As she came alongside she ran up against yet another difficulty. The water here was so shallow that the Takao was lying almost aground at her bow and stern. Amidships there was just sufficient depth for XE3 to force herself beneath the cruiser, but when she was under her keel there was not enough room for the special diving hatch to be fully opened.

XE3's diver, Leading Seaman J.J. ('Mac') Magennis, managed to squeeze himself out of the half-opened hatch to fix his limpet mines under the cruiser's bottom. They would not hold up in their proper position because of the heavy growth of weed and barnacles on the ship's hull. Magennis had to scrape the cruiser's bottom to make a clean enough patch and even then he had to lash the limpets together in pairs with line passing under the Takao's keel. This was exceptionally tiring and Magennis had an extra handicap because of an escape of oxygen from his diving gear which ascended to the surface in a stream of bubbles. A less determined man would have been content to place a few limpets and then return to his craft, but Magennis was made of sterner stuff. He continued his work until he had placed the whole outfit along the cruiser's bottom. The task took him three-quarters of an hour and he was completely exhausted by the time he made his way back to XE3.

With the limpets in position, Fraser released the big side charge under the cruiser's bottom and managed to work XE3 clear. Shortly after withdrawing, he attempted to jettison the limpet carriers, but one of them jammed on the hull and upset the buoyancy and trim of the boat. Magennis at once volunteered to go out and free the carrier rather than let a less experienced diver attempt the difficult job. After seven minutes of work with a heavy spanner, he succeeded in releasing it and in returning safely through the diving hatch.

The Operational crew of XE-3 for the attack on Takao,
returning from Singapore after Operation Struggle, pictured onboard the Stygian - Left to Right, LS J.J. Magennis VC, Sub.Lt J.L. Smith DSO RNZNVR, Lt. I.E. Fraser VC RN, ERA C.A. Reed, CGM

The operational and passage crews of XE-3

	Lt Titch Fraser, VC
An earlier crew of XE3 - from the left, AB J. Magennis, Lt Ian (Tich) Fraser, Lt. B. Carey, ERA R. Maughan.

There remained the return passage down the Strait. Fraser brought his X-craft safely past all the dangers and successfully made contact with the Stygian. Both craft returned to their base. Lt Fraser and LS Magennis were both awarded the Victoria Cross for the operation, which in all had taken 16 hours.

Meanwhile, XE1 had been unable to find the Myoko, so Lt Smart made the courageous decision to attack the Takao, accepting the risk that, if XE3 had been successful, her charges might explode while XE1 was in the vicinity. XE1 also put her charges on the Takao and withdrew successfully.

The Takao never sailed again.