Operation Stab
| Operation Stab | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second World War | |||||||
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom Australia Netherlands |
 Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
James Somerville | Unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
1 battleship 2 carriers 4 light cruisers 6 destroyers 1 minelayer 2 corvettes 2 sloops 1 aux vessel 2 tankers 10 transport ships | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
4 aircraft destroyed 4 dead |
1 aircraft destroyed 9 dead | ||||||
| British losses were due to accidents. | |||||||
Operation Stab was a British naval deception during the
The operation
Having received a request from Admiral
Units started to assemble along the Indian coast and at Ceylon from 21 to 25 July, with a start date of 1 August. Force A sortied early on 30 July after sighting reports of Japanese cruisers.[4] The three dummy fleets set sail on 1 August from Vizagapatam (Force V), Madras (Force M) and Trincomalee (Force T), this last force contained the RFA tankers RFA Appleleaf and RFA Broomdale.[5]
On the evening of 1 August Operation Spark was carried out, this was a faked plain language SOS message from one of the ships reporting a collision and unable to move. The diversion forces then turned to return to port. Somerville stayed nearby for some hours but as no Japanese attacks or movements developed and his heavy ships were required for the Battle of Madagascar (Operation Stream Line Jane) he decided to end the operation and return to port.[citation needed]
Aftermath
While the operation was carried out without loss, the Japanese failed to take the bait and no significant naval or air units were redeployed – although the seaplane tender Sagara Maru was sent to the islands on 4 August and a bomber unit was sent to reinforce Sabang, it could be said to have been a minor success.[6][7]
Several Japanese aircraft were spotted and a
Footnotes
- ^ Gray 1990, p. 137.
- ^ Herington 1963, p. 126.
- ^ Gill 1968, p. 126.
- ^ a b "Stab (i) | Operations & Codenames of WWII". codenames.info. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ "Operation Stab". historicalrfa.org. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ a b Bertke, Smith & Kindell 2014, pp. 487–488.
- ^ "Japanese Auxiliary Seaplane Tenders". www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ "HMS Warspite, British battleship, WW2". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
References
- Bertke, Donald A.; Smith, Gordon; Kindell, Don (2014). World War II Sea War: The Allies Halt the Axis Advance: Day-to-Day Naval Actions April 1942 through August 1942. Vol. VI. Dayton, OH: Bertke Publications. ISBN 978-1-937470-05-0.
- Gill, George Hermon (1968). "Chapter 5 – Guadalcanal – Pacific Hinge–pin". Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 (online scan). Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. Vol. II. Canberra, ACT: Australian War Memorial. pp. 114–157. OCLC 637329967.
- Gray, Edwyn (1990). Operation Pacific. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-650-4– via Archive Foundation.
- Herington, John (1963). Air power over Europe, 1944–1945 (online scan). Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 3 – Air. Vol. IV. Canbetta, ACT: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 3633419.