Reading this month's WW2 magazine, I began reading an article of the Royal Navy regaining its prestige of it having one of the best navy's after getting horrible loses against the Japanese in the beginning weeks of WW2. The Royal Navy in end gained its prestige buy sinking the cruiser Haguro with the 26th flotilla comprised of 5 destroyers. But this paragraph puzzled me.
"The Adnaman Islands guarded the sea lanes to Malaya, but the club runs had isolated them and by May the Japanese garrison faced starvation. On May 9, the 10th Area Fleet sent two of its last three operational units, Haguro and destroyer Kamikaze, along with two submarine chasers from Singapore to bring supplies and evacuate excess troops. Ultra, the British code-breaking machine, uncovered the plan. British submarine Statesman and Subtle, lurking the Malacca Straits, unsuccesfully attacked the Japanese squadron. Sublte's Lieutenant B.J.B Andrew reported that Haguro was painted pink, a shade used by the Royal Navy called "Mounthbatten pink"."
This puzzles me, now why would a ship be painted pink and now that I reread it why did hte Royal Navy paint there ships pink?
Also in the article in an attack before the Haguro attack, the flotilla attacked a couple subchasers wasting over 3k in shelss and 18 torps to sink them. After that attack the captain in charge of the flotilla did not pick up any survivors and one destroyer in the flotilla picked up a woman and a few other survivors. Most were left to drown in the water. In the attack on the Haguro, after the attack the captain in charge picked up a few survivors as well and then quickly left to let those drown.
Would think this Captain Manly F. Powers would get some heat in port by not taking as many of the survivors as possible.
