The Far East, Part One
In January 1944 a fleet assembled in Alexandria and passed through the Suez Canal for deployment to the East Indies and the Pacific; Petard was in her usual escort role. Following extensive exercises and drills, there was a welcome break when the aircraft carrier Unicorn and the battlecruiser Renown were diverted to Cochin in south west India on 24 January; Petard was part of their escort. Her arrival in Trincomalee, Ceylon on 28 January was marked by the contrast between the immaculate fleet and the patches and rust stains on Petard and Paladin. The two "P"s were banished to a nearby creek to 'paint ship'.
Petard had other worries; her main armament fired, among other types, semi-armour piercing (SAP) ammunition, but there was none to be had in Alexandria or Trincomalee; this shortage was to be noticeable before too long.
The two destroyers joined Convoy KR-8 in the Indian Ocean on the last part of its journey to Colombo. While underway to meet it, they encountered a huge herd of whales which seemed to be fearless; there was a very real danger of collision as the ships tried to maintain their anti-submarine zig-zag. On 10 February the two destroyers left a refuelling point at Addu Atoll and sailed west along the equator to rendezvous with the convoy.
On 12 February Petard, now under the newly-promoted Commander Rupert Egan, was involved in the destruction of the Japanese B1 type submarine I-27 after it had sunk the SS Khedive Ismail, a troopship, with the loss of 1,297 lives.
Read more about this topic: HMS Petard (G56)
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