MALAYAN  MEMORIES   by Terry Cattermole

Malacca Strait – 10 miles south-west of One Fathom Bank Lighthouse – 5 bells in the Middle Watch (sounds better than 0230) – light airs and flat calm - a moonless night in December ’61.
Kapal di Raja (KD = HMS) SRI  KELANTAN, SDML 3508, was on anti-piracy patrol, in company with her sister ship KD  SRI  PERAK, 2miles away to the north, at the start of another Operation GRABIM.  My first command, on loan to the Royal Malayan Navy, and here I am chasing pirates, with my sword unsheathed ready on the Bridge.  (What joy, what fun, as John would have said to Janet?)
Piracy was, and remains, a problem in the Malacca Strait. However, in those days it was generally a case of high-jacking the crew of a lone fishing boat and holding them to ransom in Indonesia.  If the ransom was not forthcoming, or slow in coming, then the unfortunate fishermen would be sent back bit by bit.  I leave the rest to your imagination.   Stopping this is a major task of the RMN. 
The two ships suffered from one major disadvantage vis-à-vis the pirates – we could only manage 11.5 Knots downhill with the wind behind us, whilst our quarry did 40Knots when they were in a hurry.   However, they hadn’t reckoned on the devious design of our Op!
The PERAK was running a patrol line NE / SW of about 5 miles long, showing full navigation lights, making no pretence of silence, and firing off the occasional flare.  Meanwhile, to the south, the KELANTAN, at Action Stations            (Steel helmet on, with flip-flops and sarong – the Ship’s Company were similarly dressed), lay darkened and silent in the water.  
Around the end of the Middle Watch, the Code Word ‘Tamasha ‘(Malay for Bingo) was whispered over the radio from the PERAK.  The game was on – the PERAK had sighted the wake of a fast-moving small craft to the south-west, heading east towards the coast in the neighbourhood of Port Swettenham.  Fishermen don’t normally proceed at high speed, so we reckoned this was probably a pirate.  The PERAK increased speed and turned in the direction of the lighthouse, firing frequent flares and sounding her siren, thus nudging the intruder in our direction, in accordance with our devious design. (John to Janet   ‘Do you think I’d make a good pirate, with my head scarf and sparkly boots? ‘) 
‘Tally-Ho ‘, I announced to the Ship’s Company (all eleven of them), waving my sword in the air, ‘up and at’em, lads! ‘All this in Bahasa Malayu, of course, as the ship was run on strictly Muslim and National Language terms.
We headed slowly towards the intruder – our main armament, a 20mm Oerlikon, was swiftly loaded (not with grape shot, unfortunately), and our searchlights (2 Aldis Lamps) made ready.   Tension was high – were we going to get close enough to ram and board?   The intruder sped towards us, still apparently unaware of our existence, closer and closer, and, at about two cables, I gave the order ‘ Engage ‘.
The Aldis Lamps flashed on, illuminated the other boat, and the Oerlikon aimer put two shots across its bow (in accordance with our Rules of Engagement). The hope was that the intruder would stop and submit to being searched, or slow down enough to enable an attempt to ram and board.   However, tonight was not our night – it made a very sharp turn away from the KELANTAN, increased speed, and headed back to Indonesia, from whence it had come.  We hadn’t any chance of catching it, with our limited speed - it was a big plastic boat with two big outboard engines, giving a speed in excess of 40 knots.
We weren’t allowed to fire for effect, unless we were fired at – but this never happened because the pirates were careful not to fire, although it was suspected they carried automatic hand weapons.  They relied on their speed to get them out of trouble – but at least we were a deterrent, and it really could be quite exciting. (‘I’m sooo excited, I’ll have to suck my lollipop to calm down ‘said John to Janet. )
It had all started 18 months previously when my eyes let me down during the medical exam to become a Navigating Officer, and I volunteered for Loan Service in the Royal New Zealand Navy.  Shortly after this, the NZ Government stopped Loan Service, the RMN needed Loan personnel, we’d made up our minds we were going abroad, so eventually off we went – me, wife and 3 children.  Six weeks language course, and then to sea chasing pirates.  The entire two and a half years in Malaya were a fascinating, exciting and life-enriching experience for all the family, we’d been very fortunate.