HMS ''Moth'' was an of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Entering service in 1916, ''Moth'' had a varied career with service in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

and the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

in two world wars.

Scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during the invasion of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, the ship was raised and put into service by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

as . The ship remained active throughout the war, before striking a

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

in the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

in 1945 and sinking. ''Moth'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

during the first half of 1915 at the yards of the Sunderland Shipbuilding Company, with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

. ''Moth'' was launched on 9 October 1915 and completed on 5 January 1916.

Service history

Royal Navy service

''Moth'' was dispatched to the

(

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

area) in 1916. In 1919, she was dispatched to the

, and by 1920 she had been reassigned to the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

. Her edited logbooks and maps of her journeys for 1919 and 1920 can be viewed at naval-history.net. In December 1941 she became a member of the

Far East fleet The Far East Fleet (also called the Far East Station) was a fleet of the Royal Navy from 1952 to 1971. During the Second World War, the Eastern Fleet included many ships and personnel from other navies, including the navies of the Netherlands, ...

with at Hong Kong. On 8 December 1941, ''Moth'' and ''Cicala'' were in port during an air raid by the

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...

. ''Cicala'' was sunk on 21 December. ''Moth'' was in the dock for repairs, but with the fall of the city to the Japanese imminent, ''Moth'' was scuttled on 12 December.

Imperial Japanese Navy service

The

dispatched the to Hong Kong to investigate ''Moth'', and on 1 July 1942, she was refloated and renamed . Suma is a Japanese beauty spot appearing in ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

''. On 29 July 1943 she fired on US aircraft during an air raid on Hong Kong. ''Suma'' was attacked by three 14th Air Force B-25s on 29 December 1943, and by two B-25s the next day receiving some damage, while claiming to kill one B-25 (11 Bomb Squadron 42-30457 lost 30 December 1943; 4 KIA/BNRRShonor website (Credit)
/ref>). On 11 June 1944, the ship was attacked by P-38s and on 18 June, by three B-25s. On 26 December ''Suma'' was attacked by seven P-51s, with the aft 25 mm gun wrecked and 18 killed and four wounded. The aft gun was replaced and repairs made to the ship 28–30 December at Yanhu. ''Suma'' was attacked by P-51s on 11 February 1945, when it claims downing one. The ship was repaired at Mitsubishi Yangshupu Shipyard,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

from 17 February to 12 March 1945. She was active on the

in anti-insurgency operations. On 19 March 1945, she struck a

which was previously laid by 14th Air Force planes on 4 March at

Anqing Anqing ( zh, s=, t=安慶, p=Ānqìng, l=, also Yicheng, Nganking and formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province of China, province, China, People's Republic of China. Its popu ...

, and sank with a loss of 8 crewmen. ''Narumi'' evacuated 40 wounded and 36 survivors.

Notes

References

* * , History of Pacific War Vol.45 ''Truth histories of the Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels'',

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales are reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces othe ...

(Japan), May 2004, {{DEFAULTSORT:Moth Insect-class gunboats Naval ships of the United Kingdom captured by Japan during World War II 1915 ships Maritime incidents in December 1941 Maritime incidents in March 1945 Ships sunk by mines Suma