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Operation Lentil (Sumatra) was an air raid by British carrier-based aircraft on oil installations at Pangkalan Brandan, an important centre for Indonesian oil production on
Table of actions by Royal Navy
Operation Lentil : Operations of WW2
Fleet Air Arm World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom {{World-War-II-stub
Operation Lentil (Sumatra) was an air raid by British carrier-based aircraft on oil installations at Pangkalan Brandan, an important centre for Indonesian oil production on Sumatra
Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
on 4 January 1945. It was part of the larger Operation Outflank, and its aim was to disrupt fuel supplies to Japanese forces in the Pacific.
Attacking force
The attack was done under the command of thenRear-Admiral
Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral.
Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
Philip Vian, who was in charge of the British Pacific Fleet's air operations. Three aircraft carriers, and , escorted by four cruisers ( HMS ''Suffolk'', , and ) and eight destroyers, including the 25th Flotilla ( (leader), , , ) and the 27th Flotilla ( (leader), , and ), attacked Pangkalan Brandan and succeeded in causing considerable damage: the attack aircraft badly damaged the refinery, and the fighters shot down about 12 Japanese aircraft as well as destroying another 20 on the ground. The British lost only one aircraft, an Avenger whose crew was rescued. In terms of aircraft numbers, it was the Royal Navy's heaviest assault on the Japanese to date, with the three carriers embarking a total of 88 fighter planes.
Despite the lack of discipline from some of the fighter pilots, who abandoned their main mission of protecting the bombers to engage in dogfights with the enemy, the attack was pronounced a moderate success and gave way to follow-up attacks on Japanese oil production in Sumatra, under the codename Operation Meridian.
References
Further reading
* "Task Force 57" by Peter C Smith. 1969 Republished by Crecy Publishing Manchester third edition 2001. * John Winton, ''The Forgotten Fleet:The British Navy in the Pacific 1944–1945'', Coward McCann, 1970 * Jurgen Rohwer, ''Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945'', Naval institute press, 2005,External links
Table of actions by Royal Navy
Operation Lentil : Operations of WW2
Fleet Air Arm World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom {{World-War-II-stub