• The British RAF (Royal Air Force) with 2 bomber squadrons
  

• RAF B-24 Liberator Squadrons 99 and 159
  

• planes piloted by allied British, American and Australian pilots

• 1st June 1945
  

• the B-24 Liberator Squadrons were stationed at the airfield Digri near Calcutta, West Bengal (India)
  

• the area of West Bengal was ideal for placing airfields as the entire terrain is virtually flat with sparse vegetation
  

• Digri was only one of many WW2 RAF airfields in that area next to airfields at Kalikunda, Dudhkundi, Piardoba, Salboni, Salua, Hijli, and Chakula

• buildings were built with locally available construction materials
  

• outside the barracks area there probably wasn’t a whole lot of entertainment for the air men
  

• in circumstances like these I would assume that the comradery amongst the men was very strong and friendships forged during these days lasted for a lifetime
  

• any ordered air attack was a highlight and remained in the men’s memories in vivid detail until high age (see interview with pilot Max Mazengarb)

• Squadron 99 flew out with a total of 10 bombers

• Squadron 159 launched with 13 bombers, plane 14 failed to take off

• each Squadron was divided into 3 sections:

->    high altitude bombers

->    low altitude bombers

->    mine layers

• the picture shows how each plane successively moves from their parking positions onto the taxiway

• B-24 Liberator Bombers

• at over 18,400 units produced by the end of WW2, the B-24 bombers were the most commonly produced Allied bombers in history
  

• the B-24 Liberator bombers under the RAF stationed around India were olive drab on top and off-white on the bottom
  

• behind the side gunner ports, large letters marked each individual plane so ground crew and crew in the tower could easily identify them from a distance

• Wing Commander Lucien Ercolani who would later on sink the Suddhadib took off at 5:41am

• all other planes would follow in roughly one-minute intervals

• the last plane of Squadron 159 was up in the air at 5:55am

• we have no information about the 10 planes of Squadron 99
  

• Squadron 159 listed

–  5 high altitude bombers (marked A, K, D, V, B)

–  4 low-altitude bombers (marked T, R, J, C)

–  4 mine layers (marked F, H, Q, U)

• in the foreground of this picture you see the B-24 marked “U” piloted by Max Mazengarb

• the flight one-way took well over 6 hours
  

• heavy monsoon rain and adverse flight conditions turned the flight into a “bumpy ride”
  

• a number of crewmen lost their breakfast in mid flight…
  

• the weather conditions actually forced one of the mine layer bombers (plane “Q”) to return to base before having reached the target area

• the flight path was most likely very direct but made sure to avoid unnecessary time over Burmese air space since the Japanese military had progressed into that area by that time and could have detected an approaching attack

• actually, the main target of the attack was the HTMS Angthong anchored at Sattahip Bay

• the high-level bombing attack on the Angthong began at 12:36pm
  

• the Angthong was successfully hit by the high-level bombers after which all attention was diverted to the secondary targets:

–  the S.S. Suddhadib and the HTMS Tachin

• a first raid of the RAF Squadrons 2 days earlier (30th May 1945) had missed all targets

• anticipating another attack, Admiral Kanok of the Royal Thai Navy then decided to disperse the vessels around the nearby islands rather than to keep all ships at Sattahip Bay (like the Angthong)

• it must have been between 12:40 and 12:45 when the first high level altitude bombers locked on the Suddhadib as their target

• the high-level bombing was conducted from an altitude of 5000 feet
  

• the weather conditions at the target area were very nice with scattered high cirrus clouds, good visibility and light

• for over 20 years the Suddhadib had been a passenger and freight vessel
  

• during the Second World War the Thai government decided to capitulate and co-operate with the Japanese (rather than risk being invaded by them)
  

• all useable ships were subscribed by the Thai Navy to help the Japanese war effort and a large shipment of fuel drums aboard the Suddhadib was destined to support the construction of the “death railway” from Thailand all the way to India
  

• England, stationed in India, was forced to halt this project and pre-empt any further Japanese advances

• each of the 5 high-level bombers and 4 low-level bombers carried 5 1000lbs. M-59 bombs

• although the B-24‘s bomb bay fits up to 8 bombs of that size, 5 bombs was the maximum on that day since extra fuel reserves needed to be carried for the extremely long round-trip flight

• the 4 mine layer bombers carried various mines, mostly American MK-13 mines (in size and shape very similar to the M-59 bombs and a perfect fit for the B-24‘s bomb bay), one M-4 mine and British V11 mines

• a tail fuse in the rear of the M-59 bomb contained a small propeller

• once the bomb was dropped from a plane, the propeller started spinning in the air draft which pushed a pin into an arming mechanism

• only after this process was the bomb armed

• there are a number of unexploded bombs around the Suddhadib wreck but very likely none of those originated from the high-level drops – all must have gone off

• the high-level bombs were set to detonate 0.25 seconds after impact

• inertia switch inside the bomb – as soon as the outer shell gets slowed down, a sliding mechanism inside continues moving forward in the original speed and causes the detonation

• no, all high level bombs missed the Suddhadib

• high-level bombing is gambling at best

• the high-level drops that hit the Angthong only minutes earlier were mostly luck

• all 15 crew men of the Suddhadib jumped over board and swam over to Ko Chuang – none of them were harmed
  

• in the picture you see the second attack wave: the low-level bombers approaching the Suddhadib from a south-east direction

• the plan for the low-level attack wave was a technique known as “skip bombing”

• bombs were dropped at very low altitude and rather than sinking, they skipped on the water surface like a “skipping stone”

• is was planned for a bomb to eventually hit the side of the ship, sink and explode underneath

• the low-level bombs were timed to detonate 11 seconds after the first impact (water or ship)
  

• crew members of the Squadron reported of bombs actually skipping over the Suddhadib!

• the Suddhadib had hardly any anti-air defense (if any at all) and  ‘although sailing under a Thai Navy war ensign’ was still just a civilian freight ship

• all crew had abandoned the ship by now

• she was a ‘sitting duck’

• this picture shows the view from the cockpit approaching the ship

• the front gunner fires away on a defenseless target (hey, you wold do the same after flying here for 7 hours…)

• Wing Commander Lucien Ercolani with his low-level bomber marked “T” was the one who dropped the bomb which brought down the S.S. Suddhadib

• the front gunner in the front turret continues firing

• the bomb dropped into the forward cargo hold which was loaded with a large shipment of fuel drums

FYI: although ‘a big hole in the hull’, the hole in the engine room on the port side of the wreck (which is now the ‘top of the wreck’) is not bomb damage but was a purpose cut, rectangular opening to crane up and salvage the steam engine which (I’m sure you noticed) is no longer in the wreck

• the fuel drums exploded – however, the bomb did not!
  

• had the bomb exploded on board, the destruction to the ship would have been massive and the wreck would not be in the shape we find it today

• the bomb most likely penetrated the hull from the inside and shot out the starboard side

• it is to be assumed that the tail fuses of the bombs never had proper time to arm themselves before they hit the water or the ship which also accounts for the multitude of other unexploded 1000lbs. bombs around the wreck in the direction of the flight path (North-West)

• like many other low-level bombs on that day it sank to the ocean’s floor – unexploded

• although the bomb did not explode on board and the damage was relatively ‘minimal’, together with the blast of fuel explosion on board it was enough to bring the ship down

• the bomb itself may have created a hole as it pierced through the hull from the inside

• seams in the hull’s plates must have burst and shifted and allow water to penetrate the hull instantly

• whatever damage it was, it happened on the starboard side which is now the underside of the wreck and is buried under 2m of rubble and sand so it will never be properly visible on a dive

• she sank at 12:55pm with a forward-starboard tilt

• after a very successful air raid (all targets had been hit) the RAF B-24 Liberator Bomber Squadrons returned home to India (they would arrive at the base between 19:34h and 21:19h after a total flight time of up to over 15 hours non-stop)

• nope…

• she came to rest on her starboard side at a depth of around 25m, the sea urchins have been chewing on her ever since and hordes of scuba divers penetrate her on a daily basis (try getting some rest like this…)
  

• a number of unexploded bombs from the low-level attack still rest on the ocean’s floor, some quite a distance away

• the one we believe might be ‘the One’ lies 28m away from the wreck in a western direction