206
49.
Part V. Notes on "DELI MARU"
piracy.
21st September 1929.
S. S. "DELI MARU" was seized at 0330 while passing
the dangerous area.
area.
This is the first occasion on which
a ship has been taken in the neighbourhood of las Bay,
and had she been a British ship, carrying out the W/T
Communication Scheme, her capturn 30 near to the pirates'
base would have pro hably taken place between two reforts
and there would have been no time to organise the Naval
and aeroplane patrols.
50.
Japanese shipping had not hitherto suffered from
this type of piracy and this fact to gether with the
language difficulty - Japanese, Indian guards and Chinese
crew using brokan-English as a medium of speech
-
tended
to make the ship an easy victim to an organised gang.
51.
The guards off watch were unarmed and the officers'
arms were on the bridge. Had this not been the case there
would have been a slight chance of the attack being
checked. On the other hand it must be noted that an
unsuccessful resistance on the part of the ship's personnel
would have resulted in much bloodshed.
52.
Further, had the ship been recaptured from the
gang and the pirates either di spersed or locked behind
grilles, (with the certainty of death if captured) they
would have probably murdered the deck passengers and fired
the ship. The "SUNNING' Firacy is a case in point.
firm lost more as a result of her recapture than they
would have done had the ship been brought in to Rias Pay
e