RAN Memorial Service For Japanese M24 Submariners

The Hon. Bruce Billson, MP
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

Ceremony Marks Loss Of M24 Japanese Midget Submarine

The Royal Australian Navy held two memorial services today for the relatives of the submariners who died when the World War Two Japanese Midget submarine, the M24, was lost on the night of 31 May - 1 June 1942.

The Minister for Veterans Affairs and the Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Mr Bruce Billson; the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Shalders; and Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Nigel Coates, attended the memorial services along with the Japanese Ambassador to Australia, HE Mer Hideaki Ueda; the Japanese Defence Attaché, Captain Kazushige Nagai; and the relatives of the lost crew of the M24.

"Those present at the ceremony gathered to pay tribute to the submariners' devotion to duty and their display of honour in giving their lives for their country," Mr Billson said.

Coinciding with the visit of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) Training Squadron, the general memorial service held at the HMAS Kuttabul memorial site at Garden Island in Sydney included a parade by 150 members of the Training Squadron.

A private ceremony was held in the afternoon, which included a viewing of Japanese Midget submarine artifacts at the Naval Heritage Centre followed by an at-sea commemoration at the site of the M24 off Sydney's Northern beaches.

"The discovery of the M24 Japanese Midget submarine in late November 2006 by a team of divers from the No Frills Divers company represents an end to an enduring maritime mystery," Mr Billson said.

"As the M24 submarine is thought to contain the remains of the two Japanese submariners, Sub-Lieutenant Katsuhisa Ban and Petty Officer Memoru Ashibe, Navy divers collected sand from the site of the M24 that was presented to the relatives of the lost crew at the at-sea commemoration today," Mr Billson said.

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, The Hon. Mr Malcolm Turnbull MP added that, "To protect the M24 submarine, which is of international historical significance, it has been declared as a shipwreck under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 and a protected zone has also been declared around the site to ensure that the integrity of the wreck, its relics and human remains are undisturbed."

ENDS

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