Part of the original hull of the KRAIT which transported the canoeists to raid Singapore Harbour in 1943
Date1934
Object number00055869
NameTimber fragment
MediumTimber, paper, ink
DimensionsOverall: 47 × 175 × 112 mm, 470 g
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with the support of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account and the Australian National Maritime Museum Foundation through the generosity of the families of Ted Carse's brothers.
DescriptionPiece of wood souvenired from MV KRAIT's hull by its commander Lieutenant Hubert Edward 'Ted' Carse after the end of Operation Jaywick.
A label affixed to the wood reads 'PART OF THE HULL OF THE KRAIT ... Section of the original hull of the KRAIT which transported the canoeists to raid Singapore Harbour in 1943'. If part of the original hull then it would date to 1934 when the vessel was built in Japan.HistoryOn the night of 26 September 1943, six members of Australia’s Z Special Unit carried out a daring clandestine raid against Imperial Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour. To avoid detection, the men had been transported deep into enemy territory aboard a Japanese-built fishing vessel, KRAIT, assumed the appearance of local fishermen, and launched their attack using folding kayaks and limpet mines. The mission, Operation Jaywick, was a complete success, resulting in the damage or destruction of seven Japanese ships and no Allied losses.
Members of Operation Jaywick were assigned to Z Special Unit (also known as ‘Z Force’), a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit formed by British Special Operations Executive officers who escaped Singapore. Although predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit also included British, Dutch, New Zealand, Timorese and Indonesian nationals among its ranks. Training for the raid took place at Refuge Bay, a remote and inaccessible area located along the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales. Kofuku Maru’s background as a fishing vessel made it an ideal candidate for the covert role of Operation Jaywick’s ‘mother ship’. Following its selection for Operation Jaywick, the vessel was renamed KRAIT after a venomous snake indigenous to Southern and Southeast Asia.
Following the raid’s successful conclusion, 'Ted' Carse continued to work with Z Force. Most of the commandos who participated in Operation Jaywick were tragically killed in a follow-up raid on Singapore Harbour called Operation Rimau. Carse was one of the few Jaywick operatives to survive the war, was mentioned in despatches in 1944, and discharged from military service in 1946. He was later instrumental in facilitating the return of KRAIT (which had also survived the war and ended up in Borneo) to Australia during the 1960s.SignificanceThe timber fragment is highly significant due to its association with MV KRAIT and Lt H.E. 'Ted' Carse, who acted as the vessel's master and navigator during Operation Jaywick, and was largely responsible for its successful return voyage to Singapore Harbour (and by extension the successful outcome of the raid).Because KRAIT went on to participate in other covert operations run by SOE-Australia, souveniring of the vessel's hull would have been unsanctioned, and highly unlikely. The reason Carse reportedly souvenired the timber fragment is unknown, but he may have expected KRAIT to be destroyed or captured during the war, and consequently kept a fragment of the hull as a keepsake. No other examples of souvenired fragments of KRAIT's hull are known to exist in the collections of an Australian public museum or collecting institution.
