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Indian Ocean raid (1944)
In March 1944, a force of three Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) heavy cruisers raided Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean. The cruisers departed Japanese-held territory on 1 March with the support of other IJN vessels and aircraft. On 9 March, they encountered and sank the British steamer ''Behar'', with the heavy cruiser picking up over 100 survivors. Fearing detection, the Japanese force subsequently returned to the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), arriving on 16 March. Two days later, most of ''Behar''s crew and passengers were murdered on board ''Tone''. Following the war the commander of the raid, Rear Admiral Naomasa Sakonju, was executed for this war crime and ''Tone''s captain Haruo Mayazumi was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
==Background==
In February 1944, the Japanese Combined Fleet withdrew from its base at Truk in the Central Pacific to Palau and Singapore. The appearance of a powerful Japanese naval force at Singapore concerned the Allies, as it was feared that these ships could potentially conduct raids in the Indian Ocean and against Western Australia.〔Odgers (1968), pp. 134–135〕 In response, the Allies strengthened their naval and air forces in the area by transferring two British light cruisers from the Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as several U.S. Navy warships from the Pacific. The number of air units in Ceylon and the Bay of Bengal region was also increased.〔Gill (1968), p. 387〕 Admiral James Somerville, the commander of the British Eastern Fleet, feared that the Japanese would repeat their devastating Indian Ocean raid of early 1942, and on 25 February requested permission to withdraw his fleet from its base at Trincomalee so that it was not at risk from the larger Japanese force. The Admiralty rejected this request, and directed that the fleet should remain at Trincomalee unless it was threatened by a superior Japanese force as its withdrawal would affect morale and harm Britain's prestige in the region. It was agreed, however, that the Eastern Fleet should not engage superior Japanese forces and could withdraw if Somerville judged this necessary.〔Gill (1968), p. 388〕
In late February, Vice-Admiral Shiro Takasu—the Commander in Chief, South-West Area fleet—ordered the heavy cruisers , , and to raid Allied shipping on the main route between Aden and Fremantle. This force was commanded by Vice Admiral Naomasa Sakonju on board ''Aoba''. In his instructions to Sakonju, Vice Admiral Takasu directed that if the force captured Allied merchant seamen all prisoners, other than radio operators and other personnel who might possess useful information, were to be killed.〔 Sakonju did not question this order. The Japanese cruisers embarked specialised boarding parties for this operation as it was hoped that they could capture merchant ships to alleviate Japan's shipping shortage.〔Royal Navy Historical Section (1957), pp. 183–184〕
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