Operation Rimau

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Operation Rimau
Part of the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II
Operation Rimau commemorative marker, Rockingham, Western Australia
Date 10–16 October 1944 Location Singapore Harbour; Riau, Indonesia Result Mission failed
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Z Special Unit
Commanders and leaders
N/A	Ivan Lyon †
Strength
N/A	23 commandos 1 junk
Casualties and losses
claimed 3 ships sunk	1 junk scuttled 13 killed or died in custody 10 executed

Operation Rimau was an attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, carried out by an Allied commando unit Z Special Unit, during World War II using Australian built Hoehn military MKIII folboats.^[1] It was a follow-up to the successful Operation Jaywick which had taken place in September 1943, and was again led by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, an infantry regiment of the British Army.

Originally part of a much larger operation called Operation Hornbill,^[2] the aim of Rimau was to sink Japanese shipping by paddling the folboats in the dark and placing limpet mines on ships. It was originally intended that motorised semi-submersible canoes, known as "Sleeping Beauties", would be used to gain access to the harbour, however, they resorted to folboats. After the raiding party's discovery by local Malay authorities, a total of thirteen men (including raid commander Lyon) were killed during battles with the Japanese military at a number of island locations or were captured and died of their wounds in Japanese captivity. A group of ten commandos were transported to Outram Road Jail in Singapore after capture by the Japanese, were tried on charges of perfidy and espionage in a Japanese kangaroo court and executed on 7 July 1945.^[3][4]