Near death experience
STORIES and accounts of different people’s experiences of war are often chilling.
An account of a neardeath experience by a Japanese naval officer during World War II that was published in The Fiji Times on January 22, 1985, took readers through his harrowing ordeal.
Retired war veteran Osamu Sugimura, while on a business trip to the country, shared his experiences and told of how he swam to safety in the icy waters off the coast of Japan, after his patrol boat was torpedoed by an American submarine.
At the time he told the tale, Mr Sugimura was 65 but he had no difficulty in reminiscing when he was onboard the cruiser Ohi, where he held the rank of lieutenant in the imperial Japanese Navy.
“I have never come closer to death than on that dark cold morning of May 5, 1943,” Mr Sugimura said.
At the time the story was published, he held the position of marine superintendent with Poseidon Techni
Describing his experiences during World War II to Mr Leo Smith, right, who runs a local cargo service, is Osamu Sugimura who was in Suva.
cal Services in Japan, and was in the country on a business trip, and to meet a friend, Leo Smith, a wellknown local who had acquired a sea cargo business from Marine Pacific Ltd.
Mr Sugimura, recalling his war days , said he had joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943.
Prior to that, he had enrolled at the Tokyo Marine Academy where he successfully undertook a three-year course in marine engineering.
“I was out on my first patrol
onboard the cruiser Ohi when we were attacked.” Mr Sugimura said he escaped death by minutes.
“Luck was on my side too, because, just before we were attacked, I was in the engine room on duty when my captain called me over the radio.
“Why he called me up to the deck, I will never know, but I know that if it had not been for that call, I would have been dead that day.”
Mr Sugimura said after receiving the order from the captain, we went up to the
deck straight away.
“I was only a few steps away from the deck door when suddenly, there was a loud bang, followed by three explosions.
“By then, I knew that we had been attacked by a submarine and I had a dreadful feeling that our cruiser would sink.”
He said from the way the cruiser shook side to side, it was easy to tell the ship would sink.
“Also, we were informed by our commander officer in Tokyo that there was no
danger of aerial attack, but we were warned to keep a sharp look out for submarines, which were known for operating in the area.
Mr Sugimura said the Ohi sank five minutes after the attack.
“I can never forget what happened that morning. There was screaming and yelling going all over the place.
“Dark smoke, fire and all kinds of smell was pouring in from all directions.”
He said out of the 50 crewmen onboard, only five had survived.
“Most of my mates never got the chance to jump ship, because there was fire everywhere since it had spread very quickly.”
Mr Sugimura said when the ship was struck, he was thrown off balance.
“I quickly got up and grabbed a life-jacket and jumped into the cold, icy water.
Mr Sugimura said that their captain went down with the ship.
“The Americans who attacked us did not bother to see if there were any survivors. They came quietly and left quietly.
Mr Sugimura said he and four others had spent over nine hours drifting in the cold waters before being rescued by a Japanese fishing boat.
“During the time we were drifting at sea, I kept thinking about how the ship went down.
I also thought about the sharks that were plentiful in the area and if we were going to be rescued.
Back in the Japanese capital, the four survivors were hospitalised, given a week’s leave before resuming duties on a different naval ship.
He served in seven different ships during the World War II, in his role as an engineer.
Mr Sugimura told his story while on his fourth visit to Fiji .
He had been in the country other times before for various business trips.