Straits Settlement Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
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| HMS LABURNUM |
The Royal Malaysian Navy can trace its roots to the formation of the Straits Settlement Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (SSRNVR) in Singapore on 27 April 1934 by the British colonial government in Singapore. The SSRNVR was formed to assist the Royal Navy in the defence of Singapore, upon which the defence of the Malay Peninsula was based. Also behind its formation were political developments in Asia, particularly the rise of a Japan that was increasingly assertive in Asia. In 1938, the SSRNVR was expanded with a branch in Penang. On 18 January 1935, the British Admiralty presented Singapore with an Acacia-class sloop, HMS Laburnum, to serve as the Reserve's Headquarters and drill ship. It was berthed at the Telok Ayer Basin.
HMS Laburnum was sunk in February 1942, prior to the capitulation of Singapore at the beginning of Second World War in the Pacific. With the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, the SSRNVR increased the recruitment of mainly indigenous personnel into the force, to beef up local defences as Royal Navy resources were required in Europe.
Royal Navy Malay Section (aka Malay Navy)
Members of the SSRNVR were called up to active duty, and the force was augmented by members of the Royal Navy Malay Section. This formed the basis of the navy in Malaya, called the Malay Navy, manned by indigenous Malay personnel. (Similarly, the Malays were recruited into the fledgling Malay Regiment formed in 1936).
The Malay Navy had a strength of 400 men who received their training at HMS Pelandok, the Royal Navy training establishment in Malaya. Recruitment was increased and in 1941 at the outbreak of the war in Asia, the Malay Navy had a strength of 1,450 men. Throughout the Second World War, the Malay Navy served with the Allied Forces in the Indian and Pacific theatre of operations. When the war ended with the Japanese Surrender in 1945, only 600 personnel of the Malay Navy reported for muster.
Post war economic constraints saw the disbandment of the Malay Navy in 1947.
After World War II – Formation of the Malayan Naval Force (MNF)
The Malay Navy was reactivated on 24 December 1948 at the outbreak of the Malayan Emergency, the communist-inspired insurgent war against the British colonial government. The Malayan Naval Force (MNF) regulation was gazetted on 4 March 1949 by the colonial authorities, and was based at an ex-Royal Air Force radio base station in Woodlands, Singapore. The base was called the 'MNF Barracks' but was later renamed HMS Malaya. The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) was reconstituted as a joint force comprising the Singapore Division and the Federation Division, by an Ordinance passed in Singapore in 1952. The main mission of the Malayan Naval Force (MNF) was coastal patrols to stop the communists receiving supplies from the sea.
In addition, the Force was tasked with guarding the approaches to Singapore and other ports. The MNF was equipped with a River-class frigate, HMS Test, which was used as a training ship. By 1950, the MNF fleet had expanded to include the ex-Japanese minelayer HMS Laburnum, Landing Craft Tank (LST) HMS Pelandok ("Mousedeer"), motor fishing vessel HMS Panglima ("Marshal"), torpedo recovery vessel HMS Simbang and several seaward defence motor launches (SDML). In August 1952, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the title "Royal Malayan Navy" on the Malayan Naval Force in recognition of its sterling service in action during the Malayan Emergency.
Links:
Combatants of Muslim Origin in European Armies in the Twentieth Century: Far From Jihad by Xavier Bougarel, Raphaëlle Branche, Cloé Drieu
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/ (for those keen on searching for records of ancestors who had been servicemen)
Wikipedia
Copy and paste: FB Malayo-Polynesian Culture
27 July 2018 : 9.45 am
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