Aerial Photo
PART OF A SERIES OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWING CHANGI AIRBASE, SUNGEI MANDAI, NORTH COAST, SOUTH COAST, PULAU BUKOM
The area of Loyang and Kampong Loyang with Sungei Tampines at bottom left. The Loyang Jetty with Sungei Selarang on the right and Fairy Point at top of photo. The jetty and buildings behind it were in the compound of H.M. Naval Base B.D. Depot - Loyang. B.D. stood for Boom Defence, and the acronym for the Boom Defence Depot was BDO. Built in 1939-40 to defend the Seletar Naval Base (located at Sembawang) BDO Loyang had a long anti-submarine boom net that stretched from the BDO at Loyang to Pulau Ubin. The large hanger-like building with the corrugated roof to the right of the jetty was the boom store. The building to the left of the jetty was the mine store. The boom net had a gate in it that could be opened to allow friendly ships to pass through.  At 0930 hours on 31 July 1945, two Royal Navy midget submarines, HMS XE3 and HMS XE1, slipped through the gate of the boom defence at Loyang, that the Japanese had carelessly left open, and made their way to the Seletar Naval Base, where they laid limpet mines and timed demolition charges under the Japanese cruiser Takao, which had been damaged in the battle of Leyte Gulf and was moored off the Naval base to serve as a floating flak battery.  The British submarines escaped back through the open boom defence net, and surfacing a safe distance away, the crew of XE3 heard a loud explosion, but it was only after the Japanese surrender that they learnt the extent of the damage caused. The Takao was badly damaged but could not sink completely as it had been moored in shallow water. It was later re-floated by the British and sunk in the Malacca straits in 1946 as a gunnery target. Lieutenant Ian Edward Fraser and Acting Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis from the XE3 were both awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in this action.
02/03/1959
20120000792 - 0008
207963
Viewing permitted. Use and reproduction only with permission.
Aerial photographs by the British Royal Air Force between 1940 to 1970s, from a collection held by the National Archives of Singapore. Crown copyright.
Updated with contribution from James Tann on 3 December 2019.
Updated with contribution from Beng Tang on 25 July 2022.

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The area of Loyang and Kampong Loyang with Sungei Tampines at bottom left. The Loyang Jetty with Sungei Selarang on the right and Fairy Point at top of photo. The jetty and buildings behind it were in the compound of H.M. Naval Base B.D. Depot - Loyang. B.D. stood for Boom Defence, and the acronym for the Boom Defence Depot was BDO. Built in 1939-40 to defend the Seletar Naval Base (located at Sembawang) BDO Loyang had a long anti-submarine boom net that stretched from the BDO at Loyang to Pulau Ubin. The large hanger-like building with the corrugated roof to the right of the jetty was the boom store. The building to the left of the jetty was the mine store. The boom net had a gate in it that could be opened to allow friendly ships to pass through.  At 0930 hours on 31 July 1945, two Royal Navy midget submarines, HMS XE3 and HMS XE1, slipped through the gate of the boom defence at Loyang, that the Japanese had carelessly left open, and made their way to the Seletar Naval Base, where they laid limpet mines and timed demolition charges under the Japanese cruiser Takao, which had been damaged in the battle of Leyte Gulf and was moored off the Naval base to serve as a floating flak battery.  The British submarines escaped back through the open boom defence net, and surfacing a safe distance away, the crew of XE3 heard a loud explosion, but it was only after the Japanese surrender that they learnt the extent of the damage caused. The Takao was badly damaged but could not sink completely as it had been moored in shallow water. It was later re-floated by the British and sunk in the Malacca straits in 1946 as a gunnery target. Lieutenant Ian Edward Fraser and Acting Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis from the XE3 were both awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in this action.

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