the men in the lifeboats had given the deceased a seaman's burial and then exchanged thoughts about what to do next. The first officer, Rehwinkel, wanted to return to the tanker, but only one man in the gun crew was willing to go with him. Most of the others were convinced the Ondina was about to go down. Not without trouble, Rehwinkel managed to assemble a small number of men and returned to the ship, where counterflooding reduced the list. Inspection revealed that her engines were also still intact. Small fires were extinguished and the last crew members in the lifeboats were taken aboard after they were convinced there was no danger of sinking. The long leg back to Fremantle began. The lifeboats were patched up as well as possible, in case the Aikoku Maru came back. Return The British sailor Henry was in very bad shape. He had a crushed leg and after two days the first officer was forced to send out a signal for help. The signal was sent uncoded, because the codebooks had all been thrown overboard when "abandon ship" was ordered. This unexpected signal caused a shock in Colombo, as the Ondina had been reported sunk and logically, the British suspected a Japanese trick. A request went out from Fremantle to report her position. Wary of a trap, the Ondina did not reply. Without medical attention for her wounded, the Ondina steamed towards Fremantle. On the 17th an Australian PBY Catalina flying-boat was sighted, about northwest of Fremantle. The lookouts had reported a ship some time earlier and the Catalina was asked if that ship could provide much needed help. The unknown vessel proved to be a hospital ship where doctors immediately began a series of blood transfusions which succeeded in saving Henry's life. On 18 November, the Ondina entered Fremantle after a journey only a few ships had experienced and even fewer had survived. The corvette Bengal had entered Diego Garcia the day before. Ondina remained in Australia as a depot ship until 1943, when she was finally repaired. Both Bengal and Ondina survived the war. Aftermath In retrospect, this battle was not only a tactical success for the Allies, it also had strategic implications. The loss of the Hōkoku Maru forced the Japanese to abandon raider warfare and subsequently the Imperial Japanese Navy did not try to break the lifeline again until early