Eighty years ago, a group of elite soldiers and sailors who had sailed almost 4000km from Western Australia carried out a devastating raid in Japanese-controlled Singapore.
The exploits of Operation Jaywick that culminated on September 26, 1943, during World War II are being commemorated today at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.
The daring long-distance raid by 14 men in a captured fishing boat heralded the creation of Australia's elite special forces.
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Operation Jaywick was the mastermind of Australian merchant seaman Bill Reynolds and British army Captain Ivan Lyon.
Reynolds in February 1942 had salvaged the ship as Singapore fell and had then delivered more than 1000 evacuees, shipwrecked on islands to the south of Singapore. to an escape route through Sumatra, set up by Lyon.
He told Lyon how patrolling enemy aircraft had taken little interest in the vessel when they spotted it during the voyage.
The pair devised a plan to sneak back to Singapore in the boat with a team of commandos disguised as Asian fishermen.
The mission was assigned to SOE-Australia, a specialist, a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit made up of Australian, British, New Zealand, Dutch, Timorese and Indonesian troops.
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After months of extensive training, the captured fishing boat renamed the Krait, after the deadly snake, left Exmouth in Western Australia carrying the raiding party, their weapons, explosives and canoes.
During the perilous voyage, the crew and soldiers wore sarongs and covered their bodies in dark tan make-up to disguise themselves as fishermen.
After entering the Java Sea, the six-man raiding team left the Krait and approached Singapore harbour in canoes.
Late on September 26, 1943, the six soldiers in their three canoes slipped through the night towards their targets.
They attached magnetic limpet mines to seven enemy ships and fled the harbour undetected.
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Early the next morning, six explosions shattered the darkness and six Japanese vessels – amounting to an estimated 26,000 tonnes – were sunk or severely damaged. One set of mines failed to detonate.
The Krait later collected the canoes and their crews before sailing back to Exmouth.
Meanwhile, in Singapore, the Japanese were stunned by the audacity and success of Operation Jaywick.
Not aware that it was an enemy plot, they immediately suspected the civilian population.
Local Chinese and Malays, prisoners of war and European civilians topped the list of suspects, and a wave of arrests, torture and executions followed.
These reprisals are known in Singapore as the "double tenth" after October 10, the date that mass arrests by the Japanese began.
After Operation Jaywick, Krait operated on secret missions off north-west Australia.
Today it is a a registered war memorial based in Sydney Harbour and owned by the Australian War Memorial, jointly operated with the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Author and historian Lynette Silver has written three books – including Deadly Secrets: The Singapore Raids – about Operation Jaywick.
She told 9news.com.au the mission has a special place in Australian military history.
"Operation Jaywick was the most successful clandestine raid carried out by Australians in World War II.
"It is a shining example of how to execute such a mission deep into enemy territory and remains an inspiration to us all, even after 80 years."
