Seaman who faced the brunt single-handedly

Date: November 22, 2000

Time: 0500 hours

Location: Off Mullaithivu shore

FAC (Fast Attack Craft) P 495, was on her way from Trincomalee on a detachment to the North. Leading Seaman U.G.T Kumara, a gunner of P 495, was the eldest in a family of three children, with one younger brother in the Sri Lanka Air Force and a sister who is married to one of his batchmates in the Navy. For Leading Seaman Kumara, joining the Navy has always been his dream.

"I remember when we were small my brother challenged me, saying that he would come in an Air Force aircraft and shoot me, I just put a lid on it, realizing that, that would be the best and only reply I could give, at the time."

Hailing from Matale district, he had little exposure to the military, though his enthusiasm was heightened by a few documentaries he had watched on TV at the village temple. His first sight of the Navy was when he arrived at the Galle Face on a school trip, when he saw a real SL Navy ship for the first time.

He had promised himself then and there that he would some day join the Navy. After receiving his ordinary level education at Ehelepola Veera Madduma Bandara College, Matale, he joined Pallewela Maha Bodhi Vidyalaya for his Advanced Level and went on to join the Navy on April 24, 1997, as a recruit.

FAC, P 495 was just returning from patrolling the Manakkadu area when the radar indicated the presence of some 14 to 15 LTTE boats. The OIC (Officer In Charge) of P 495, Lt. Commander Rajive Senaratne ordered his crew to get into firing position. Two other FACs P 422 and P 494 along with P 495 sped towards the LTTE fleet.

The LTTE boats commenced firing at the FACs and the three FACs retaliated with a counter attack. P 495 raced towards the sea for reloading and returned with a fresh assault. "That's when we detected two suicide boats heading our way." Suicide boats are easily detected via the radar because other LTTE boats stay clear from FACs, at a 500 to 900 metre range.

Both engines of P 495 took a hit, sending it out of control momentarily, in a flat spin. But the crew of the P 495 proved exceptionally brave and proactive, eliminating any possibility of the suicide boats getting anywhere near enough to do major damage. "The sailor behind me got shot on the head and the abdomen.

On board an FAC there is no place to take cover. The LTTE used 20 mm guns as their assault weapons." The gun mount of his MPMG (Multi Purpose Machine Gun) - the kind Kumara was using - took a bad hit, his right thumb chopped off and, fell on the deck. "There was a towel in the wheelhouse and I wrapped it around my hand."

All other guns on board were too heavy for Kumara to handle. But his yearning to serve the country at a time of need was greater. His only choice was to supply ammunition to other sailors engaged in combat and firing at enemy targets using an AGL (Automatic Grenade Launcher). It was very easy to handle, he held it with his left hand and fired with a slight yank of his elbow. By this time there were several casualties, with two bodies.

The towel wrapping on Kumara's hand was drenched with blood and was getting heavier by the minute, a liability at such a vital moment. He squeezed the blood out of the towel every now and then, replacing it on the wound. "We never gave up firing."

0900 hours:

Three men dead. The LTTE was 3.5 to 4 nautical miles from the Mullaithivu shores. This meant easy reinforcements for them. When they ran out of ammunition, reinforcements turned up from the shores in no time at all. "It was like home for them."

And Sri Lanka Navy was close to enemy land area. "It was like a dream. There were three suicide boats and we didn't let them come anywhere near us." The Third Officer In Charge took a hit to his leg and fell into the water. Leading Seaman Kumara threw him a rope and pulled him back on board. He told the officer not to shoot but to just sit tight.

"I gave a good backing to others as best as I could and performed first aid on the wounded."

After a while the LTTE fleet started to retreat. But by that time much damage was done. "There were splinters of glass, gut and flesh everywhere." By this time P 495 was flooded, a height of almost two metres. "I was deeply disturbed.

The dead colleagues were my friends. We ate and had practically lived together." On an average P 495 launches 50 to 60 attacks a year. No one on board was ever killed until this particular attack. "But we were trained for this. Lt. Commander Rajive Senaratne, was very tough and always boosted our morale.

He was the kind of officer who simply refused to wear body armour and insisted on fighting side by side with his fellow sailors." The other FAC, P 494 helped out with the casualties who were later transferred to a hospital.

Leading seaman U.G.T. Kumara was awarded Rana Wickrama Padakkama for 'going beyond the call of duty', by saving the life of his third Commanding Officer, performing first aid and extracting his fellow sailors who were injured and continuing to fire at the LTTE boats, while being injured himself.

This week's token of gratitude is once again dedicated to a national hero of the Sri Lanka Navy.