- Navy:
- Naval Forces of the Republic of South Moluccas, 1950
- Career:
On 25 April, 1950, Ambonese leaders, mistrustful of the new, predominantly Javanese and Muslim, Indonesian Republic’s attitude to the racial Christian minority in the region, proclaimed the independence of the Republic of South Moluccas. On 9 May, the new government created the Armed Forces of the RMS (Angkatan Perang Republik Maluku Selatan), led by former members of the KNIL (Dutch Colonial Army). The naval component consisted of several small coasters (Kapitan Jongker, Taliwang, Harmin, Melbidir, and others) used for transport troops and supplies, and a dozen Higgins-type speedboats armed with machine guns for patrol duty.
Indonesia declared a naval blockade of the territory on 1 May and sent a powerful expedition to seize the islands. During the invasion of Buru, the Indonesian corvette Pati Unus sank two Higgins boats (Jai Lang, BO-42) and captured another (D-005) at Namlea (16/07/50). During operations that led to the complete occupation of the island of Ambon (11/15/50), all armed transports and several patrol boats were sunk or captured. South Moluccan forces took refuge on the island of Ceram in December and kept up a guerrilla war until December 1963 when their leader, Christian Soumokil, was captured.
