HMIS Bengal (J243) was a Bathurst class corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 of the Royal Indian Navy

Royal Indian Navy

The Royal Indian Navy was the naval force of British India. Along with the Presidency armies and the later British Indian Army it comprised the Armed Forces of British India....

 (RIN) where she served during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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History

HMIS Bengal was ordered from Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company, Australia for the Royal Indian Navy in 1940. She was commissioned into the RIN in 1942.

Operations in World War II

HMIS Bengal was a part of the Eastern Fleet during World War II, and escorted numerous convoys between 1942-45.

On 11 November 1942, Bengal was escorting the Dutch tanker Ondina to the southwest of Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Two Japanese Raiders armed with 6-in guns attacked the Ondina. Bengal fired her 12 pounders, Ondina fired her 102 mm and both hit the Hokoku Maru which shortly blew up and sank. The other raider escaped. Both the Bengal and the Ondina were damaged in the action, but reached port safely.