It involved cutting the Japanese submarine communications cable linking Saigon and Singapore.
[1] operating from an X-Craft midget submarine in the Saigon River delta on 31 July 1945.
[2][3] Operation Sabre was directed at the Hong Kong to Saigon telephone cable, and carried out by XE4, which was towed to within 40 miles (64 km) of the Mekong Delta by the submarine HMS Spearhead.
Steered by Vernon Ginger Coles XE4 looked for the two telephone cables by using a towed grapnel.
[4] Lieutenant Maxwell H. Shean, DSO and bar, Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve, was awarded the American Bronze Star Medal in March 1947 for meritorious achievement as the commanding officer of the midget submarine HMS XE4.