Australian Naval History on 14 October 1952

808 Squadron made history by landing four Sea Furies aboard SYDNEY while the ship was at anchor. Lieutenant Commander Julian Cavanagh, Lieutenant Fred Lane and Sub Lieutenants Peter Wyatt and Andy Powell had flown across Australia from Nowra in battle formation and were originally planned to land aboard SYDNEY before she entered Fremantle. Poor weather meant that the exercise was postponed until after the ship had left Fremantle and the Sea Furies instead landed at RAAF Base Pearce. SYDNEY found favourable conditions, however, in the lee of Rottnest Island and the four aircraft scrambled quickly to land on Sydney while she remained at anchor. .