Australian Naval History on 24 September 1935

The modified Leander class cruiser HMAS SYDNEY, (CAPT J. U. C. Fitzgerald, RN), was commissioned at Portsmouth . SYDNEY was laid down in Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Yard, Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on 8 July 1933, as HMS PHAETON, and launched 22 September 1934, having been purchased for the RAN, as HMAS SYDNEY. Mrs S. M. Bruce, (Wife of the Australian High Commissioner), performed the launching ceremony. HMAS Brisbane was decommissioned at Portsmouth during the same ceremony.