On This Day

On This Day - 27 September

1862

HMS BEATRICE, (99 ton topsail schooner), was commissioned. The vessel was jointly owned by the Admiralty and the South Australian Government, and was that State's first man-o-war.

1914

Wireless transmissions from HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), were picked up by the German station at Yap, 1000 miles away

1940

The boom working vessel HMAS KANGAROO, was commissioned. KANGAROO was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 15 November 1939, and launched on 4 May 1940. Mrs Boucher, (Wife of CDRE M. W. S. BOUCHER, RN, Second Member of the Naval Board), performed the launching ceremony

1941

HMAS STUART, (destroyer), arrived home at Williamstown, VIC, for a refit

1942

HMA Ships WARRNAMBOOL, and KALGOORLIE, (corvettes), arrived back in Darwin, NT, after rescuing the ship's company of HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), from Betano Bay. Some were wounded, but not a man was lost.

1943

During Operation Jaywick, limpet mines were fastened to seven ships in Singapore Harbour, by Commandos launched from the Special Services vessel HMAS KRAIT. The largest ship attacked was the 10,000 ton tanker SINKOKU MARU. An estimated 37,000 to 39,000 tons of enemy shipping was sunk or damaged. All three parties returned safely to the rendezvous at Dongas Island. Major I. Lyon recorded in his journal a tense moment in the operation: "Halfway through the work, (attaching the mines to the ship's hull), Huston drew my attention to a man watching us intently from a porthole ten feet above. Just before we left he withdrew his head. The alarm was not sounded." The Fremantle based USS BONEFISH, (submarine), sank the Japanese troop ship KASHIMA MARU in the South China Sea.

1945

The British Navies laid 260,000 mines in WWII, which sank or damaged 1588 enemy vessels. The Axis laid 225,000 mines which claimed 1117 victims.

1946

HMAS Ballarat paid off into Reserve at Sydney and was sold to a Hong Kong shipping company, China Traders Ltd, on 10 July 1947. Ballarat (I) did not leave Australian waters and in December 1950 she was resold to the Ta Hing Company (Hong Kong) Ltd. She was subsequently refitted for the Chinese coastal trade and renamed Carmencita. In January 1951, however, the Commonwealth Government issued a Statutory Order banning her from proceeding to Chinese waters. In 1953 she was again sold, on this occasion to John Manners and Co (Aust) Pty Ltd, Sydney. It has been reported that the ship was broken up in 1953. HMAS Bathurst was placed in Reserve for disposal after steaming 160,165 miles. She was sold on 21 June 1948 to T Carr and Co of Sydney as scrap. HMAS Bendigo paid off at Sydney. Since commissioning she had steamed 280,100 kilometres. Bendigo was sold as a seagoing vessel on 5 May 1947 to Ta Hing Co (Hong Kong) and was renamed Cheung Hing. She was later acquired by the Navy of the People’s Republic of China, converted from a merchant ship and rearmed for naval service under the name of Loyang. HMAS Goulburn paid off. She was sold as a seagoing vessel to Captain SP Bell, of Pacific Enterprise Incorporated, for £12,500 on 13 October 1947. She was later resold to PJ Lobo & Co, Hong Kong, for £15,000, and again to AH Carrol, acting as agent for Ta Hing Co (Hong Kong) Ltd, in December 1950. However, a Commonwealth Statutory Order issued in January 1951 barred her removal from Australian waters. Goulburn was resold to John Manners & Co (Aust) Pty Ltd, of Sydney, in 1953 and renamed Benita

1949

HMAS KARANGI, (boom defence vessel), lifted the sunken wreck of the merchant vessel EASR RIVER in Newcastle Harbour, NSW.

1969

VADM Sir Victor Smith, KBE, CB, DSC, flew his flag as Chief of Naval Staff in HMAS BRISBANE, (guided missile destroyer), off Vietnam.

1974

The landing craft heavy HMAS BALIKPAPAN, (LEUT M. D. Otter, RAN), was commissioned. BALIKPAPAN was laid down in Walker's Yard, Maryborough, QLD, and completed in 1972. Mrs Peacock, (Wife of the Minister for the Army), performed the launching ceremony for the Army. Although BALIKPAPAN was the first LCH built, she was the last to commission into the RAN. All eight craft under construction in 1972-1973 were originally planned for the Australian Army.

1988

HMS ARK ROYAL, (aircraft carrier), arrived at Sydney to participate in the Bicentennial Celebrations.