The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS BENDIGO, (LEUT S. J. Griffith, RANR), was commissioned. BENDIGO was laid down at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 12 August 1940, and launched on 1 March 1941. Dame Mary Hughes, (Wife of W. M. Hughes, the Federal Attorney-General and Minister for the Navy), performed the launching ceremony.
HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), engaged in a spirited action against German aircraft which made moonlight attacks on HMS FORMIDABLE, (aircraft carrier), and the ships of Force H, south of Malta. The bombers were fought off without loss to the convoy.