HMAS VENDETTA, (destroyer), reached Port Phillip after an epic 72 day tow from Singapore. The destroyer had been immobilized in dry dock at Singapore when the Japanese invaded, and was ...
Australian Naval History on 13 April 1942
The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS GERALDTON, (LCDR H. M. Harris, RNR), was commissioned. GERALDTON was laid down at Poole and Steel’s Yard, Sydney, on 20 March 1940. She was ...
Australian Naval History on 12 April 1942
The Fremantle-based US Submarine SEARAVEN, (LCDR. H. Cassedy, USN), rescued 33 Australian soldiers north of Koepang, Timor. To effect the rescue, Ensign G. C. Cook, USN, was landed on two ...
Australian Naval History on 11 April 1942
The destroyer HMS QUICKMATCH, (later HMAS QUICKMATCH), was launched at White’s Yard in England. ...
Australian Naval History on 9 April 1942
The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS LAUNCESTON, (LCDR P.G. Collins, RANR), was commissioned. LAUNCESTON was laid down at Evans Deakin Yard, Brisbane, on 23 December 1940, and launched on 30 ...
Australian Naval History on 7 April 1942
HMAS WARRAMUNGA, the second Tribal class destroyer built in Australia, was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney. The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS KALGOORLIE, (LCDR H.A. Litchfield, RANR), was commissioned. KALGOORLIE ...
Australian Naval History on 6 April 1942
RFA Bishopdale arrived Sydney and was made available to the RAN and operated as an Australian Fleet Auxiliary until returned in 1945 ...
Australian Naval History on 3 April 1942
A lifeboat, commanded by PO J. Tyrrell, containing 23 survivors from HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), surrendered to the Japanese at Semangka Bay, Sumatra. The party set out to sail to Australia ...
Australian Naval History on 2 April 1942
ADML Sir James Somerville ordered his battleships HMS RAMILLES, REVENGE, RESOLUTION, and ROYAL SOVEREIGN, to withdraw to Addu Atoll to avoid a clash with ADML Naguma’s superior modern fleet. The ...
Australian Naval History on 28 March 1942
The raid on St Nazaire, France, was conducted with the aim of damaging the port facilities there. LEUT N. B. H. Wallis, RANVR, (ML 192), and SBLT P. W. Landy, ...
Australian Naval History on 26 March 1942
The merchant ship LAKATOI arrived at Cairns, QLD, with 214 troops and civilians evacuated from Japanese-occupied New Britain. ...
Australian Naval History on 24 March 1942
US Congress accepted an Australian proposal for dividing the Pacific into distinct naval operational zones. The two areas proposed were the Southwest Pacific and the Southern Pacific. “Harris’s Navy”, an ...
Australian Naval History on 20 March 1942
HMAS MAROUBRA was commissioned as an auxiliary minesweeper. The vessel was sunk by enemy action in 1943. HMAS NORMAN, (destroyer), located a torpedoed allied tanker in the Indian Ocean, and ...
Australian Naval History on 18 March 1942
HMAS WESTRALIA, (armed merchant cruiser), landed a garrison and engineers on Efate Island, New Hebrides, to develop a base for operations against the Japanese through the Solomon and Bismarck Groups. ...
Australian Naval History on 17 March 1942
General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia and was appointed Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific. HMS KINGSTON OLIVINE, (LEUT T. Lewis, RANVR), took in tow the ...
Australian Naval History on 15 March 1942
A boat from HMAS PERTH, (LEUT Thode), surrendered to the Japanese at Tjilatjap, 16 days after the sinking of the cruiser in the Battle of Sunda Strait. The party of ...
Australian Naval History on 14 March 1942
HMAS TAMWORTH, (minesweeper), was launched at Walkers Ltd., QLD. She was paid off in 1946 and transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy, and renamed TIDORE. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 March 1942
HMS NAIAD, (cruiser), was sunk while escorting a convoy to Malta. The cruiser’s First Lieutenant, LCDR A. S. Storey, RAN, was awarded the DSC for conspicuous bravery in the operation. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 March 1942
The flotilla of 7 corvettes, HMA Ships MARYBOROUGH, GOULBURN, BURNIE, BALLARAT, TOOWOOMBA, WOLLONGONG, and BENDIGO, reached Fremantle, WA, from Tjilatjap. ...
Australian Naval History on 9 March 1942
Thirteen survivors from HMAS YARRA, (sloop), were picked up by the Dutch submarine K11 in the Indian Ocean. Coastwatcher P. Good was executed by the Japanese at Kessa on Buka ...
Australian Naval History on 7 March 1942
Australian Coastwatcher SBLT A.R. Olander, RANVR, was believed executed by the Japanese in New Britain. HMAS IPSWICH, (minesweeper), was launched at Mort’s Dock, Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 6 March 1942
HMAS MARYBOROUGH, (minesweeper), signalled the old coal-burning Dutch ship VERSPICK, which had straggled behind the convoy: “Get all those bloody passengers into the stoke hole”. ...
Australian Naval History on 5 March 1942
VADM Nagumo’s fleet bombarded Tjilatjap, sinking 17 ships. The Dutch disputed the report, claiming 16 vessels had been scuttled in the port. Two days before the attack the Australian Minesweeping ...
Australian Naval History on 4 March 1942
HMA Ships, MARYBOROUGH, (CMDR G.L. Cant, RAN, Commander of the Australian corvettes), BURNIE, GOULBURN, BALLARAT, TOOWOOMBA, WOLLONGONG, and BENDIGO, (corvettes), were headed for Australia, from Tjilatjap. The sloop HMAS YARRA, ...
Australian Naval History on 3 March 1942
The Commonwealth Government appointed Mr Justice Lowe as Royal Commissioner to inquire into the circumstances of the Japanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942. The Australian transport KOOLAMA ...