On This Day

1919-1938 > Depresssion and between the wars

December 31, 1938

LCDR. R. B. M. Long, Director of Naval Intelligence, reported 34 clandestine landings on Australian territory by Japanese agents in the year. A Japanese trawler, fitted with sophisticated radio and weapon detection equipment was also seized.

October 29, 1938

HMAS KOOKABURRA, (boom defence vessel), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

October 27, 1938

The Sydney Morning Herald reported:- ‘The Navy found itself with two of its four cruisers undergoing refits, its one remaining heavy cruiser still lacking protective armour without which ships of this class are considered unfit for war’. The un-armoured cruiser was HMAS CANBERRA, lost at Savo Island in 1942.

September 28, 1938

HMAS ALBATROSS, (seaplane carrier), was transferred to the RN as part payment for HMAS HOBART, (cruiser, ex-HMS APOLLO).

The modified Leander class cruiser, HMAS HOBART, was commissioned. HOBART was laid down in Devonport Dockyard, England, on 15 August 1933, and launched on 9 October 1934. Completed and commissioned on 13 January 1936, she served in the RN as HMS APOLLO, (CAPT R.R. Stewart, RN). Lady Boyle, (Wife of ADML Sir W.H.D. Boyle, RN), performed the launching ceremony. Purchased by the RAN, she was renamed by Mrs S.M. Bruce, (wife of the Australian High Commissioner), and commissioned HMAS HOBART at Devonport Dockyard

July 11, 1938

HMAS ALBATROSS, (seaplane carrier), sailed from Sydney for England. The vessel was transferred to the RN as part payment for HMAS HOBART, (cruiser).

April 22, 1938

RADM Wilfred Neville Custance, CB, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron.

December 31, 1937

The fisheries patrol vessel, LARRAKIA, later HMAS LARRAKIA, fired over 1000 rounds warning Japanese fishing vessels they were poaching in North Australian waters.

November 1, 1937

ADML Sir Ragnar Colvin, RN, was appointed First Naval Member and Chief of Naval Staff.

August 11, 1937

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), arrived in her name port on her maiden voyage.

July 28, 1937

ADML Sir George Francis Hyde, KCB, CVO, CBE, First Naval Member, died in Melbourne.

June 4, 1937

HMA Ships SUCCESS, STALWART, TASMANIA, and TATTOO, (destroyers), were sold for scrap. All four ships had been built in the United Kingdom towards the end of World War I, and gifted to the RAN in 1920. They had been decommissioned in the early 1930’s due to the financial constraints imposed upon the RAN due to the Great Depression, and been placed into reserve.

January 21, 1937

The Grimsby class escort sloop, HMAS SWAN, (CMDR R. R. Dowling, RAN), was commissioned. SWAN was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, 1 May 1935, and launched on 28 March 1936. Mrs J. A. Lyons, (Wife of the Australian Prime Minister), performed the launching ceremony.

January 9, 1937

HMAS SWORDSMAN, (destroyer), was sold out of service.

November 9, 1936

HMAS VENDETTA, (destroyer), was despatched from Sydney to search for the 32 foot launch VIKING, missing between Sydney and Lord Howe Island. Although five steamers and numerous smaller craft joined in the search, no trace of the missing vessel was ever found.

August 11, 1936

HMAS Australia (II) arrived in Sydney after an absence of 615 days on exchange service in company with HMAS Sydney who made her long awaited entry through Sydney Heads and into Port Jackson where her arrival was viewed from the shore by thousands of citizens who had turned out to see her. As she slowly made her way through the channel she was saluted with the sound of ferry whistles as she made her way to a buoy off Garden Island.

July 14, 1936

HMA Ships AUSTRALIA and SYDNEY, (cruisers), were attached to the Mediterranean Fleet during the Abyssinian crisis.

July 12, 1936

VADM Sir George Francis Hyde was promoted to Admiral. He was the first seagoing officer of the RAN to achieve the rank.

June 19, 1936

HMAS Tattoo paid off and eventually sold for breaking up on 4 June 1937.

June 15, 1936

HMS AMPHION, (cruiser), later HMAS PERTH, was commissioned at Portsmouth.

May 7, 1936

HMAS ANZAC, (destroyer leader), was sunk as a target off Sydney Heads.

April 20, 1936

RADM Sir Richard Hayden Owen Lane-Poole, KBE, CB, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron.

March 28, 1936

HMAS SWAN, (sloop), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

March 26, 1936

The Seagull amphibian aircraft, from HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), was damaged when it fell from a crane at Malta. AUSTRALIA was on exchange duties with the RN at the time.

March 11, 1936

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), joined HMAS AUSTRALIA in ADML Sir Max Horton’s 1st Cruiser Squadron at Malta.

March 3, 1936

The last Australian Seagull III was disembarked at Point Cook after being operated by HMAS Canberra during 1935-36