On This Day

1919-1938 > Depresssion and between the wars

July 9, 1928

The County class heavy cruiser HMAS CANBERRA, (CAPT G. L. Massey, RN), was commissioned. CANBERRA was laid down in John Brown Yard, Clydebank, Scotland, in 1925, and launched on 31 May 1927. HRH Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, performed the launching ceremony.

June 9, 1928

Captain Charles Kingsford Smith, in his aircraft Southern Cross, completed the first trans-Pacific flight The aircraft was guided in the last leg of it’s history making flight by the RAN’s wireless station at Garden Island, Sydney, which relayed messages through Australian destroyers stationed in the Tasman and Coral Seas.

June 7, 1928

HMAS Huon paid off into Reserve at Sydney. Without being again brought back into service, Huon was sunk by gunfire as a target off Sydney on 10 April 1931.

May 15, 1928

HMAS Swan paid off for disposal at Sydney and was stripped of useful fittings and equipment, in 1930, at Cockatoo Dockyard and her hulk towed to the Hawkesbury River. Swan and her sister ship Parramatta were then used a accommodation vessels, by the NSW Department of Prisons, for men working on road repair in the nearby region. This usage of the vessels met with public outcry and was soon stopped. Both vessels were then moored in the river for a period. In early February 1934 Swan was being towed down the Hawkesbury River, on her way to be scrapped, when she foundered near Juno Point. Her wreck still lies there today in approximately ten metres of water.

May 8, 1928

HMAS Sydney, cruiser, was paid off for breaking up at Sydney and on 10 January 1929 was delivered to Cockatoo Island for breaking up

April 24, 1928

The County class cruiser HMAS AUSTRALIA, (CAPT F. W. H. Goolden, RN), was commissioned. AUSTRALIA was laid down in John Brown Yard, Clydebank, Scotland, on 9 June 1925, and launched on 17 March 1927. Dame Mary Cook, (Wife of the Australian High Commissioner in London), performed the launching ceremony. RADM G. F. Hyde, RAN, hoisted his flag in AUSTRALIA for her voyage to Australia.

April 23, 1928

HMAS MELBOURNE decommissioned at Portsmouth. In December 1928 the ship was sold to Alloa Shipbuilding Co, Rosyth, Scotland, for £25,000. She was broken up in 1929.

April 20, 1928

HMAS Parramatta paid off. On 17 October 1929 she was handed over to Cockatoo Dockyard for dismantling. Her hull was subsequently used as an accommodation vessel, on the Hawkesbury River, NSW, by the New South Wales Department of Prisons before being sold to Mr George Rhodes of Cowan as scrap. The vessel was moored in the river but broke adrift during a storm and ran aground and her wreck remains there to this day. What remained of Parramatta (I) lay derelict on a mud bank north of Milson Island in the Hawkesbury River until 7 July 1973. On that and the following day the bow and stern sections were salvaged by the Naval Historical Spociety of Australia and later transported to a site on the north bank of the Parramatta River, upstream from the Silverwater Bridge. The stern of the ship was later established as a naval memorial at Queens Wharf Reserve. The bow section is mounted at the north end of Garden Island, Sydney, within the grounds of the Naval Cultural and Heritage Centre

April 19, 1928

HMAS Warrego paid off. She was then handed over to Cockatoo Dockyard in October 1929 and was broken up in 1930.

March 8, 1928

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), starred in a film, depicting SYDNEY’S victory over the German armed merchant cruiser Emden, in 1914. Australian producer Ken Page made the film at Jervis Bay, NSW.

February 23, 1928

HMAS ALBATROSS, (seaplane carrier), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

January 14, 1928

The Fleet Air Arm was abolished by Parliament, and the RAAF was directed to provide air support to the RAN. This decision was overturned in 1948 with the re-establishment of the Fleet Air Arm, and the purchase of the aircraft carriers HMAS SYDNEY and HMAS MELBOURNE.

January 9, 1928

HMAS Tasmania decommissioned and was placed in reserve. Tasmania was eventually sold for breaking up on 4 June 1937.

November 14, 1927

RAFA Biloela paid off. She was sold to John Hven of Norway in 1931. In 1932, she was renamed Wollert, in 1937 renamed Ivanhoe, and the Yoh Hsing and finally Cree. She was sunk by enemy submarine action on 21-11- 1940.

November 10, 1927

HMAS Geranium was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Sydney

November 3, 1927

The Sydney Harbour ferry GREYCLIFFE, was run down and cut in two by the Royal Mail Steamer TAHITI, off Bradley’s Head, Sydney. Several vessels including the RAN launch SAPPHIRE were used to rescue survivors. 40 passengers were killed in the disaster, among them a number of RAN Personnel, including Surgeon LCDR J. Paradice, RAN, who had boarded the ferry at Garden Island only a few minutes before.

October 10, 1927

HMAS ADELAIDE, (cruiser), sailed from Sydney on the RAN’s last punitive expedition. ADELAIDE was ordered to put down a native uprising at Malaita.

October 4, 1927

District Officer W. R. Bell, Cadet K. C. Lillie, and 13 native policemen, were massacred by natives at Malaita, Solomon Islands. The uprising caused HMAS ADELAIDE to be dispatched to the island on the RAN’s last punitive expedition.

June 30, 1927

HMAS TINGIRA, (training ship), was paid off at Sydney.

June 15, 1927

The O class submarine HMAS OTWAY, (LCDR G. Tweedie, RN), was commissioned. OTWAY was laid down in Vickers Ltd, Barrow in Furness, England, in 1925, and launched on 7 September 1926.

June 10, 1927

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), visited Dili, Timor, on a flag-showing cruise.

May 31, 1927

HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser), was launched at Clydebank, Scotland.

May 13, 1927

HMAS GERANIUM, (survey ship), towed the grounded passenger ship TASMAN off a reef at Clarke Island.

April 1, 1927

The O class submarine HMAS OXLEY, (CMDR H. R. Marrack, RN), was commissioned. OXLEY was laid down at Vickers Ltd, Barrow in Furness, UK, in 1925, and launched on 29 June 1926. OXLEY was formerly to be numbered OA1, but was renamed OXLEY.

March 17, 1927

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), was launched at Clydebank, Scotland.