On This Day

1919-1938 > Depresssion and between the wars

April 30, 1924

CDRE Thomas Erskine Wardle, CB, DSO, RN, was appointed Commodore Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron.

April 18, 1924

HMAS Adelaide (I) joined the flag of Vice Admiral Commanding Special Service Squadron Royal Navy on 18 April 1924 and left Sydney for Wellington on 20 April. She accompanied the battle cruisers throughout the remainder of their worldwide cruise and reached Portsmouth on 28 September 1924, having called at Wellington, Napier, Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Victoria (BC), Vancouver, San Francisco, Panama, Colon, Jamaica, Halifax, Quebec, Topsail Bay and Conception Bay en route. Adelaide (I) was the first RAN ship to pass through the Panama Canal.

April 12, 1924

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), was ceremoniously scuttled off Sydney Heads as part of the Washington Treaty, which limited fleet sizes, (the RAN was included as part of the RN under this treaty). AUSTRALIA was followed to her final resting place by the remainder of the Australian Fleet, and hundreds of patriotic citizens in private vessels.

March 1, 1924

HMS HOOD and HMS REPULSE, (battle cruisers), arrived in Fremantle. Both ships were part of the Royal Navy Special Service Squadron conducting a world cruise to “show the flag”}. HM Ships DELHI, DANAE, DAUNTLESS, and DRAGON, (cruisers), accompanied them. The Squadron later visited Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Jervis Bay, and Sydney, before proceeding across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. Both capital ships were lost during 1941 to enemy action, (HOOD in the Atlantic during the battle with the BISMARCK, and REPULSE to Japanese bombers off the east coast of Malaya).

February 26, 1924

HMA Submarines J1, J2, J4, and J5, were sold to the Melbourne Salvage Syndicate for breaking up. The hulks of JI and J2 were scuttled off Barwon Heads, J3 off Swan Island, J4 sank at Williamstown, and J5 and J7 were scuttled off Queenscliff.

January 3, 1924

The Australian Council of Defence agreed that the responsibility for defensive submarine mine-laying in Australia rested with the RAN. Previous to this date the Army was responsible for mine-laying.

November 2, 1923

RADM Sir Albert Percy Addison, KBE, CB, CMG, RN, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron.

October 19, 1923

HM Ships VAMPIRE and VENDETTA, (later HMA Ships of the same name), rescued the crew of the merchant ship IMPERIAL PRINCE in the Mediterranean.

October 12, 1923

HMAS GERANIUM, (survey ship), towed the passenger ship MONTORO off Young Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef.

October 10, 1923

HMAS PARRAMATTA, (torpedo boat destroyer), was dispatched to Wilsons Promontory, VIC, to fight bushfires.

June 27, 1923

HMAS Geranium struck a reef while surveying. She was re-floated the next day at high tide, but her keel was badly buckled and holed in places. The reef that Geranium struck (south of Wheatley Islet) was subsequently named Disaster Reef and bay she stopped at for repairs was named Geranium Bay.

May 2, 1923

A specialist branch of observers was formed within the RAN, to enable officers to qualify as pilots and observers. On qualifying as pilots they received 4 shillings per day additional pay.

January 1, 1923

HMAS Penguin paid off for disposal. She had served as a depot ship at Garden island since commissioning into the RAN in 1913. On 9 May 1923 she was towed to Cockatoo Island and handed over to the Commonwealth Shipbuilding Board. She was transferred to the Commonwealth Shipping Board in August 1924 for final disposal. Breaking up was completed at Cockatoo Island in April 1925 and the hull sold to Mr HP Stacey of Sydney.

August 5, 1922

The light cruiser HMAS ADELAIDE, (CAPT J. B. Stevenson, RAN), was commissioned. ADELAIDE was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, in January 1915, and launched on 27 July 1918. Lady Munroe, (Wife of the Governor-General), performed the launching ceremony. Between 1928 and 1938 ADELAIDE was laid up in reserve. ADELAIDE was extensively refitted in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, and re-commissioned on 13 March 1939, then paid off into reserve again, her ship’s company being transferred to England to commission HMAS PERTH. With WWII imminent, ADELAIDE was commissioned for war in September 1939, (CAPT H. A. Showers, RAN).

July 22, 1922

RADM John Saumarez Dumaresq, CB, CVO, former Flag Officer Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron, died at Manila, Philippines.

July 12, 1922

HMAS PLATYPUS was paid off as a submarine depot ship, and re-commissioned as a destroyer depot ship.
After uneventful service, little of which was spent at sea, the six J class submarines paid off into Reserve at Westernport . The boats had become victims of the worsening economic conditions of the time, coupled with their high cost of maintenance

June 30, 1922

CDRE Sir Albert Percy Addison, was appointed Commodore Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron.

June 3, 1922

Additional rates of pay for divers in the RAN were approved. They were:- Seaman Diver 2nd Class 3d per day; Seaman Diver 1st Class 6d per day; Artificer Diver 9d per day; Instructor 9d per day.

April 29, 1922

CDRE A. P. Addison, CMG, was appointed Commodore Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Squadron.

January 21, 1922

HMAS MELBOURNE, (light cruiser), rescued the crew of 22 of the four-masted schooner HELEN B STIRLING north of Newcastle, NSW.

January 5, 1922

ADML Anthony Monckton Synnot was born at Corowa NSW, and entered the RAN in 1939. He was Chief of Defence Force during the period 1979 to 1982, and is one of the few RAN trained officers to reach the rank of full Admiral. His brother, Timothy Monckton Synnot also served as an officer in the RAN, reaching the rank of Commander.

December 22, 1921

The Department of the Navy was absorbed into the Department of Defence.

December 13, 1921

The Four Power Treaty was signed between the British Commonwealth, the United States, France and Japan.

This treaty was replaced by the Washington Treaty three months later, and resulted in the scuttling of the then eight-year-old HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), under the limitation clause.

December 12, 1921

HMAS Australia paid off into Reserve at Sydney

July 1, 1921

Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, was transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia.