On This Day

1939 > WW2

June 4, 1940

LEUT R. J. Robertson, RAN, was awarded the DSC and MID for conspicuous gallantry while serving in HMS MALCOLM, (destroyer), at the evacuation of Dunkirk, and in operations off the Dutch and Belgian coasts.

December 31, 1939

CMDR S. H. K. Spurgeon, RAN, was awarded the DSO for conspicuous service in anti-submarine operations while commanding HMS ECHO, (destroyer), in the North Sea. CMDR Spurgeon was the first Australian decorated for gallantry in WWII.

December 25, 1939

HMAS STUART, (destroyer), was battling heavy seas off Corsica. Christmas fare was a piece of cake and a glass of beer.

Christmas Day on HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), was heralded by the playing of the hymn ‘Christians Awake’ over the ship’s PA system. The menu for Christmas dinner was:- soup, roast turkey, York ham with French beans, green peas, roast and boiled potatoes, Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, fresh fruit and nuts.

December 22, 1939

HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), attempted to tow the British merchant ship HOUSTON CITY off rocks, near Plum Point Lighthouse, Jamaica. The line parted and the tow was abandoned. The ship was floated clear on the next high tide.

December 21, 1939

A cartoon in the Australian magazine, The Bulletin, depicted a cruiser with a badly crumpled stern passing the flagship, and the Admiral turning to the Flag Captain:- ‘Send for her Captain Prendercast. I’ll teach him to play boomps a daisy’.

The cartoon alluded to HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), colliding with a wharf at Fremantle some weeks previously.

December 19, 1939

The cruiser HMAS PERTH, (CAPT H. B. Farncomb, RAN), was shadowed by the USS VINCENNES, (cruiser), while on the Yucatan Channel patrol in the West Indies. VINCENNES demanded PERTH’s identity, but PERTH refused to comply.

December 18, 1939

German Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, described the arrival of the Australian Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean as ‘a consignment of junk’, and ‘Australia’s Scrap Iron Flotilla’. The five WWI destroyers, HMA Ships STUART, VAMPIRE, VENDETTA, VOYAGER, and WATERHEN, emblazoned the name in glory under the command of CAPT H. M. L. Waller, RAN.

The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS COOLEBAR was commissioned. COOLEBAR was laid down in Ardrossan, Scotland, in 1911. She was requisitioned for the RAN, from her owners, the North Coast Steam Navigation Co, NSW, on 18 December 1939.

December 13, 1939

HMAS SYDNEY, escorting liner STRATHALLAN (23,722grt) with the 2nd Australian Imperial Force to the Middle East, was relieved by HMAS ADELAIDE which continued the escort round the Leeuwin Promontory

December 12, 1939

The armed merchant cruiser/landing ship HMAS MANOORA, (CMDR A. H. Spurgeon, RAN), was commissioned. MANOORA was laid down in Alex Stephen & Sons Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, in 1935, for the Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd. She was requisitioned on 14 October 1939.

December 11, 1939

The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS BERMAGUI was commissioned. BERMAGUI was laid down in Ailsa Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Troon, Scotland, in 1912. She was requisitioned for the RAN, from her owners, the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Sydney, in December 1939.

December 9, 1939

HMAS Swan became leader of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, formed that day and comprising initially HMA Ships Swan, Yarra (II), Doomba and Orara

December 7, 1939

The Australian War Cabinet considered a memorandum from VADM Sir Ragnar Colvin, RN, the British First Naval Member and Chief of Naval Staff, which advocated that HMA Ships CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, and SYDNEY, (cruisers), be assigned to protect convoy US1, (11 fast liners carrying 13,500 Australian and New Zealand troops), from Fremantle to the Cocos Islands.

The Australian Government would not agree to such a depletion of naval forces in Australian coastal waters.

December 4, 1939

The 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, HMA Ships SWAN, YARRA, ORARA, and DOOMBA, commenced operations on the east coast of Australia.

December 2, 1939

The German pocket battleship GRAF SPEE took the first Australian naval POW’s of WWII, after sinking the merchant ships DORIC STAR and TAIROA, in the South Atlantic. The Australians were DEMS ratings of the RANR.

November 30, 1939

Mr A. R. Nankervis is appointed as the Permanent Head of the Naval Board. He was previously Finance and Civil Member of the Board. Mr G. L. Macandie continued as Secretary Naval Board, the first Minister for the Navy in WWII was Sir Frederick Stewart.

November 16, 1939

CAPT J. A. Collins, RAN, was appointed in command of HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser).

November 15, 1939

Separate ministers for the Army, Navy and Air Force were appointed in the Australian Cabinet. Sir Frederick Stewart was made Minister for the Navy.

November 13, 1939

The Department of the Navy was re-created as a separate portfolio.

November 7, 1939

An Australian Government order-in-council was signed, and transferred all vessels and personnel of the Commonwealth Naval Forces, and personnel of the RAAF, to the King’s Naval and Air Forces. The transfer did not stipulate the duration of the service, nor did it cover ships subsequently acquired or built. However, further transfers of ships and personnel were made between 1940 and 1943.

November 4, 1939

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

November 3, 1939

The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS UKI, was commissioned. UKI was laid down in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in 1923. She was requisitioned for the RAN, from her owners, the North Coast Steam Navigation Co, NSW, on 3 November 1939.

November 2, 1939

The Australian liner WESTRALIA was requisitioned by the Australian Government for conversion to an armed merchant cruiser.

November 1, 1939

RADM John George Crace, CB, an Australian-born officer of the RN, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding the Australian Squadron, taking over from CDRE W. Patterson, RN. His flagship was HMAS AUSTRALIA.

October 22, 1939

The Australian merchant ship TREVANION was sunk by the German pocket battleship GRAF SPEE, in the South Atlantic. TREVANION was the first Australian ship sunk in WWII.

October 20, 1939

The examination vessel HMAS ADELE, was commissioned. ADELE was formerly commissioned as HMAS FRANKLIN, on 14 September 1915.