On This Day

1943 > WW2

July 25, 1943

HMA Ships GAWLER, IPSWICH, LISMORE, and MARYBOROUGH, were on anti submarine patrol off Syracuse, Sicily, when the Luftwaffe attacked the city, shipping in the harbour, and the anti-submarine patrol. IPSWICH was nearly hit three times, and her guns crew succeeded in shooting down a Junkers JU 88 bomber. MARYBOROUGH was also near-missed by several bombs, and her Commanding Officer later reported that the only damage done was to his underpants!

July 24, 1943

The seine trawler June commissioned in the RAN as HMAS June. She was renamed HMAS Winter in October 1943 to avoid confusion with the minesweeper HMAS Junee
HMAS HAWKESBURY was launched at Mort’s Dock, Sydney.

July 24, 1943

HMAS HAWKESBURY, (frigate), was launched at Mort’s Dock, Sydney.

July 20, 1943

HMAS HOBART was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-G011, while steaming to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. The torpedo struck aft on the port side causing considerable damage in the vicinity of the wardroom. Thirteen officers and sailors were killed and another seven injured. She made it to Espiritu Santo under her own power the following day where she underwent temporary repairs and was escorted to Sydney by HMA Ships Warramunga and Arunta. She arrived on 26 August for extensive repairs which kept her out of service until December 1944. The torpedo which struck HOBART was fired at a range of 10 miles.

July 13, 1943

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), was the only Australian ship engaged in the second battle of Kolombangara, Solomon Islands.

HMA Ships GERALDTON, CAIRNS, CESSNOCK, and WOLLONGONG, (minesweepers), patrolled off the beaches of Sicily, as the invasion forces fought ashore during Operation Husky.

HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), picked up a lifeboat containing 13 survivors from the torpedoed American merchant ship SEBASTIAN CERMENO, 300 miles from the position where the ship sank off Madagascar.

July 12, 1943

HMAS STRAHAN, (minesweeper), was launched at Newcastle, NSW.

July 10, 1943

The invasion of Sicily, (Operation Husky), began. Among the escort ships for the troop convoys were HMA Ships CAIRNS, CESSNOCK, GAWLER, GERALDTON, IPSWICH, LISMORE, MARYBOROUGH, and WOLLONGONG, (corvettes). Over the ensuing three months, all eight were involved in dangerous convoy escort work, which saw them under frequent attack by German aircraft. In September, CAIRNS, CESSNOCK, GERALDTON, MARYBOROUGH, and WOLLONGONG, returned to the Indian Ocean for service there. GAWLER, IPSWICH, and LISMORE, conducted convoy escort duties to Cyprus and Lebanon, before returning to the Indian Ocean in November 1943.

July 9, 1943

HMAS GAWLER, (minesweeper), escorting a convoy for the invasion of Sicily, (Operation Husky), dropped back to investigate a transport which had fallen behind. GAWLER signalled ‘Follow father’. At first light GAWLER’S captain noted the straggler had resumed its correct position. It was the Convoy Commodore’s ship.

The Fremantle based USS THRESHER, (submarine), landed commandos and supplies on Negros Island.

HMAS KIAMA, (minesweeper), was launched at Evans Deakin, Brisbane. The vessel was transferred to the RNZN in 1946.

July 6, 1943

Coastwatchers LEUT H. Josselyn, RANVR, and SBLT R. Firth, RANVR, rescued 165 survivors of the USS HELENA, (cruiser), sunk off Vella Lavella Island by Japanese destroyers, in a night engagement. The Coastwatchers cared for the sailors until they were taken off, despite the presence of an enemy garrison of 600 troops on the island.

July 5, 1943

The following message was delivered to Coastwatcher LEUT P. Mason, RANVR, in Bougainville: ‘My dear Ansacs. We all admire your bravery. You have done your best for Great Britain. You are advised to give yourselves up. The Japanese are not cruel people as the propaganda of the United States would tell you. You will die of hunger in the jungle. You will never reach your friends in Buka as all jungle trails are watched by the Japanese soldiers and the sharper eyes of the natives. Commander of the Japanese Army.’

July 1, 1943

HMAS HARMAN, (shore establishment in Canberra), was commissioned.

June 30, 1943

Coastwatcher LEUT F. A. Rhoades, RANVR, landed with the first echelon of assault troops at Rendova, Solomon Islands, and led the initial attack on Japanese positions. Rhoades killed seven of the 65 Japanese defenders in one sortie. He was awarded the US Silver Star for outstanding bravery.

June 26, 1943

The training submarine K9, was commissioned. K9 was laid down in K. M. de Shelde, Flushing, Holland, in 1922. She served with the Royal Netherlands Navy until 31 May 1942, when in Sydney Harbour she was accepted by the RAN for service, as an anti-submarine training target.

Australian Coastwatcher, LEUT G. Stevenson, AIF, was killed by the Japanese in Bougainville.

June 25, 1943

The cruiser HMAS SHROPSHIRE, (CAPT J. A. Collins, CB, RAN), was commissioned. SHROPSHIRE was laid down in Wm Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir, Scotland, on 24 February 1926, and launched on 5 July 1928. The cruiser had been presented to Australia by the British Admiralty as a replacement for HMAS CANBERRA, which had been lost at the Battle of Savo Island, on 9 August 1942. As the cost of the cruiser had been partly paid for by subscription by the people of the County of Shropshire, England, the name was retained by the RAN.

HMAS Westralia completed conversion to a Landing Ship (Infantry) after conversion in Sydney from February to June 1943.

June 22, 1943

HMA submarine K9 was commissioned for anti-submarine training. As KIX she had been a unit of the Netherlands Navy.

June 21, 1943

HMAS IPSWICH, (minesweeper), contributed one officer and ten ratings to the guard of honour to welcome HRH King George VI, at Tripoli.

The Brisbane based USS GATO, (submarine), sank the Japanese transport KENKON MARU, off Bougainville.

June 17, 1943

HMA Ships GAWLER and LISMORE, (minesweepers) and two motor minesweepers, picked up 1353 survivors from the troop ship YOMA, sunk by a German submarine off Derna, Libya.

Operation Lilliput ended. Australian small warships and transports carried 2400 troops and 40,000 tons of supplies from Milne Bay to Buna, to defeat the Japanese bid to take Port Moresby. HMA Ships BALLARAT, BENDIGO, BOWEN, BROOME, BUNBURY, COLAC, ECHUCA, GLENELG, GYMPIE, KAPUNDA, KATOOMBA, LATROBE, LITHGOW, PIRIE, POLARIS, STELLA, WAGGA, and WHYALLA, were engaged in the operation.

June 16, 1943

The Japanese submarine I-174 torpedoed the merchant vessel PORTMAR, and the landing ship LST 469, off Smoky Cape, NSW. PORTMAR sank, but LST 469 was towed to Byron Bay, NSW, by HMAS DELORAINE, (minesweeper).

June 12, 1943

The minesweeper HMAS DUBBO, (LEUT N. G. Weber, RANR(S)), picked up survivors from HMAS WALLAROO, sunk in a collision west of Fremantle WA. Three of WALLAROO’s complement were lost in the sinking.

The Fremantle-based USS TROUT, (submarine), landed a resistance group and their stores in Pagodian Bay, Mindanao.

June 11, 1943

HMAS WALLAROO, (minesweeper), sank in a collision with the American merchant ship HENRY GILBERT COSTIN, 60 miles west of Fremantle, WA. 3 ratings lost their lives.

June 1, 1943

HMAS Kanimbla commissioned into RAN as a Landing Ship (Infantry) after conversion in Sydney from April to June 1943. She had served in the RN since 1939.

May 31, 1943

The landing ship infantry HMAS WESTRALIA, (CMDR A. V. Knight, RANR), was re-commissioned. WESTRALIA was first commissioned into the RAN on 17 January 1940.

May 26, 1943

HMA Ships GAWLER, IPSWICH, LISMORE, and MARYBOROUGH, (minesweepers), were formed into the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla at Alexandria, Egypt.

The Fremantle based USS TROUT, (submarine), landed a party of American agents and supplies on Basilan Island, Philippines.

May 15, 1943

A RAAF Avro Anson, which was providing air escort to USS MUGFORD, (destroyer), and the British steamer SUSSEX, sighted survivors from the HMAS CENTAUR, (hospital ship), off the coast of Queensland. MUGFORD was detached to pick up the survivors, and rescued some 64 personnel, including the only nurse, (Sister Ellen Savage), to survive the sinking of the vessel. The destroyer then returned to Brisbane to disembark the survivors later that day. Subsequent searches were conducted by HMAS LITHGOW, USS HELM, and four motor torpedo boats, but no more survivors were found.

May 14, 1943

HMAS CENTAUR, (hospital ship), was sunk by a Japanese submarine, (believed to be I178), off the Queensland coast near Brisbane. CENTAUR was on her second journey north to Port Moresby to collect wounded Australian troops, and was clearly marked and illuminated as a hospital ship. A single torpedo struck the ship at about 0400, and the CENTAUR caught fire and sank within two to three minutes. Of the 332 crew and medical staff onboard, some 268 were killed in the attack or later drowned. Japanese submarines were extremely active off the east coast of Australia between February and June 1943, and attacked or sank 14 ships.