On This Day
1943 > WW2
On This Day - 1943
- 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.’