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