On This Day

1944 > WW2

April 12, 1945

HM Submarine Tapir, (LEUT P. G. Evatt, RANVR), torpedoed and sunk the German submarine U486 in the North Sea north-west of Bergen, Norway, in position 60.44N, 04.39E. LEUT Evatt was awarded the DSC for exceptional skill, audacity and judgement. Previously on 24 Dec 1944 U486 had sunk SS Leopoldville in the English Channel 5 miles from the port of Cherbourg, France. The troopship was transporting 2235 American soldiers from regiments of the 66th Infantry Division. The ship finally sank 2 1/2 hours later. 763 American soldiers died making this the worst loss an American infantry division suffered from a U-boat attack during the war.

December 30, 1944

Three officers and 22 ratings of the RAN lost their lives in the Indian Ocean during the year, as a result of enemy submarine attacks on Allied shipping.

The services reconnaissance department (SRD) craft HMAS BLACK SNAKE, (SBLT J.R. Kay), was commissioned.

December 27, 1944

HMA Ships NAPIER and NEPAL, (destroyers), anchored off Teknaf, 15 miles up the Naf River in Burma. The destroyers were supporting the Indian Army’s drive south.

December 26, 1944

HMAS QUICKMATCH, (destroyer), picked up 67 survivors from the US merchant ship ROBERT J WALKER, torpedoed by a German submarine off Jervis Bay.

December 25, 1944

HMAS WARRAMUNGA, (Tribal class destroyer), in the Philippines, served the following Christmas menu:

• Breakfast; fresh fruit, tea and coffee, cereal, fried eggs and bacon;
• Dinner; roast turkey and ham, beans and peas, plum pudding and brandy sauce, fruit trifle and jelly, nuts and beer;
• Tea; Christmas cake, nuts, iced fruit juice; supper: giblet soup, cold roast pork and ham, potato salad and mayonnaise, iced fruit juice. “

HMAS GASCOYNE, (frigate), took off 1300 troops from the burning transport SOMMELSDIJK, torpedoed by Japanese aircraft off Leyte.

December 19, 1944

CAPT H. B. Farncomb was promoted and appointed Commodore Commanding Australian Squadron.

December 17, 1944

HMS/m Rover (Lt. J. P. Angell RN) was involved in a collision with HMAS Bunbury off Perth, WA, in position 31°45’S, 115°13’E. Both vessels were damaged in this incident.

December 16, 1944

HMA Ships NAPIER and NEPAL, (destroyers), supported the 74th Indian Brigade as it drove south in the vicinity of the Naf River, Burma.

December 14, 1944

Australian Fleet Auxiliary Bishopdale, in San Pedro Bay Leyte Gulf, was hit by a crashing Japanese VAL dive bomber which struck the starboard upper bridge and then No: 3 wing tank, exploding on contact, was extensively damaged and was out of action for the next few months.  DEMS Gunner/Deckhand Stuart William Savage RANR was killed and one other later died of his injuries. DEMS Gunner Stuart W Savage was buried at the US Military Cemetery at Leyte, the Philippines the same day. His body was subsequently moved to Sai Wan War Cemetery, Hong Kong

HMAS SHOALHAVEN was launched at Walker’s Yard, QLD.

HMAS NAPIER covered Allied troop attacks in the neighbourhood of St Martins Island, Burma, with close-range gunfire.

December 12, 1944

The 21st Minesweeping Flotilla, HMA Ships BURNIE, LISMORE, MARYBOROUGH, and TOOWOOMBA swept shipping lanes in Bass Strait, following the attack on the merchant vessel ILISSOS, by the German submarine U862.

December 11, 1944

The air/sea rescue vessel AIR CLAN, (SBLT O. M. May, RANVR), was commissioned.

December 9, 1944

CDRE H. B. Farncomb hoisted his pennant as Commodore Commanding the Australian Squadron, and Commander Task Group 74.1, in HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), at Manus.

December 7, 1944

HMAS HOBART, (cruiser), was re-commissioned in Sydney. Damage inflicted by a Japanese torpedo in 1943 required 17 months in dockyard hands for repairs.

December 5, 1944

LEUT W. F. Cook, RAN, was appointed to command HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer). Cook, aged 28, was the youngest officer appointed to command an Australian fleet destroyer.

December 3, 1944

HMAS Lismore arrived at Fremantle, her first call at an Australian port since leaving Darwin for Singapore on 20 March 1941. Her absence of 3 years, 8 months and 13 days from Australia was longer than that of any other Royal Australian Navy ship of World War II

December 1, 1944

The 21st and 22nd Minesweeping Flotillas, HMA Ships BURNIE, BALLARAT, MARYBOROUGH, LISMORE, WHYALLA, GOULBURN, KALGOORLIE, TOOWOOMBA, and BENDIGO, and HMA Ships GAWLER, GERALDTON, CESSNOCK, CAIRNS, IPSWICH, TAMWORTH, WOLLONGONG, PINE, and LAUNCESTON, were attached to the British Pacific Fleet.

November 28, 1944

HMA Ships KALGOORLIE and TOWNSVILLE, (minesweepers), completed a three months’ search for mines in the Great Barrier Reef, during which time 491 mines were swept. The mines were laid by HMAS BUNGAREE, in 1942 and 1943.

LEUT K.R. Hudspeth, RANVR was awarded his third DSC, while commanding the midget submarine X-20 off the beaches of Normandy, prior to the Allied landing.

November 27, 1944

The services reconnaissance department (SRD) craft HMAS KARINA, was commissioned.

The air/sea rescue vessel AIR WATCH, (SBLT W. A. Bach, RANVR), was commissioned.

November 25, 1944

HMA Ships KALGOORLIE and TOWNSVILLE, (minesweepers), swept the passages in the Great Barrier Reef for enemy mines.

November 22, 1944

The Fremantle-based British submarine HMS STRATAGEM, was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in Malacca Strait.

November 21, 1944

The Fremantle-based British submarine HMS Tantalus, (LCDR H. S. Mackenzie, RN), made a vain search for the Commandos of Operation Rimau on Merapas Island. The landing party found signs of a hurried departure by the Commandos.

November 20, 1944

The air/sea rescue vessel AIR VIEW, (SBLT L. K. Williams, RANVR), was commissioned.

ML827 foundered while under tow east of Waterfall Bay, New Britain. The commanding officer of ML827 was LEUT I. F. G. Downs, OBE, RANVR, who had served as a coastwatcher from 1942 to 1943.

November 19, 1944

HMAS BURDEKIN, (frigate), bombarded Japanese positions on Halmahera Island.

November 17, 1944

HMAS ML 827 Royal Australian Navy The Fairmile B motor launch ran aground in Jacquinot Bay, New Guinea. She capsized and sank while under tow on 20 November 1944 off Cape Kawai, New Britain.

November 15, 1944

CAPT Buchanan recorded in Reports of Proceedings of HMAS ARUNTA, (destroyer):- ‘HMAS ARUNTA contributed her share to the heavy concentration of fire that destroyed an enemy aircraft soon after ABNER REID, (US destroyer), was hit. For the remainder of our stay in Leyte Gulf no day passed without several Bogies and Bandits, and the consequent air alerts’. USS ABNER REID was hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane on 1 November and rolled over and sank within a few minutes.