On This Day

1946-1959 > Post WW2

July 27, 1950

The cruiser HMAS AUSTRALIA, (CAPT G. Oldham), sailed from Melbourne carrying two medical officers and supplies for the Australian Antarctic Expedition on Heard Island.

July 21, 1950

HMAS Bataan completed her first operational patrol of the Korean War, during which she conducted escort duties in the Korean Strait and for the amphibious landing at Pohang Dong.

July 18, 1950

HMAS BATAAN, (Battle class destroyer), bombarded Pohang, Korea, as a unit of Task Group 96.5.

July 1, 1950

HMAS Shoalhaven became the first RAN vessel to carry out operations in the Korean war. Based at Kure, Japan the vessel sailed as an escort for a US ammunition ship on passage to Pusan, South Korea.

June 29, 1950

The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Menzies, announced that HMA Ships BATAAN, (destroyer), and SHOALHAVEN, (frigate), operating in far eastern waters, had been placed at the disposal of the UN for action in Korea.

June 28, 1950

The Australian Naval Board signalled VADM Turner Joy, USN Commander in the Far East; ‘Her Majesty’s Australian ships in Japan are placed unreservedly at your disposal as you may wish’. British and New Zealand ships in the Far East were also made available to the US Commander for operations in Korea.

June 23, 1950

RAN Trainee Pilot Garth Eldering was on an ocean navigation exercise off the coast of Scotland when his Seafire aircraft is believed to have crashed into the sea. RAN Trainee Pilots, after graduating from the RAAF’s No 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook, were sent to the UK for further instruction in the more powerful aircraft at one of the Royal Naval Air Stations.

June 19, 1950

The Chinese merchant vessel SANTOS, ex-HMAS ORARA, (minesweeper), struck a mine and sank with a heavy loss of life in the mouth of the Yang Tse River, China. ORARA was a popular coastal steamer on the Australian seaboard, before being requisitioned by the RAN. Her wartime motto was ‘As they sow, so shall we sweep’.

June 18, 1950

The decision was announced to reestablish the WRANS due to pressure on naval manpower from Cold War commitments. Initial categories were Telegraphist, Writer, Sick Berth Attendant, Stores Assistant, Cook, Steward and Regulating.

June 4, 1950

HMA LST 3008 was sold for scrap and was scrapped in Sydney in the 1950s. She had been in reserve since 1948.

HMA LST 3022 was sold to R.R. Coote for disposal. She had been in reserve since the end of 1946. The vessel was purchased by the Queensland Cement and Lime Company. in September 1954, was converted into a dredge, and renamed Coral. In this role she was operated alongside the former Australian Army vessel Crusader, which had also been purchased by the Queensland Cement and Lime Company, converted to a coral barge and renamed Cementco

HMA LST 3014 was sold for scrap after having been in reserve since 1948.

May 8, 1950

The Battle class destroyer HMAS TOBRUK, (CMDR T. K. Morrison, RAN), was commissioned. TOBRUK was laid down at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 5 August 1946, and launched on 20 December 1947. Mrs W. Riordan, (Wife of the Minister for the Navy), performed the launching ceremony.

April 25, 1950

808 Squadron commissioned as a RAN squadron at St Merryn in Cornwall, England, flying Hawker Sea Fury FB IIs and 817 squadron was commissioned at RNAS St Merryn, UK, as a RAN squadron equipped with Fairey Firefly Mk 5 aircraft.Both squadrons formed part of the 21st Carrier Air Group (CAG). This air group had been intended for the second carrier, to be named HMAS Melbourne, but she had been delayed and was not expected to be ready until 1951-52. HMAS Sydney returned to England to embark the 21st Carrier Air Group and arrived back in Australia in November 1950

April 6, 1950

HMNS AMBON, (minesweeper), formerly HMAS CAIRNS, was transferred to the Indonesian Navy and renamed BANTENG.

March 9, 1950

T. J. Hawkin is appointed as the Secretary of the Department of the Navy.

February 2, 1950

A Naval Board of Inquiry reported that the fire in HMAS TARAKAN, which resulted in the loss of eight lives, was caused by a spark from a ventilating fan igniting petrol vapour in a 9090-litre tank in the ship.

January 25, 1950

HMAS Tarakan was berthed alongside Garden Island, Sydney, making good defects prior to departure for New Guinea, when an explosion occurred aft under the mess decks, resulting in the deaths of seven sailors and one dockyard tradesman. A further 12 sailors and one dockyard tradesman were injured. The ship was extensively damaged. Tarakan did not return to seagoing service and on 12 March 1954 she was sold on behalf of the United Kingdom Ministry of Transport to EA Marr & Sons Pty Ltd, of Mascot, Sydney, for breaking up.

January 1, 1950

The shore establishment, HMAS SEEADLER, was commissioned at Manus Island, New Guinea. The base was re- commissioned as HMAS TARANGAU three months later when it was realised that SEEADLER was German for sea eagle. The name TARANGAU was chosen as it was the native name for the same bird.

December 28, 1949

The Netherlands Navy minesweepers MOROTAI and TIDORE were transferred to the Indonesian Navy, and renamed HANG TUAN and PALI UNIS. The ships originally served in the RAN as HMAS IPSWICH and HMAS TAMWORTH.

November 18, 1949

The RN Fourth Submarine Flotilla was commissioned at Sydney to provide a submarine training facility for personnel of the RAN and the RNZN. The first submarines to join the flotilla were HMS TELEMACHUS and HMS THOROUGH.

November 14, 1949

The liner GEORGIC entered the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island, Sydney, for repairs. GEORGIC was the 100th ship to be docked at Garden Island. In 1941 HMAS HOBART, (cruiser), rescued the crew and passengers from the GEORGIC, after she had been bombed and set on fire at Suez.

November 10, 1949

HMAS Shropshire paid off into Special Reserve after a number of periods in different Reserve categories.After several years lying in Sydney Harbour, Shropshire was sold as scrap on 16 July 1954 to Thomas W Ward Ltd, Sheffield, on behalf of the British Iron and Steel (Salvage) Corporation. On 9 October 1954 she left Sydney in tow of the Dutch tug Oostzee bound for the shipbreakers in Scotland. Shropshire was broken up at Troon and Dalmuir.

October 10, 1949

RADM J. W. M. Eaton, DSO, DSC, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding His Majesty’s Australian Fleet. His flagship was HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser).

October 5, 1949

HMAS Lachlan paid off at Fremantle, having steamed 32,737.7 miles since commissioning in the Royal Australian Navy. She commissioned the same day as HMNZS Lachlan under the command of Lieutenant Commander PD Hall DSC RN. Lachlan arrived in Auckland in November 1949. The period of the loan was initially three years but this was extended several times and in 1962 Lachlan was purchased by the New Zealand Government. The ship’s service as a unit of the Royal New Zealand Navy was again as a survey vessel. In February 1975 she paid off for alongside service and later in the year she was deleted from the Navy List.

September 27, 1949

HMAS KARANGI, (boom defence vessel), lifted the sunken wreck of the merchant vessel EASR RIVER in Newcastle Harbour, NSW.

August 28, 1949

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser, ex-HMS TERRIBLE), became flagship of the RAN.