On This Day

1946-1959 > Post WW2

June 21, 1948

HMAS BATHURST, (minesweeper), was sold out of service for breaking up in Sydney.

June 16, 1948

A State of Emergency was declared in Malaya, as a result of action by Communist insurgents. The Malayan emergency lasted until 1960, and several RAN units were involved in patrols and naval gunfire support missions.

June 8, 1948

HMAS Lithgow paid off to the Reserve Fleet at Fremantle, having steamed 178,000 miles. On 8 August 1956 Lithgow was sold as scrap to the Hong Kong Delta Shipping Company, Hong Kong

June 6, 1948

The destroyer HMAS QUIBERON, (CMDR Bath, RAN), on patrol between South Korea and Japan as part of the British Commonwealth occupation Force, intercepted a Korean vessel with over 130 illegal immigrants onboard, as well as a quantity of drugs and other contraband. The vessel was taken in tow to the port of Taisha, (on the island of Honshu), where it and its contents were handed over to US military authorities.

May 18, 1948

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), took the disabled merchant vessel MADONNA in tow, in rough seas, near Lady Elliott Island, (off the coast of QLD), and towed her to Gladstone, QLD.

April 30, 1948

HMAS MINDARI, (Gunnery Instruction Centre located at Woolloomooloo, Sydney), was decommissioned. In recent times the site was occupied by the Gunnery Art Gallery, which referred to its previous use.

April 27, 1948

First of 12 RAAF Vultee Vengeances airframes were allocated to the RAN FAA at Nowra for use as Fire Fighting Training Aids.

April 11, 1948

HMAS BARCOO, (frigate), was blown ashore at Glenelg Beach SA, during a gale. She was later re-floated without damage.

April 1, 1948

HMAS WYATT EARP returned to Melbourne from Antarctica. The research vessel had spent the prior 3 months on the Australian National Research Expedition to the Antarctic

March 30, 1948

HMAS Lae paid off.

February 29, 1948

Group Captain S. Campbell, (RAAF), Dr P. Law, and AB Wallace of HMAS WYATT EARP landed briefly on Ballerys Island in Antarctica.

February 24, 1948

VADM Sir John Collins was appointed as Chief of Naval Staff, thus becoming the first RANC graduate to reach the Navy’s highest position.

February 8, 1948

The Antarctic Research Vessel, HMAS WYATT EARP, (CMDR K.E. Oom, OBE, RAN), sailed from Melbourne for Macquarie Island and Antarctica.

January 20, 1948

HMAS MILDURA, (corvette), was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Careening Bay, WA. She was later re- commissioned in 1951 as a training ship for National Servicemen, and undertook this task until 11 September 1953, when she was paid off again into reserve. MILDURA was finally sold for scrap in 1956.

December 22, 1947

LST 3501, Later HMAS Labuan, landed a party of Australian National Research Expedition members on Heard Island off the Antarctic continental shelf. In a brief ceremony the Australian Flag was raised and the lonely outcrop was formally claimed for the Commonwealth.

December 20, 1947

HMAS Hobart paid off. From 1953 to 1956 Hobart underwent an extensive refit and modernisation at Newcastle State Dockyard to convert her to a training ship, but was not again brought into seagoing service. On 5 February 1960 it was officially announced that Hobart had been added to the list of obsolete RAN ships for sale as scrap. On 22 February 1962 Hobart was sold for breaking up to the Japanese firm of Mitsui & Co (Aust) Pty Ltd for £186,886, comprising £170,876 for the ship and £16,010 for spares. The ship left Sydney under tow on 3 March 1962 and arrived at Miyachi Shipyard, Saki, Osaka, on 2 April 1962.

December 15, 1947

The RN Air Station at Nowra, NSW, was transferred to the RAN.

December 6, 1947

HMAS Manoora paid off. She was returned to the Adelaide Steam Ship Company on 31 August 1949

November 23, 1947

HMAS QUIBERON, (destroyer), returned to Sydney after a cruise to Tasmania, and moored at No.2 buoy in Sydney Harbour. That night the merchant ship KING STEPHEN lost steerage way while entering the harbour, and rammed QUIBERON in the vicinity of the engine room, and caused significant damage. Next day the ship was docked in the King George V Dry Dock at Garden Island for repairs, and was not fit for sea again until early February 1948.

November 21, 1947

Nine members of the crew of HMAS TARAKAN, (landing ship tank), were injured, when a box of fuses in a cargo of obsolete ammunition, being dumped off Sydney Heads, exploded.

November 17, 1947

The Antarctic Research Vessel HMAS WYATT EARP, (CMDR K. E. Oom, OBE, RAN), was commissioned. As FANEFJORD, (wooden steamer), she was laid down in Norway in 1919. Purchased, and re-named WYATT EARP by US millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth in 1933, she made several runs to the Antarctic. In 1939 the Australian Government purchased her for Antarctic exploration, then re-named HMAS WONGALA for WWII service. WYATT EARP made seven voyages to the Antarctic for ANARE, 1947-1948.

November 14, 1947

HMAS WHYALLA, (minesweeper), was transferred to the Melbourne Harbour Board and renamed RIP. The previous vessel of this name was the Queensland gunboat PALUMA.

November 10, 1947

HMA Ships Arunta (I) and Warramunga (I) left Sydney for a second tour of post war duty in Japan.

October 31, 1947

LST 3501, (renamed HMAS LABUAN on 16 December, 1948), LCDR G. M. Dixon, RANVR, in command, sailed from Sydney on the first of seven voyages to Antarctica.

September 13, 1947

HMAS WARRNAMBOOL, (minesweeper), sank after striking an Allied laid mine near Cockburn Reef, QLD. Two of the ship’s complement were killed in the initial explosion, and a third was drowned. Twenty-six sailors were injured. Survivors were picked up by HMAS SWAN, (sloop). WARRNAMBOOL was listed as a war loss because Australia was still technically at war with Japan.