On This Day

1946-1959 > Post WW2

October 27, 1953

HMAS Sydney with 805 and 850 Squadrons depart Fremantle for a second tour in the Korean War

September 11, 1953

HMAS Mildura paid off at Melbourne, having steamed 208,132 miles since first commissioning in July 1941. On 8 December 1954 the tug HMAS Sprightly departed Melbourne with Mildura in tow. The vessels arrived at Brisbane on 15 December. At Brisbane Mildura served as an immobilised reserve training ship. Mildura was sold for scrap on 8 September 1965 to Brisbane Non-Ferrous Pty Ltd

September 10, 1953

The hulk of the former boom defence vessel HMAS Kuramia was towed by the corvette HMAS Wagga to a position 20 miles off Sydney Heads to be sunk by aircraft from HMAS Sydney. The third plane to attack scored a direct hit and sank the vessel.

July 31, 1953

The last Japanese war criminals left Lombrum, Manus Island, in the merchant ship HAKURYU for Japan. The Officer in Charge of HMAS TARANGUA, reported that the 74 Japanese sailor POWs remaining were being taught English.

July 28, 1953

RAN casualties in the Korean War were:-Killed; 1; Missing presumed dead; 2; Wounded; 6The eight Australian vessels engaged were HMA Ships SYDNEY, ANZAC, BATAAN, TOBRUK, WARRAMUNGA, COMDAMINE, CULGOA, MURCHISON, and SHOALHAVEN. The three Fleet Air Arm Squadrons engaged were No. 805, Seafuries; No. 808, Seafuries; and No. 817, Fireflies. Eleven aircraft were lost and 77 damaged.

July 27, 1953

Hostilities and offensive maritime operations ceased in Korea, following the terms of an armistice. The country remained divided, and officially a state of war still exists between North and South Korea.

July 16, 1953

HMAS TOBRUK sank a large North Korean supply sampan in the Yangoi area.

HMAS QUADRANT was re-commissioned after conversion to a anti-submarine frigate.

July 3, 1953

HMAS Anzac (II) returned to Sydney after an absence of 305 days. Of these, 228 were spent at sea, 40 of them on patrol in the Korean War combat areas. During the entire period she steamed 57,865 mile

June 15, 1953

The Coronation Review of the Fleet, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, took place at Spithead, England. HMAS Sydney formed part of the 229 strong coronation fleet review at Spithead where the might of Britain’s navy was put on display. Sydney’s aircraft were also to feature in an impressive flypast involving some 300 aircraft from no less than 37 squadrons

May 17, 1953

850 Squadron commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Reginald Wild, DFC killed while flying a Hawker Sea Fury F.B. II when his aircraft collided with a Tiger Moth in mid-air over Wagga airfield. The occupants of the Tiger Moth were uninjured.

April 21, 1953

HMAS Culgoa gave strong support to partisan troops in trouble ashore on the mainland. While a United States sergeant spotted, Culgoa fired 102 rounds of 4-inch ammunition, dispersing the attacking North Korean forces, killing many. The enemy’s mortars were silenced and the partisan troops were able to evacuate the mainland to the safety of off shore islands

April 19, 1953

HMAS Culgoa commenced operations off Korea when she arrived off Paengyong Do to relieve HMS Whitesand Bay on the west coast patrol. Culgoa remained on patrol anchored off Paengyong Do by day and under way at night until 28 April, when she was relieved on station by HMNZS Kanier

April 1, 1953

HMAS NIRIMBA was commissioned at Quakers Hill, Sydney, under the command of CAPT D. Sanderson, DSC, RN, as the RAN Fleet Air Arm’s second Naval Air Station. The Naval Air Station was closed in 1954 due to budget cuts, but the base was soon transformed into the RAN Apprentice Training Establishment, (RANATE), and retained the name NIRIMBA, which is aboriginal for pelican.

March 24, 1953

The first rescue operation by a helicopter of the RAN was effected when an injured lighthouse keeper was rescued from Point Perpendicular Lighthouse, NSW.

March 13, 1953

HMAS Latrobe paid off and was transferred into the control of Williamstown Dockyard, passing into the Reserve Fleet on 17 September 1953. In her ten years of seagoing service Latrobe steamed 155,293 miles and spent more than 17,000 hours underway. She was sold on 18 May 1956 to Hong Kong Rolling Mills to be broken up.

March 11, 1953

723 Squadron received the RAN’s first rotary wing aircraft – three Bristol Sycamore helicopters – adding search and rescue, rotary wing training and fleet support to the Squadron’s roles.

March 8, 1953

HMAS Fremantle reached Fremantle and commenced service as a training ship for the Western Australian area. In this role, until the scheme was abandoned, Fremantle introduced large numbers of National Service Trainees to naval life afloat.

March 3, 1953

HMAS Culgoa sailed from Sydney for Japan to take up her role in the Korean War. She arrived at Sasebo and reported for duty to the Flag Officer Second-in-Command, Far East Station (Rear Admiral Clifford), on 14 April. She relieved her sister ship HMAS Condamine

February 26, 1953

HMAS Cowra paid off. She was sold out of service in January 1961 to Kino Shito (Aust) Pty Ltd.

January 12, 1953

850 Squadron commissioned as a fighter squadron at NAS Nowra with Hawker Sea Furies.

December 7, 1952

HMAS ANZAC, (destroyer), bombarded North Korean troop positions at Cho Do and Sok To Islands, inflicting heavy casualties.

November 16, 1952

On this day, 16 November 1952, the Battle class destroyer, HMAS Anzac (II) (Captain GGO Gatacre, DSC, RAN), came under fire from North Korean shore batteries in the vicinity of Cho Do.

During the ensuing engagement, Anzac, assisted by HMS Comus and HMCS Crusader, fired 174 rounds of counter-battery fire. The shore batteries were silenced 23 minutes after the first rounds were fired. Approximately 50 rounds of enemy fire were observed to fall near Anzac during the engagement.

November 13, 1952

The Colossus class aircraft carrier HMS VENGEANCE, (CMDR C. M. Hudson, RAN), was commissioned. VENGEANCE was laid down in Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend on Tyne, England, on 16 November 1942, and launched on 23 February 1944. Lady Boyd, (Wife of ADML Sir Denis Boyd, RN), performed the launching ceremony. VENGEANCE served in the RN 1945-1952, and was transferred to the RAN pending the completion of HMAS MELBOURNE. Aircraft from HMAS SYDNEY (III) were in action spotting the fall of shot for the US Navy battleship USS New Jersey. SYDNEY completed her third patrol on this day, her strikes having made inoperable all of the railway lines in her target area.

November 12, 1952

HMAS SYDNEY, (aircraft carrier), flew her 1000th sortie in the Korean War.

October 31, 1952

First Sycamore helicopter delivered to the RAN FAA.