On This Day

1960-1975 > Vietnam era

May 11, 1967

HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), was bracketed by 50 shells from North Vietnamese coastal batteries at Kien Giang, Vietnam. HOBART replied with 67 rounds of rapid fire, and withdrew undamaged.

May 8, 1967

HMAS BOONAROO, (ammunition supply ship), was paid off and returned to her owners.

May 2, 1967

The Minister for the Navy, Mr. D. Chipp, commended HMAS PERTH, (guided missile destroyer), on the rescue of a seriously ill scientist at Macquarie Island. PERTH steamed through heavy gales to reach the base.

April 22, 1967

HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), and USS COLLETT, came under fire from enemy coastal batteries off Thanh Hoa, Vietnam.

April 21, 1967

HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), came under North Vietnamese battery fire when she closed the coast to engage enemy barges.

April 17, 1967

The guided missile destroyer HMAS HOBART, (CAPT G. R. Griffiths, DSC, RAN), fired on enemy truck parks and petrol stores at Xom Vinh and Quan Tay, Vietnam. HOBART was the first RAN ship to be committed operationally to the fighting in Vietnam, and conducted three deployments between 1967 and 1970.

April 10, 1967

The guided missile destroyer HMAS HOBART, (CAPT G. R. Griffiths, DSC, RAN), fired her 1000th round in Vietnam while supporting the US 1st Air Cavalry Division near Duc Pho.

March 31, 1967

HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), fired the first RAN shots in the Vietnam War. The destroyer provided support fire for an attack by the US Marines 37 Battalion at Da Nang.

March 28, 1967

Clearance Diving Team 3 carried out their first underwater examination of a ship in the Vietnam War at Vung Tau. The vessel was the Australian ship MV JEPARIT, later to be commissioned as HMAS JEPARIT.

March 27, 1967

The Oberon class submarine HMAS OXLEY, (LCDR D. H. Lorrimer, RAN), was commissioned. OXLEY was laid down at Scott’s Yard, Greenock, Scotland, on 2 July 1964, and launched on 24 September 1965. Lady Downer, (Wife of Sir Alexander Downer, Australian High Commissioner in the United Kingdom), performed the launching ceremony. OXLEY was the first of six Oberon class submarines to be commissioned into the RAN, and also the first to have the “snort” capability of recharging her batteries while still submerged.

March 10, 1967

HMAS BOONAROO departed Port Wilson, VIC, on her first and only voyage to South Vietnam. A general freighter of the Australian National Line (ANL) she had been commissioned nine days earlier.

March 9, 1967

A Naval Detachment of one officer and 18 sailors was embarked in the ANL vessel JEPARIT. These men helped crew the vessel on its voyages to South Vietnam due to some of the civilian crew refusing to man the ship as part of anti war protests.

March 7, 1967

The guided missile destroyer HMAS HOBART, (CAPT G. R. Griffiths, DSC, RAN), sailed from Garden Island to join the US Seventh Fleet off Vietnam. HOBART was the first RAN ship committed to an offensive role in Vietnam.

March 1, 1967

The Australian White Ensign was hoisted in all ships and establishments of the RAN. The British White Ensign had been used by the RAN since 1913.

The supply ship HMAS BOONAROO, (CMDR P. R. Burnett, RAN), was commissioned as an ammunition carrier, (to carry ammunition to Australian forces then operating in South Vietnam). The vessel was requisitioned by the Australian Government following continuous industrial action which had delayed her loading. HMAS BOONAROO also became the first RAN vessel to be commissioned flying the newly created Australian White Ensign, which was introduced on this day. BOONAROO was built in 1953 for the Australian Line, and was returned to her owners in May 1967.

February 19, 1967

RAN Clearance Diving Teams commenced operations in Vietnam.

February 10, 1967

The crews of HMAS DERWENT, (destroyer escort), and HM Submarines TABARD and TRUMP, landed to fight disastrous bushfires near Hobart, TAS.

February 8, 1967

The Peruvian Navy training ship INDEPENCIA visited Sydney. The vessel was the first warship of Peru to visit Australia.

February 6, 1967

Clearance Diving Team 3, LEUT M. T. Shotter, RAN, arrived at Vung Tau. This was the first unit of the RAN to serve in Vietnam.

December 23, 1966

The Prime Minister, Mr Harold Holt, announced to Parliament that the new Australian White Ensign was formally approved.

November 9, 1966

As the floating crane “Falcon” was lifting a Tracker S2E, Bu No 151646, from the Pyrmont wharf on to a lighter, a sling broke and the aircraft fell into Sydney Harbour. Navy divers later attached slings to the aircraft which was raised after spending four hours immersed. The S2E was obtained as an incomplete and damaged airframe, having been ditched into Long Island Sound during a pre-delivery test flight from the Grumman factory. The S-2E never flew again after this accident and it was acquired by the R.A.N. with the specific intention of cutting it up to provide components for training purposes and had arrived in Sydney on 7/11/1966 on the freighter “Australian Surf”. Given that this aeroplane was ditched prior to delivery and spent another four hours on the bottom of Sydney Harbour, it is noteworthy for probably having spent more time in the water than in the air!

November 7, 1966

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II gave Royal Consent to the new Australian White Ensign.

November 3, 1966

HMAS VENDETTA, (Daring class destroyer), towed the USS TIRU, (submarine), off Frederick Reef in the Coral Sea.

October 19, 1966

HMAS QUEENBOROUGH, (frigate), made a high speed dash from Hobart to Macquarie Island, to rescue a seriously ill scientist of the Australian Antarctic Expedition.

October 7, 1966

The largest warship to be built in Australia, HMAS STALWART, (escort maintenance ship), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

August 11, 1966

Confrontation between Malaysia and Indonesia officially ceased. Several RAN units, including destroyer escorts, and the Ton class minesweepers, had been involved in the confrontation, mainly conducting anti-infiltration patrols off Singapore, and Sabah/Sarawak in East Malaysia.