On This Day

1960-1975 > Vietnam era

July 18, 1963

817 squadron recommissioned with the Wessex 31A helicopter

July 5, 1963

A Sea Venom crashed into Sydney Harbour following a collision with another Sea Venom during a flypast.

 

June 28, 1963

The River class, (modified type 12 frigate), destroyer escort, HMAS STUART, (CMDR M. L. Molony, RAN), was commissioned. STUART was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 20 March 1959, and launched on 8 April 1961. Mrs J. Gorton, (Wife of the Minister for the Navy), performed the launching ceremony.

June 18, 1963

805 Squadron, flying Sea Venoms, decommissioned

May 8, 1963

HMAS QUEENBOROUGH, (frigate), struck HMS TABARD, (submarine), while exercising off Sydney. Both vessels were damaged but returned to Port under their own power.

April 24, 1963

HMAS Quickmatch paid off to Reserve at Williamstown. After paying off she served as an accommodation ship at Williamstown. On 15 February 1972 Quickmatch was sold for scrap to Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan. On 6 July 1972 the Japanese tug Sumi Maru left Melbourne for Japan with Quickmatch and another former RAN vessel, Gascoyne (I), in tow.

March 30, 1963

805 Squadron, flying the Sea Venom, decommissioned at NAS Nowra

March 28, 1963

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II signalled the destroyer HMAS ANZAC at the conclusion of the Royal Tour of Australia; “Splice the main brace”. The RAN does not splice the main brace except on the order of the Commander-in-Chief.

March 20, 1963

Two Westland Scout AH-1 helicopters were acquired by the RAN and operated by 723 Naval Air Squadron.  The helicopters were embarked in the hydrographic survey ship HMAS Moresby with one on board while the other was in maintenance at Nowra

 

March 11, 1963

The first Wessex helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) mission occurred when GPCAPT Mather ejected from his RAAF Sabre jet near Lake Bathurst in NSW, and was reported as having landed near ‘a red farmhouse’. Wessex N7-200 was dispatched with two doctors aboard.  The first red farmhouse they visited yielded only two dogs and a very scared cat. The second, however, produced a ute with a parachute in the back and the missing Air Force officer on the verandah sipping whiskey.  The first SAR by the Wessex was a complete success!

 

February 16, 1963

HMAS QUADRANT, (frigate),was sold for scrap to a Japanese ship breaking company.

February 15, 1963

HMAS QUADRANT, (frigate), was sold out of service for breaking up in Japan.

February 8, 1963

HMAS QUICKMATCH, (frigate), berthed at Manly Wharf, Sydney to participate in the beach resort’s 175th Anniversary.

February 4, 1963

HMAS QUIBERON, (destroyer), was rammed by the South Vietnamese escort ship KY-HOA, at Saigon. QUIBERON’S starboard side was opened to the sea and KY-HOA required docking.

January 22, 1963

The Australian Cabinet approved a contract with Scott’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd., of Greenock, Scotland, to build eight Oberon class submarines for the RAN. The order was later reduced to six.

January 21, 1963

The RAN School of Underwater Medicine was established at HMAS RUSHCUTTER, Sydney. It later moved to HMAS PENGUIN.

January 8, 1963

CDRE J. C. (Copper) Morrow, CBE, DSO, DSC, RAN, one of Australia’s most distinguished destroyer captains of the Second World War, died in Sydney.

December 17, 1962

The frigate HMAS QUIBERON, (CMDR V. A. Parker, RAN), rescued 31 Chinese seamen from the merchant ship TUSCANY, aground on a reef in the China Sea.

December 16, 1962

Australia promised naval support in the Indonesian-Malaysian confrontation crisis.

December 7, 1962

The newly formed 16th MCM Squadron arrived in Australia with the six Bird class minesweepers.

December 5, 1962

HMAS WATERHEN, (shore establishment in Sydney), was commissioned.

November 1, 1962

725 Squadron recommissioned flying the first two Westland Wessex 31A helicopters delivered to the RAN for ASW training and support to 817 Squadron, the Fleet Air Arm’s (FAA) front line Wessex Squadron

October 25, 1962

HMA Ships QUIBERON and QUEENBOROUGH, (destroyer escorts), carried out a search north of Singapore for the cargo vessel KAWI, which had signalled for assistance. A boat from the vessel, with survivors, was found by QUIBERON, and landed at Singapore on 27 October.

October 2, 1962

Two RAN Sea Venom aircraft collided in the air over Sydney Harbour. One aircraft crashed into the harbour after the pilot ejected, and the other reached its base at Nowra, NSW, and landed safely.

September 20, 1962

HMAS Swan paid off for disposal. On 5 June 1964 Swan was sold to Hurley and Dewhurst, of Sydney, to be broken up. She was delivered to the purchasers on 18 September 1964.