On This Day

1960-1975 > Vietnam era

December 7, 1973

HMPNGS BUNA, (landing craft heavy), was commissioned into the PNGDF. She was a sister ship to the RAN LCH vessels, and was a gift from Australia to Papua New Guinea.

November 29, 1973

The Department of the Navy ceased to exist. It was merged with the Departments of Army and Air to form the Department of Defence.

November 23, 1973

VADM Sir Hugh David Stevenson, AC, KBE, was appointed Chief of Naval Staff.

November 16, 1973

HMAS BANDOLIER, (patrol boat), was transferred to the Indonesian Navy and renamed SIBARAU.

November 12, 1973

HMAS Sydney decommissioned, by which time she had steamed 395,591 miles as a fast troop transport. Since first commissioning in 1948 she had steamed 711,549 miles. Stripped of all useful fittings, Sydney returned to Athol Bight where she languished until sold for scrap to the Dongkuk Steel Mill Company, Limited of Seoul, South Korea, on 28 October 1975. The former aircraft carrier and fast troop transport left Sydney under tow on 23 December 1975.

November 8, 1973

Skyhawk A4G (889) crashed due to catapult failure while launching from MELBOURNE during multinational exercise near Singapore. SBLT Barry Evans remained in the aircraft while the ship passed overhead and freed himself underwater and was picked up by helicopter.

October 19, 1973

The landing craft heavy HMAS SALAMAUA, was commissioned. SALAMAUA was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, Queensland.

October 18, 1973

UPI and AP issued a press release quoting: General Brown, US Air Force Chief-of-Staff; ‘Early in the summer of 1968 near the Demilitarised Zone, [Vietnam], there was a series of [UFO] sightings which set off quite a battle, with an Australian destroyer taking a hit’. The destroyer was HMAS HOBART, hit by US aircraft missiles.

August 10, 1973

The landing craft heavy HMAS WEWAK, was commissioned. WEWAK was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in March 1972, and launched on 18 May 1972.

August 8, 1973

HMAS BETANO, (landing ship heavy), was commissioned.

July 23, 1973

The bow and stern sections of the WWI torpedo boat destroyer HMAS PARRAMATTA, were salvaged from a mud bank on the Hawkesbury River, where she had foundered in 1934. The sections were transported by sea and land to the City of Parramatta for inclusion in a memorial to the ship.

The patrol boat HMAS ARDENT, (LEUT J. Riley, RAN), rescued the crew of the fishing trawler ALECIA, which foundered and sank off South Babel Island, VIC.

July 20, 1973

The Australian Government decided to pay off HMAS SYDNEY, (fast troop transport).

June 28, 1973

The frigate HMNZS OTAGO, (CMDR Alan Tyrrell, RNZN), departed New Zealand for the French territory of Mururoa Atoll to protest against the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. OTAGO was re-fuelled en route by the RAN tanker HMAS SUPPLY. Despite the condemnation of much of the Western world, the nuclear tests took place on 21 July.

June 25, 1973

HMAS Supply sailed from Sydney having received orders to support HMNZS Otago on a protest mission to observe French nuclear atmospheric tests taking place at Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific. The two ships rendezvoused on 29 June when Otago was received alongside Supply for the first of several replenishment serials in connection with the operation. Later HMNZS Canterbury joined the protest action and she too was supported by Supply.

June 15, 1973

The landing craft heavy HMAS TARAKAN, was commissioned. TARAKAN was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in December 1971, and launched on 16 March 1972.

June 11, 1973

The first Hawker Siddeley 748 transport aircraft was delivered to the RAN’s Fleet Air Arm. The new aircraft replaced the Dakota transports in service since World War II.

May 31, 1973

HMAS Teal paid off. Teal remained in the Reserve Fleet for several years before finally being sold in October 1977.

May 3, 1973

The patrol boat HMAS ACUTE, (LCDR R. P. Rodriguez, RANR), apprehended and arrested two Taiwanese fishing boats which were poaching in Australian waters, near the Monte Bello Islands, WA.

April 27, 1973

The hydrographic survey ship, (small), HMAS FLINDERS, (LCDR I. S. Pullar, RAN), was commissioned. FLINDERS was laid down in Williamstown Naval Dockyard, VIC, in February 1971, and launched on 29 July 1972. Mrs Malcom McKay, (Wife of the Minister for the Navy), performed the launching ceremony.

March 30, 1973

HMAS PALUMA, (survey vessel), was paid off for disposal at Sydney. She was then sold to a Queensland based company who renamed her MATLOCK, and used her for hydrographic work, however, the vessel has since changed ownership a number of times.

March 21, 1973

HMA Ships Derwent and Perth sailed into Massawa, Ethiopia’s chief port , firing a 21 gun salute which was returned by the Imperial Ethiopian Navy. His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie dined onboard Perth during the visit. Whilst at Massawa, numerous sailors took the opportunity to ride a camel, the traditional ‘ship of the desert

March 9, 1973

The landing craft heavy HMAS LABUAN, (LEUT Henry Old, RAN), was commissioned. LABUAN was laid down at Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in October 1971, and launched on 29 December 1971. Eight of this class of vessel were ordered, LABUAN being the third completed, and the second commissioned into the RAN.

The landing class heavy HMAS BUNA was commissioned. BUNA was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD.

January 31, 1973

HMAS KARA KARA, (boom defence vessel), and a former Sydney vehicle ferry, was sunk as a combined surface gunnery and aerial missile target off Sydney Heads.

January 23, 1973

RADM A. M. Synnot was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet.

January 5, 1973

The landing craft heavy, HMAS BRUNEI, (LEUT D. Sando, RAN), was commissioned. BRUNEI was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in July 1971, and launched on 15 October 1971.