On This Day

1976-1999 > Post Vietnam

July 3, 1980

The first WRANS midshipmen passed out of the Royal Australian Naval College.

June 17, 1980

The destroyer escort HMAS SWAN, (CMDR D. T. Read, RAN), rescued 72 Vietnamese refugees from a disabled vessel in the South China Sea.

June 7, 1980

The Minister for Defence, Mr. D. J. Killen, announced increased air and sea defence for Australia’s off-shore oilfields.

June 5, 1980

Evaluations of the US designed Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo, (for potential use in the Oberon class submarines), commenced at HMAS WATSON.

May 30, 1980

HMA Ships ATTACK, ADVANCE, and BUCCANEER, (patrol boats), commenced offshore oil rig patrols. The patrols were organized to prevent terrorist attacks on the oil rigs

May 29, 1980

Queen Elizabeth II, approved three new long service medals, (15 years service), for members of the Australian Defence Force. These were the Defence Force Service Medal, (DFSM), for all regular personnel regardless of rank; the Reserve Force Decoration, (RFD), for Reserve Force officers only; and the Reserve Force Medal, (RFM), for all other Reserve Force personnel. The first medals were issued in 1982, and replaced the National Medal, which had been the ADF Long Service Medal from 1975 until 1982. The DFSM, RFD, and RFM, were themselves replaced in 1999-2000 by the Defence Long Service Medal, (DLSM), which was for both regular and reserve personnel who had completed 15 years service.

May 19, 1980

The rank of Provisional Warrant Officer was abolished in the RAN.

May 18, 1980

China’s first Inter Continental Ballistic Missile landed in the Pacific Ocean north west of Fiji. The splashdown was observed by HMA Ships VAMPIRE, (destroyer), and JERVIS BAY, (training ship). A fleet of eighteen Chinese warships was also in the area to observe the splashdown.

May 17, 1980

USS DIXIE, (destroyer tender), the oldest US warship on continuous active service, arrived in Sydney on a goodwill visit.

May 13, 1980

HMA Ships VAMPIRE, (Daring class destroyer), and HMAS JERVIS BAY, (training ship), were dispatched to the area between the Solomon Islands and Fiji, to observe the test firing of China’s first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The splash-down zone was near this area.

May 11, 1980

The Australian Government announced plans for the construction of a $13 million patrol base at Darwin, NT.

May 6, 1980

The first female officers of the RAN to serve at sea, embarked in the training ship HMAS JERVIS BAY.

April 15, 1980

The Minister for Defence, Mr. D. J. Killen, announced the expenditure of $1,065 million for the building of four guided missile frigates and support equipment.

March 25, 1980

The Minister for Defence, Mr. D. J. Killen, announced Government plans to increase the RAN’s strength in ships, weapons and establishments.

March 17, 1980

• The patrol boat HMAS FREMANTLE, (LEUT R. Thomas, RAN), the lead ship of the Fremantle class patrol boats was commissioned at Lowestoft, England.
• A publicity hoax claiming the discovery of a missing Japanese midget submarine in Port Jackson brought complaints from Australian and Japanese authorities.

March 13, 1980

AB J. Stewart was lost overboard from HMAS BRISBANE, (guided missile destroyer), 120 miles north-west of Honolulu before midnight on 12/3/1980, and was picked up 12 hours later by USS JOSEPH STRAUSS. AB Stewart stayed afloat by inflating a discarded plastic garbage bag. A large shark swam around him for the last two hours of his ordeal.

March 1, 1980

HMAS TOBRUK, (amphibious heavy lift ship), was launched at Newcastle, NSW.

February 29, 1980

HMAS DIAMANTINA, (oceanographic research ship), and the last World War II ship in commission in the RAN, was paid off for disposal at Garden Island, Sydney. She had steamed 615,755 miles since first commissioning. She left Garden Island on 1 October 1980aftewr being donated to the Queensland Maritime Museum Association. Diamantina is now on permanent display in Brisbane and restored to her World War II outfit of weapons.

February 19, 1980

The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. M. Fraser, announced plans for increasing the size of the RAN.

January 16, 1980

The keel for HMAS SYDNEY, the third guided missile frigate ordered from the USA, was laid at Seattle, USA.

January 8, 1980

A contingent of nine RAN officers sailed in the Antarctic relief ship NANOK S for a 40-day deployment in Australia’s Antarctic bases of Casey and Mawson.

December 18, 1979

Iroquois helicopters from No. 723 Squadron, and 150 personnel from RAN ships and establishments fought disastrous bushfires in the Sydney metropolitan area.

November 1, 1979

The Australian 200 nautical mile fishing zone was proclaimed, greatly increasing the surveillance role of the RAN.

October 9, 1979

HMAS Vendetta was decommissioned. In her 21 year career, she had steamed 670952 nautical miles. She subsequently served as a source of spare parts for Vampire (II), the last Australian Daring Class Destroyer. Following her decommissioning, Vendetta languished in the ‘mothball’ fleet at Sydney until 1986, when she was sold to Ming Hsieh Steel Mill on behalf of Hodland Enterprises of Taiwan. The ship departed under tow in late 1986, bound for the breaker’s yard in Taiwan

August 31, 1979

CPO Jackson, of HMAS KIMBLA, (survey vessel), was washed overboard and drowned in heavy seas, while the ship was leaving Port Philip Bay, VIC. His body was never recovered.