The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS LISMORE, (LCDR S. H. Crawford, RANR(S)), was commissioned. LISMORE, was paid off in 1946, and transferred to the Netherlands Navy. She was renamed BATAAN. ...
On This Day
Australian Naval History on 23 January 1941
HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), sustained underwater damage in a collision with the wreck of HMS ROYAL OAK in Scapa Flow. ...
Australian Naval History on 21 January 1941
HMA Ships STUART, VAMPIRE, and VOYAGER, (destroyers), took part in the assault on Tobruk, breaking through the outer defences at dawn. The Australian Forces Club opened in Alexandria, Egypt. A ...
Australian Naval History on 19 January 1941
ADML A. B. Cunningham, RN, (C in C, Mediterranean), reported to the Admiralty that the Inshore Squadron had ferried 35000 Italian POWs to Alexandria in 10 days, as well as ...
Australian Naval History on 18 January 1941
The Australian armed merchant cruiser, ARAWA sighted searchlight beams and gun flashes from the German raider KORMORAN in the South Atlantic. The raider escaped before ARAWA could close her. ...
Australian Naval History on 16 January 1941
HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), suffered damage during an air raid while berthed at Malta. An enemy bomb landed between her and the merchant ship ESSEX, causing underwater and internal damage to ...
Australian Naval History on 15 January 1941
The British Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, Mrs Churchill, Lord and Lady Halifax, and American Special Envoy Harry Hopkins, embarked in HMAS NAPIER for passage from Thurso to Scapa Flow. ...
Australian Naval History on 14 January 1941
HMAS Perth, with machinery defects, was berthed at Malta from 14 to 17 January 1941. The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS TOORIE was commissioned. TOORIE, (ex-SIR ARTHUR DORMAN), was laid down in ...
Australian Naval History on 13 January 1941
HMA Ships STUART and VAMPIRE (destroyers), intercepted the Italian supply schooner SAN DIEGO attempting to enter Tobruk under cover of darkness. The schooner was later sunk by VAMPIRE. ...
Australian Naval History on 12 January 1941
HMAS SYDNEY passed through the Suez Canal to return to Australia after duty with the Mediterranean Fleet ...
Australian Naval History on 8 January 1941
The N class destroyer HMAS NIZAM, (LCDR M. J. Clark, RAN), was commissioned. NIZAM was laid down in John Brown & Co Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland, on 27 July 1939, and ...
Australian Naval History on 7 January 1941
HMAS NAPIER, (destroyer), arrived at Reykjavik, Iceland, as escort for a convoy. ...
Australian Naval History on 3 January 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), was part of the screen for the battle-fleet which bombarded Italian defences, at Bardia, Libya. ...
Australian Naval History on 2 January 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), joined HM Ships DAINTY, (destroyer) and TERROR, (monitor) in a bombardment of Bardia. ...
Australian Naval History on 1 January 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), bombarded Sollum, Libya. ...
Australian Naval History on 30 December 1940
HMAS WATERHEN, (destroyer), collided with, and sank, HMS BANDOLERO, (anti-submarine trawler), off Sollum, Libya. Damage to WATERHEN required a month in dock to repair. HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), captured the 190 ...
Australian Naval History on 28 December 1940
HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), was painted in camouflage colours. The pattern and colour scheme was so unusual the ship was requested to ‘try again’. ...
Australian Naval History on 27 December 1940
HMAS PERTH was at Alexandria for camouflage painting on the 27/12/40 and 28/12/40, and on the 30/12/40 replaced sister ship SYDNEY in the 7th Cruiser Squadron. HMAS VAMPIRE, (destroyer), sailed ...
Australian Naval History on 26 December 1940
The intensity of the struggle in the Mediterranean may be gauged from this diary entry of HMAS WATERHEN: ‘Torpedo attack by aircraft 3.30pm. Attack by 24 bombers escorted by 18 ...
Australian Naval History on 25 December 1940
HMAS WATERHEN, (destroyer), on the Libyan coast, sank the Italian supply schooner TIREREMO DIRRITO, west of Bardia. From a prisoner the destroyer learnt the schooner was carrying the garrison’s Christmas ...
Australian Naval History on 24 December 1940
HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), relieved HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), in the Mediterranean Fleet. ...
Australian Naval History on 23 December 1940
HMAS NAPIER, (destroyer), blew off her own galley funnel in sub-calibre shoots in Scapa Flow. ...
Australian Naval History on 22 December 1940
HMAS ORARA, (auxiliary minesweeper), signalled HMAS SWAN, (sloop), on observing her coloured minesweeping lights burning too brightly on her stern:- ‘May I hang my stocking on your Christmas tree?’ SWAN ...
Australian Naval History on 21 December 1940
HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), sustained damage when bombed in dry dock at Liverpool, England. A 1588 kg aerial torpedo fell between the ship and the dockside, but failed to explode. ...
Australian Naval History on 19 December 1940
HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), was commissioned under LCDR M. J. Clark, RAN, at Clydebank, Scotland. ...