The Admiralty informed the Australian Government that “in the event of war in the Far East in the near future no major redistribution of forces is intended other than to ...
On This Day
Australian Naval History on 23 February 1941
HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser), passed within 100 miles of the German pocket battleship ADMIRAL SCHEER, while on patrol in the Indian Ocean. ...
Australian Naval History on 22 February 1941
HMA Ships STUART and VAMPIRE, (destroyers), joined the 1st Battle Squadron screen for an operational sweep towards Rhodes. ...
Australian Naval History on 19 February 1941
HMAS STUART was damaged by the near miss of a German bomb off Benghazi ...
Australian Naval History on 16 February 1941
The German raider supply ship, OLE JACOB, was sighted by an Australian Sunderland flying boat in the Coral Sea. The sighting report was intercepted by the raider ORION, whose captain ...
Australian Naval History on 14 February 1941
HMS SHROPSHIRE, (cruiser), later HMAS SHROPSHIRE, carried out a point-blank bombardment of enemy troop positions at Kismayu, Italian Somaliland. ...
Australian Naval History on 12 February 1941
Australian troop convoy US.9 departed Fremantle with troopships AQUITANIA (44,786grt), MAURETANIA (35,739grt), NIEUW AMSTERDAM (36,287grt), QUEEN MARY (81,235grt) escorted by HMAS CANBERRA until 20/2/41 off Colombo ...
Australian Naval History on 11 February 1941
HMAS STUART, (destroyer), picked up one survivor from the South African trawler SOUTHERN FLOE at night off Tobruk. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 February 1941
HMAS SYDNEY arrived in her namesake city, Sydney, to an enthusiastic welcome. The Governor-General, Lord Gowrie, thanked the men on behalf of King George VI, and Sydney’s Lord Mayor unveiled ...
Australian Naval History on 7 February 1941
The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Menzies, inspected HMA Ships PERTH, STUART, VAMPIRE, and VOYAGER at Alexandria, Egypt. ...
Australian Naval History on 5 February 1941
HMAS SYDNEY arrived in Fremantle from the Mediterranean. The destroyers HMAS Stuart and HMS Wryneck departed Alexandria for Tobruk where they were to land minesweeping gear. They arrived off Tobruk ...
Australian Naval History on 4 February 1941
Australian troop convoy US.9 departed Sydney with troopships AQUITANIA (44,786grt), MAURETANIA (35,739grt), NIEUW AMSTERDAM (36,287grt), QUEEN MARY (81,235grt) escorted by HMAS Hobart until 6/2/41 ...
Australian Naval History on 3 February 1941
The N class destroyer HMAS NESTOR, (CMDR G.S. Stewart, RAN), was commissioned at Fairfield Shipbuilding on the Clyde, Scotland. She was laid down in Fairfield’s in 1939, and launched on ...
Australian Naval History on 31 January 1941
The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS TERKA was commissioned. TERKA (ex- SIR DUDLEY DE CHAIR), was laid down in the State Dockyard, Newcastle, NSW, in 1925, for Dorman Long & Co, and ...
Australian Naval History on 24 January 1941
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. ...
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 ...