RFA Bishopdale arrived Sydney and was made available to the RAN and operated as an Australian Fleet Auxiliary until returned in 1945 ...
On This Day
Australian Naval History on 3 April 1942
A lifeboat, commanded by PO J. Tyrrell, containing 23 survivors from HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), surrendered to the Japanese at Semangka Bay, Sumatra. The party set out to sail to Australia ...
Australian Naval History on 2 April 1942
ADML Sir James Somerville ordered his battleships HMS RAMILLES, REVENGE, RESOLUTION, and ROYAL SOVEREIGN, to withdraw to Addu Atoll to avoid a clash with ADML Naguma’s superior modern fleet. The ...
Australian Naval History on 28 March 1942
The raid on St Nazaire, France, was conducted with the aim of damaging the port facilities there. LEUT N. B. H. Wallis, RANVR, (ML 192), and SBLT P. W. Landy, ...
Australian Naval History on 26 March 1942
The merchant ship LAKATOI arrived at Cairns, QLD, with 214 troops and civilians evacuated from Japanese-occupied New Britain. ...
Australian Naval History on 24 March 1942
US Congress accepted an Australian proposal for dividing the Pacific into distinct naval operational zones. The two areas proposed were the Southwest Pacific and the Southern Pacific. “Harris’s Navy”, an ...
Australian Naval History on 20 March 1942
HMAS MAROUBRA was commissioned as an auxiliary minesweeper. The vessel was sunk by enemy action in 1943. HMAS NORMAN, (destroyer), located a torpedoed allied tanker in the Indian Ocean, and ...
Australian Naval History on 18 March 1942
HMAS WESTRALIA, (armed merchant cruiser), landed a garrison and engineers on Efate Island, New Hebrides, to develop a base for operations against the Japanese through the Solomon and Bismarck Groups. ...
Australian Naval History on 17 March 1942
General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia and was appointed Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific. HMS KINGSTON OLIVINE, (LEUT T. Lewis, RANVR), took in tow the ...
Australian Naval History on 15 March 1942
A boat from HMAS PERTH, (LEUT Thode), surrendered to the Japanese at Tjilatjap, 16 days after the sinking of the cruiser in the Battle of Sunda Strait. The party of ...