HMAS YARRA, (destroyer escort), was decommissioned into reserve. YARRA was sold 1991, and broken up in 1992. ...
On This Day
Australian Naval History on 3 November 1985
A Naval Board Instruction was promulgated in ships and establishments of the RAN banning homosexuals in the service. ...
Australian Naval History on 2 November 1985
HMAS CANBERRA signalled the Russian ship FRUNZE which she had shadowed for three days in the South China Sea; ‘Happy 68th Birthday, (of the Russian Revolution). We leave you in ...
Australian Naval History on 1 November 1985
HMAS Canberra intercepted and shadowed the large Soviet cruiser Frunze and her escorts. The Soviet Surface Action Group (SAG) comprised the Kirov Class cruiser Frunze, the Sovremenny Class guided missile ...
Australian Naval History on 23 October 1985
A gas leak from a sullage tank in HMAS STALWART, (escort maintenance ship), caused the death of three sailors. Another fifty of the ship’s crew were affected by the gas, ...
Australian Naval History on 18 October 1985
HMAS ASSAIL, the last of the RAN’s Attack class patrol boats still in commission, was transferred to the Indonesian Navy as a gift. ...
Australian Naval History on 13 October 1985
The guided missile destroyer HMAS PERTH, (CAPT G. Sloper, RAN), rescued the crew of the Singaporean ship HOE LIEN, in mountainous seas off Newcastle, NSW. PERTH took the ship in ...
Australian Naval History on 11 October 1985
HMAS CURLEW, (mine hunter), and RAN Clearance Divers recovered the bodies from the Pel-Air freighter aircraft which had crashed into Botany Bay, Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 9 October 1985
Service in HMA Ships SYDNEY, JEPARIT, and BOONAROO, (troop supply ships), was accepted as ‘war service’ in the Vietnam War, under the terms of the Repatriation Act. ...
Australian Naval History on 28 September 1985
The RAN, Port Authorities, and shipping lines, participated in Operation Bell Buoy, a world-wide exercise to standardise procedures in the naval control of commercial shipping in states of emergency. ...
Australian Naval History on 23 September 1985
HMAS Balikpapan was temporarily decommissioned and placed in a state of reserve at Cairns. She remained in reserve until mid-1989, when it was decided that she would be reactivated as ...
Australian Naval History on 19 September 1985
The strength of the RAN’s heavy landing ship squadron was cut by half when HMA Ships TARAKAN, WEWAK, and BALIKPAPAN, were decommissioned ...
Australian Naval History on 18 September 1985
A naval court martial convened at HMAS PENGUIN, Sydney, found the Commanding Officer of HMAS WOLLONGONG, (patrol boat), guilty of negligence in grounding his ship off Gabo Island on 31 ...
Australian Naval History on 6 September 1985
The first official rum issue made in a ship of the RAN in 30 years, was made to the crew of HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), at Victoria, British Columbia. ...
Australian Naval History on 2 September 1985
A RAN Sea King helicopter, piloted by LCDR T. King, USN, rescued the crew of the yacht VOSS in heavy seas off Newcastle NSW ...
Australian Naval History on 16 August 1985
HMAS Wewak decommissioned at HMAS Moreton, and the following day departed for Cairns for refit and operational lay-up. ...
Australian Naval History on 1 August 1985
CAPT F. N. Cook, DSC, RAN, died in Sydney. He distinguished himself in operations in Occupied France in WWII. ...
Australian Naval History on 16 July 1985
HMAS BENDIGO, became the first patrol boat to circumnavigate Australia. ...
Australian Naval History on 30 June 1985
The uniformed strength of the RAN was 15,536 officers and ratings. ...
Australian Naval History on 13 June 1985
HMAS MELBOURNE, (aircraft carrier), reached China under tow. The Chinese Navy telexed the following message: ‘Pls B advised that HMAS MELBOURNE arrived at Port Huangpu intact n safely afloat, proud ...
Australian Naval History on 7 June 1985
Naval Forces (Women’s Services) Regulations repealed (the term WRAN was retained for administrative purposes). The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 had made separate women’s branches for the Australian Defence Force unsustainable. ...
Australian Naval History on 31 May 1985
The Fremantle class patrol boat HMAS WOLLONGONG, (LCDR I. Gulliver, RAN), was extensively damaged when she ran aground at Gabo Island during a storm. LCDR Gulliver was court-martialled, and found ...
Australian Naval History on 3 May 1985
RADM I. W. Knox was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet. ...
Australian Naval History on 30 April 1985
CDRE John Matthews, RAN, (Retired), was appointed as the Administrator for Norfolk Island. The ex aircraft carrier, HMAS MELBOURNE, was towed in to Moreton Bay, QLD, when heavy winds and ...
Australian Naval History on 27 April 1985
The former aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE, departed Sydney under tow by the Chinese tug DE PING. She was bound for Canton, (Guangzhou), to be broken up. Despite inclement weather, hundreds ...