HMAS Duchess recommissioned and replaced HMAS Anzac (II), which had decommissioned just three days before, as the Fleet Training Ship ...
On This Day
Australian Naval History on 11 August 1974
HMAS ANZAC, (Battle class destroyer), was paid off for disposal at Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 July 1974
Damage was minimal when the Greek cruise liner AUSTRALIS, collided with HMAS MELBOURNE, (aircraft carrier), off Garden Island, Sydney. MELBOURNE was berthed at the time, and AUSTRALIS was approaching her ...
Australian Naval History on 19 June 1974
HMAS BUNA, (landing craft heavy), lost her bow ramp in heavy seas off the NSW coast. She was taken in tow and brought safely into port by HMAS PARRAMATTA, (destroyer ...
Australian Naval History on 17 June 1974
LEUT K. Frank, RAN, of Samarai, Papua-New Guinea, was appointed to command HMAS LADAVA, (patrol boat). LEUT Frank was the first New Guinea native to command a ship of the ...
Australian Naval History on 25 May 1974
HMAS SWAN, (destroyer escort), rescued the crew of the disabled yacht CUTTY SARK, in 95 knot winds south of Norah Head, NSW. PO D. Krietling, AB R. Lindsay, and AB ...
Australian Naval History on 16 May 1974
Lieutenant (P) Ralph McMillan lost his life in a Skyhawk TA4G (879)which crashed into the sea 64 Km NE of Nowra during a mock attack on HMAS Melbourne. ...
Australian Naval History on 13 May 1974
The rank of Commodore was established as a one-star rank in the RAN. ...
Australian Naval History on 6 March 1974
HMAS VENDETTA, (Daring class destroyer), picked up a boat containing survivors from the merchant ship WARAWI, which had foundered in the Arafura Sea. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 February 1974
HMAS TORRENS escorted the royal yacht BRITANNIA on the Royal Tour of the Pacific. ...
Australian Naval History on 8 February 1974
The landing craft heavy HMAS BETANO, was commissioned. BETANO was laid down in Walkers Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in September 1972, and launched on 5 December 1972. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 February 1974
RADM D. C. Wells, CBE, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet. ...
Australian Naval History on 1 February 1974
HMAS CAIRNS, (Shore Establishment in Cairns), was commissioned. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 January 1974
RADM D. C. Wells, CBE, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet. ...
Australian Naval History on 7 December 1973
HMPNGS BUNA, (landing craft heavy), was commissioned into the PNGDF. She was a sister ship to the RAN LCH vessels, and was a gift from Australia to Papua New Guinea. ...
Australian Naval History on 29 November 1973
The Department of the Navy ceased to exist. It was merged with the Departments of Army and Air to form the Department of Defence. ...
Australian Naval History on 23 November 1973
VADM Sir Hugh David Stevenson, AC, KBE, was appointed Chief of Naval Staff. ...
Australian Naval History on 16 November 1973
HMAS BANDOLIER, (patrol boat), was transferred to the Indonesian Navy and renamed SIBARAU. ...
Australian Naval History on 12 November 1973
HMAS Sydney decommissioned, by which time she had steamed 395,591 miles as a fast troop transport. Since first commissioning in 1948 she had steamed 711,549 miles. Stripped of all useful ...
Australian Naval History on 8 November 1973
Skyhawk A4G (889) crashed due to catapult failure while launching from MELBOURNE during multinational exercise near Singapore. SBLT Barry Evans remained in the aircraft while the ship passed overhead and ...
Australian Naval History on 19 October 1973
The landing craft heavy HMAS SALAMAUA, was commissioned. SALAMAUA was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, Queensland. ...
Australian Naval History on 18 October 1973
UPI and AP issued a press release quoting: General Brown, US Air Force Chief-of-Staff; ‘Early in the summer of 1968 near the Demilitarised Zone, [Vietnam], there was a series of ...
Australian Naval History on 10 August 1973
The landing craft heavy HMAS WEWAK, was commissioned. WEWAK was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in March 1972, and launched on 18 May 1972. ...
Australian Naval History on 8 August 1973
HMAS BETANO, (landing ship heavy), was commissioned. ...
Australian Naval History on 23 July 1973
The bow and stern sections of the WWI torpedo boat destroyer HMAS PARRAMATTA, were salvaged from a mud bank on the Hawkesbury River, where she had foundered in 1934. The ...