The Minister for the Navy, Mr. F. C. Chaney, announced the dispatch of the HMA Ships HAWK and GULL, (minesweepers), to Singapore, for operations during the Indonesian-Malaysian confrontation. ...
On This Day
Australian Naval History on 30 April 1964
The River class, (modified type 12 frigate), destroyer escort, HMAS DERWENT, was commissioned. DERWENT was laid down at Williamstown Naval Dockyard, VIC on 16 June 1959, and launched on 17 ...
Australian Naval History on 25 April 1964
The former Z Special Force vessel HMAS KRAIT, arrived in Sydney. She had been sold after the war, and was later found in Borneo employed as a timber carrying vessel. ...
Australian Naval History on 19 April 1964
HMS DUCHESS, (Daring class destroyer), arrived in Sydney on loan to the RAN as a replacement for HMAS VOYAGER. DUCHESS was later purchased outright by the Australian Government. ...
Australian Naval History on 17 April 1964
The first of three Bell Iroquois helicopters ordered for the RAN were received by the Fleet Air Arm. The FAA entered a period of uncertainty in the early 1960s with ...
Australian Naval History on 9 March 1964
First Bell UH-1B/1C Iroquois delivered to the RAN. Members of the Royal Australian Navy flew several variants of this aircraft in both the gunship and utility configuration as part of ...
Australian Naval History on 6 March 1964
HMAS Moresby officially commissioned under the command of Commander John Osborn, RAN, at Garden Island in Sydney ...
Australian Naval History on 25 February 1964
The first Royal Commission into the loss of HMAS VOYAGER, in a collision with HMAS MELBOURNE, was convened in Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 21 February 1964
HMAS Barcoo was decommissioned for the final time. The frigate had travelled 342,579 nautical miles during her career. ...
Australian Naval History on 13 February 1964
The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Menzies, announced the setting up of a Royal Commission to inquire into the loss of HMAS VOYAGER. The decision was a precedent, the ...
Australian Naval History on 10 February 1964
HMAS MELBOURNE, (aircraft carrier), and HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), collided in a night exercise off Jervis Bay. VOYAGER sank with a loss of 82 lives. The GC was awarded posthumously to ...
Australian Naval History on 10 January 1964
Seacat missile systems were fitted in HMA Ships PARRAMATTA, YARRA, STUART, and DERWENT, (destroyer escorts). ...
Australian Naval History on 6 January 1964
RADM O. H. Becher, CBE, DSO, DSC and Bar, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet. RADM Becher was one of the most highly decorated permanent officers of ...
Australian Naval History on 3 January 1964
HMAS ANZAC, (destroyer), landed parties to fight bushfires on Tasman Island. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 November 1963
S. Landau was appointed as Secretary of the Department of the Navy. He held this position until 1973, when the Department of the Navy was subsumed into the Department of ...
Australian Naval History on 17 October 1963
A sub lieutenant and four midshipmen were drowned when a whaler from HMAS SYDNEY, (aircraft carrier), was swamped off Hayman Island, in the Great Barrier Reef. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 October 1963
The Australian Government placed orders for two Oberon class submarines with Scott’s Shipbuilding, Scotland. ...
Australian Naval History on 20 September 1963
The 16th MCM Squadron with 6 Bird class minesweepers deploy as part of Operation GARDENING, a minesweeping task to clear a channel into Tonolei Harbour in Bougainville, where US aircraft had ...
Australian Naval History on 15 August 1963
HMAS Warrego paid off, one week short of her 23rd birthday, having steamed 440,978 miles since commissioning on 22 August 1940. In the post war period Warrego made a significant ...
Australian Naval History on 9 August 1963
The Minister for Defence, Senator J. Gorton, announced that the Australian Minesweeping Squadron would sweep mines in Bougainville waters. ...
Australian Naval History on 18 July 1963
817 squadron recommissioned with the Wessex 31A helicopter ...
Australian Naval History on 5 July 1963
A Sea Venom crashed into Sydney Harbour following a collision with another Sea Venom during a flypast. ...
Australian Naval History on 28 June 1963
The River class, (modified type 12 frigate), destroyer escort, HMAS STUART, (CMDR M. L. Molony, RAN), was commissioned. STUART was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 20 March ...
Australian Naval History on 30-june-1963
805 Squadron, flying Sea Venoms, decommissioned ...
Australian Naval History on 8 May 1963
HMAS QUEENBOROUGH, (frigate), struck HMS TABARD, (submarine), while exercising off Sydney. Both vessels were damaged but returned to Port under their own power. ...