- Author
- Letter Writer
- Subjects
- WWII operations, Letter to the Editor
- Tags
- None noted.
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Wallaroo
- Publication
- December 2012 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Dear Sir,
I was very interested in Mr Les Heap’s report of Wallaroo’s submarine attack (NHR September 2012), outside Sydney Heads on 1 June 1942. Your Editor, in discussing the veracity of the story states An ASDIC contact however is only able to measure return echoes and is unable to detect or differentiate types of propeller noise. As a veteran TAS Officer, and the ASWO in Cootamundra (another Bathurst Class Minesweeper) from 1954-1956, I do not agree with that statement. Much information can be gleaned from ASDIC by listening passively (e.g. number of propellers, approximate speed and even type of S/M), even with the Type 124 or 128 ASDIC. Wallaroo stopping and the Captain ordering all onboard noise to cease, could indicate that the Captain wanted to increase the possibility of confirming a passive contact.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Knox
Vice Admiral, AC, RAN (Rtd)
Lavender Bay, Sydney NSW.
Editor: A response was sent thanking our eminent reader for his comments which I am sure correct the record. The editorial comments previously referred to were based on memory of experience as Navigator of another Bathurst Class HMNZS Kiama and were checked with a TAS officer but with no experience of this particular type of ship.