March 2017
Given the 75th anniversary commemoration events taking place around Australia and overseas in 2017 to honour ships lost in the RAN’s darkest year, 1942 it is timely to reproduce the full list of Royal Australian Navy vessels lost since 1914.
The table below was prepared by the Directorate of Strategic and Historical Studies in the RAN’s Sea Power Centre, Canberra lists 31 vessels lost along with a total of 1,736 lives.
| Vessel (* Denotes ship taken up from trade. Only ships appearing on the Navy Lists as commissioned vessels are included.) | Date sunk | Casualties (Ships lost with casualties highlighted) | Location | Comments | NAP/CPB |
| HMA Submarine AE1 | 14-Sep-14 | 35 | Vicinity of Blanche Bay, New Guinea | Disappeared following a patrol near Cape Gazelle, New Guinea. Thought to have struck a coral reef near the mouth of Blanche Bay while submerged. | |
| HMA Submarine AE2 | 30-Apr-15 | 0 | Sea of Marmara, Turkey | Scuttled after action against Turkish torpedo boat. All crew became POWs, four died in captivity. Wreck located in June 1998. | |
| HMAS Goorangai* | 20-Nov-40 | 24 | Port Phillip Bay | Collided with MV Duntroon. No survivors. | |
| HMAS Waterhen | 30-Jun-41 | 0 | Off Sollum, Egypt | Damaged by German aircraft 29 June 1941. Sank early the next morning. | |
| HMAS Sydney (II) | 19-Nov-41 | 645 | 207 km from Steep Point WA, Indian Ocean | Sunk with all hands following action against HSK Kormoran.
Located 16-Mar-08. |
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| HMAS Parramatta (II) | 27-Nov-41 | 138 | Approximately 25 miles north of Bardia, Libya | Sunk by German submarine. 24 survivors. | |
| HMAS Perth | 01-Mar-42 | 353 | Sunda Strait | Sunk by Japanese naval forces in the Sunda Strait. 328 survivors, 4 died after making landfall. 106 died in captivity. The remainder, 218, were repatriated during or after the War. Wreck found in 1967 by David Burchell. | |
| HMAS Yarra (II) | 04-Mar-42 | 138 | South of Java | Sunk by Japanese forces. 13 survivors. | |
| HMAS Vampire | 09-Apr-42 | 9 | Vicinity of Batticaloa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) | Sunk by Japanese aircraft. 122 survivors. | |
| HMAS Kuttabul* | 01-Jun-42 | 21 | Sydney Harbour | Torpedoed by Japanese midget sub in Sydney Harbour. | |
| HMAS Nestor | 16-Jun-42 | 4 | Mediterranean Sea, between Crete and Libya | Damaged by enemy air attack, straddled by 2 heavy bombs, 15 June 1942 causing serious damage to her boiler rooms. Taken in tow by HMS Javelin, scuttled the next morning. 245 survivors. | |
| HMAS Nereus* | 02-Jul-42 | 0 | Sydney Harbour | Destroyed by fire. | CPB |
| HMAS Canberra | 09-Aug-42 | 193 | Vicinity of Savo Island | Scuttled following action against Japanese forces in the Battle of Savo Island. 612 survivors. Wreck found by Robert Ballard in 1992. | |
| HMAS Voyager | 25-Sep-42 | 0 | Betano Bay, Timor | Ran aground at Betano Bay, Timor 24 September 1942. Destroyed by demolition charges the next day. | |
| HMAS Armidale | 01-Dec-42 | 40 | Vicinity of Timor | Sunk by Japanese aircraft en route to Timor with Netherlands East Indies evacuees. 43 survivors. In addition to the 40 Australian casualties, 60 NEI casualties. | |
| HMAS Patricia Cam* | 22-Jan-43 | 8 including 3 civilians | Near Wessel Island, N.T. | Sunk by Japanese aircraft while carrying 6 passengers. Of the 17 survivors, 1, a civilian, was taken captive by the Japanese and later executed. | |
| HMAS Adele* | 07-May-43 | 0 | Port Kembla | Wrecked by storm. | |
| HMAS Wallaroo | 11-Jun-43 | 3 | Near Fremantle | Collided with US Liberty Ship Henry Gilbert Costin. 82 survivors. | |
| HMAS Silver Cloud* | 12-Jul-43 | 0 | Sydney Harbour | Damaged by fire and declared for disposal. Purchased by Halvorsen and Sons and repaired. | |
| HMAS Matafele* | 20-Jun-44 | 37 including 13 Pacific Island seamen | Presumed south coast of Papua | Disappeared en route Townsville to Milne Bay. Presumed foundered sometime on 20 June 1944. | |
| HMAS ML430 | 13-Aug-44 | 0 | North of Biak, New Guinea | Sunk by friendly fire from ML819. | |
| HMAS Geelong | 18-Oct-44 | 0 | North of Langemak, New Guinea | Sank after collision with US tanker York. All crew rescued by York. | |
| HMAS Marlean* | 12-Nov-44 | 0 | Sydney Harbour | Destroyed by fire. | NAP/CPB |
| HMAS ML827 | 20-Nov-44 | 0 | Off New Britain Island | Ran aground in Rondahl Harbour, east of Waterfall Bay, New Britain on 17 November 1944. Refloated 3 days later but capsized under tow 20 November. | |
| HMAS Steady Hour* | 03-Mar-45 | 0 | Melville Bay, NT | Destroyed by fire. | NAP/CPB |
| HMAS Terka* | 26-Mar-45 | 0 | Madang Harbour | Foundered for no apparent reason in Madang Harbour. | |
| HMAS Watcher* | 14-May-45 | 0 | Hervey Reef | Wrecked on Hervey Reef NE of Thursday Island. | |
| HMAS Lolita* | 13-Jun-45 | 2 | Madang, New Guinea | Wrecked after engine room explosion and fire. | NAP/CPB |
| HMAS Warrnambool | 13-Sep-47 | 4 | Cockburn Reef, Qld | Struck a mine while conducting mine clearance work. Classed as a war loss. Wreck location known. | |
| HMAS Tarakan | 25-Jan -50 | 8
Including one dockyard tradesman |
Garden Island, Sydney | Extensively damaged by explosion aft under mess decks. Did not return to sea service and decommissioned 12 March 1954 | |
| HMAS Woomera | 11-Oct-60 | 2 | Off New South Wales Coast | Sank after an explosion and fire during ammunition dumping operations. | |
| HMAS Voyager (II) | 10-Feb-64 | 82 | Off Jervis Bay | Collided with HMAS Melbourne. | |
| HMAS Arrow | 25 Dec 74 | 2 | Darwin Harbour | Driven ashore and sank under Stokes Hill Wharf during Cyclone Tracey
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| HMAS Bundaberg (II) | 11-Aug-14 | 0 | Aluminium Boats Australia, Yard, Brisbane
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Destroyed by fire triggered by welding activity. |
Lest we Forget
