The former steam yacht HMAS ADELE, (auxiliary patrol vessel), was commissioned. The vessel was first commissioned in 1914 as HMAS FRANKLIN, and served as a tender to the Royal Australian ...
Australian Units
Australian Naval History on 10 September 1939
HMS OXLEY, (submarine, ex-HMAS OXLEY), was sunk in error by HMS TRITON, (submarine). The Commanding Officer, and one rating, survived the sinking. OXLEY was the first British submarine lost in ...
Australian Naval History on 9 September 1939
HMAS Stuart on patrol off Terrigal in Broken Bay, north of Sydney, attacked a submarine contact which later proved to be rocks. ...
Australian Naval History on 8 September 1939
The British Admiralty asked Australia to send a cruiser and five destroyers for service beyond the Australia Station. The five destroyers, HMA Ships VAMPIRE, VOYAGER, VENDETTA, WATERHEN and STUART were ...
Australian Naval History on 5 September 1939
HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), caught fire alongside the dock, at Garden Island Sydney. A brazier of burning pitch was overturned, setting alight the deck and destroying an 27 foot whaler. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 September 1939
HMAS KURUMBA, (fleet oiler), was commissioned. The ship had served with the RN between 1916 and 1919. She was later transferred to the RAN. KURUMBA was sold out of service ...
Australian Naval History on 3 September 1939
The ‘Declaration of war on Germany’ was issued. The Imperial war telegram was received in Canberra at 2150. It read; ‘Total Germany, repeat, total Germany’. At 2115 in a radio ...
Australian Naval History on 2 September 1939
CDRE Wilfred Rupert Patterson, CBE, RN, was appointed to command His Majesty’s Australian Squadron, his flagship was HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser). He replaced RADM Wilfred Custance who was in the grip ...
Australian Naval History on 27 August 1939
The Australian Naval Board approved the mobilisation of 350 RANR for duty at Darwin, Navy Office, Melbourne and the Naval Control Service. The passenger liners MORETON BAY, ARAWA, KANIMBLA, and ...
Australian Naval History on 4 August 1939
New York newspapers carried headlines; ‘Aussies Mutiny-British Officers Too British’. The story concerned an incident in HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), when ratings objected to the wearing of whites ashore. The matter ...
Australian Naval History on 29 June 1939
The modified Leander class cruiser HMAS PERTH, (CAPT H. B. Farncomb, MVO, RAN), was commissioned. PERTH was laid down in Portsmouth Dockyard, England, as HMS AMPHION, on 26 June 1933, ...
Australian Naval History on 14 June 1939
The Government acquired 357 acres of land at Brown’s Hole near Nowra, NSW. Operating as a Royal Naval Air Station during WWII, the site later commissioned as HMAS Albatross. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 June 1939
HMAS PARRAMATTA, (sloop), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 3 April 1939
HMAS VENDETTA, (destroyer), transported the body of the Australian Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, to Devonport, TAS, for burial. ...
Australian Naval History on 29 October 1938
HMAS KOOKABURRA, (boom defence vessel), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 27 October 1938
The Sydney Morning Herald reported:- ‘The Navy found itself with two of its four cruisers undergoing refits, its one remaining heavy cruiser still lacking protective armour without which ships of ...
Australian Naval History on 28 September 1938
HMAS ALBATROSS, (seaplane carrier), was transferred to the RN as part payment for HMAS HOBART, (cruiser, ex-HMS APOLLO). The modified Leander class cruiser, HMAS HOBART, was commissioned. HOBART was laid ...
Australian Naval History on 11 July 1938
HMAS ALBATROSS, (seaplane carrier), sailed from Sydney for England. The vessel was transferred to the RN as part payment for HMAS HOBART, (cruiser). ...
Australian Naval History on 31 December 1937
The fisheries patrol vessel, LARRAKIA, later HMAS LARRAKIA, fired over 1000 rounds warning Japanese fishing vessels they were poaching in North Australian waters. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 August 1937
HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), arrived in her name port on her maiden voyage. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 June 1937
HMA Ships SUCCESS, STALWART, TASMANIA, and TATTOO, (destroyers), were sold for scrap. All four ships had been built in the United Kingdom towards the end of World War I, and ...
Australian Naval History on 21 January 1937
The Grimsby class escort sloop, HMAS SWAN, (CMDR R. R. Dowling, RAN), was commissioned. SWAN was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, 1 May 1935, and launched on 28 ...
Australian Naval History on 9 January 1937
HMAS SWORDSMAN, (destroyer), was sold out of service. ...
Australian Naval History on 9 November 1936
HMAS VENDETTA, (destroyer), was despatched from Sydney to search for the 32 foot launch VIKING, missing between Sydney and Lord Howe Island. Although five steamers and numerous smaller craft joined ...
Australian Naval History on 11 August 1936
HMAS Australia (II) arrived in Sydney after an absence of 615 days on exchange service in company with HMAS Sydney who made her long awaited entry through Sydney Heads and ...