On This Day - 19 December
- 1860
- HMCS VICTORIA, (CMDR Norman, RN), landed a detachment of seamen, and captured Matarikoriko Pa, New Zealand.
- 1878
- CDRE John C. Wilson, ADC, was appointed Commodore Commanding Australia Station. His flagship was HMS WOLVERENE.
- 1939
- The cruiser HMAS PERTH, (CAPT H. B. Farncomb, RAN), was shadowed by the USS VINCENNES, (cruiser), while on the Yucatan Channel patrol in the West Indies. VINCENNES demanded PERTH's identity, but PERTH refused to comply.
- 1940
- HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), was commissioned under LCDR M. J. Clark, RAN, at Clydebank, Scotland.
- 1941
- HMS NEPTUNE sank after striking a mine off the coast of Tripoli. Only one rating of the crew of 717 survived. Among those lost were the two RAN members of the ship's company, ORD K. Campbell and ORD S. Kemp. The Bathurst class minesweeper HMAS TOWNSVILLE, (LCDR J. Abbott, RAN(E)), was commissioned. TOWNSVILLE was laid down in Evans Deakin Yard, Brisbane, on 4 November 1940, and launched on 13 May 1941. HMAS NIZAM reported she was lifted bodily out of the water by an underwater explosion in Alexandria Harbour. Shortly after, HM Ships QUEEN ELIZABETH and VALIANT, (battleships), bottomed at their moorings. The tanker SAGONA, and HMS JERVIS were severely damaged. The attack was launched by Italian frogmen. HMA Ships CANBERRA and PERTH joined a convoy of comprising BLOEMFONTEIN (10,081grt), COAST FARMER (3290grt), MEIGS (12,568grt), WILLARD A. HOLBROOK (14,812grt), REPUBLIC (17,886grt), ADMIRAL HALSTEAD (3289grt), and CHAUMONT (7555grt) and USS PENSACOLA and USS NIAGARA, which had departed San Francisco on 21 November for the Philippines.
- 1942
- HMAS KALGOORLIE, (minesweeper), picked up 29 survivors from HMAS ARMIDALE's whaler, 150 miles north-west of Darwin. ARMIDALE was sunk by Japanese bombers off Timor.
- 1944
- CAPT H. B. Farncomb was promoted and appointed Commodore Commanding Australian Squadron.
- 1967
- HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), and USS CANBERRA, (guided missile heavy cruiser), attacked an enemy missile site near Dong Hoi, Vietnam, with gunfire.
- 1992
- HMAS Jervis Bay I departed Sydney for Mogadishu, Somalia, to provide strategic sea-lift for Operation SOLACE, the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the US-led operation to bring peace and humanitarian relief to the war torn African nation
'On This Day' is based on the book "Navy Day by Day: Historic Naval Events in Australia and Abroad" written by the late Lew Lind. More information.
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Credit:
'On This Day' is based on the book "Navy Day by Day: Historic Naval Events in Australia and Abroad" written by the late Lew Lind. More information.
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- 1939 > WW2