On This Day

On This Day - 19 November

1914

The sloop HMAS UNA, (CMDR J. M. Jackson, RN), was commissioned. UNA, (as KOMET), was laid down in Vulkan Vegesack Yard, Bremerhaven, Germany, in 1911.

1941

HMA Ships HOBART NAPIER and NIZAM, (destroyers), supported the Battle Fleet in the bombardment of key German and Italian defences in the Halfaya Pass, Libya. The cruiser HMAS SYDNEY, (CAPT J. Burnett, RAN), was lost with all hands, (41 RAN officer, 1 RAAF officer, 592 RAN ratings, 2 RN ratings, 4 NAAFI personnel, 5 RAAF aircrew), in an engagement with the German raider KORMORAN, approximately 130 miles off the coast of WA (26-34S, 111-00E). KORMORAN sank soon after the battle, but her captain and 314 other crew survived. Both wrecks were discovered in March 2008 off the WA coast. SBLT R. J. Hardstaff, RAN, was serving in HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, (battleship), when she and HMS VALIANT were sunk by Italian frogmen-charioteers in Alexandria Harbour. He was serving in HMAS HOBART when she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1943.

1944

HMAS BURDEKIN, (frigate), bombarded Japanese positions on Halmahera Island.

1969

HMAS VENDETTA, (Daring class destroyer), supported South Vietnamese battalions in a night action to the west of Tuy Hoa, Vietnam. VENDETTA was the only British-design ship employed in operations in Vietnam, and ammunition supply for her 4.5-inch guns created a supply problem.

2004

A Seahawk helicopter from 816 Squadron, en-route from Perth, WA, to Nowra, NSW, on completion of an exercise in Western Australian waters, was diverted to take personnel from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, (RFDS), to a remote site some 120 miles south of Kalgoorlie, WA, to treat a seriously injured patient. The patient was located in an area where RFDS fixed wing aircraft were unable to land. After being treated at the site, the patient, (who was found to have a broken pelvis, a broken leg, and internal bleeding), was airlifted to Perth. In a separate activity on the same day, HMAS LEEUWIN, (hydrographic survey ship), stopped to render assistance to the yacht WILD FORTUNE, which was experiencing engine problems north east of Bali.