On This Day

On This Day - 20 October

1858

The Victorian Government approved the building of a graving dock at Williamstown.

1867

HMS NELSON, (wooden line of battleship), was presented to the Victorian Navy.

1939

The examination vessel HMAS ADELE, was commissioned. ADELE was formerly commissioned as HMAS FRANKLIN, on 14 September 1915.

1940

HMAS YARRA and HMS AUCKLAND, (sloops), engaged three Italian destroyers east of Massawa. Later HMS KIMBERLEY, (destroyer), encountered one of the Italian ships, drove it ashore, and destroyed it with torpedoes. The Italian radio announced the loss of the FRANCESCO NULLO.

1941

HMAS VENDETTA departed Alexandria for Singapore and passed through the Suez Canal on the 21st. HMAS HOBART and HM Ships AJAX and GALATEA bombarded enemy batteries east of Tobruk.

1942

HMAS NIZAM and HMS FOXHOUND, (destroyers), were fired at by the STEPHEN A DOUGLAS, (ammunition carrier). NIZAM and FOXHOUND were rendezvousing with the ammunition carrier to escort her into Cape Town, and were mistaken for German submarines.

1943

The Fremantle-based US Ships KINGFISH and CABRILLA, (submarines), were deployed on missions in Philippine waters. KINGFISH landed British Coastwatchers and their equipment in Borneo, laid a minefield off the Celebes, and sank the Japanese transport SANA MARU in the South China Sea. CABRILLA evacuated resistance agents from Negros Island.

1944

HMAS Glenelg was able to render signal aid to a sorely harassed American patrol at the mouth of the Woske River near Maffin Bay, Dutch New Guinea. While proceeding close inshore she observed the American detachment under severe mortar fire. An appeal for assistance to evacuate wounded met with a ready response from volunteers to man Glenelg's whaler and it was quickly despatched under Lieutenant WH Pennington. Swamped by heavy surf the waterlogged boat was beached by her crew, and its bottom boards used as improvised stretchers to carry the wounded to the American held bank of the river. Meanwhile, on a request for bombardment support, Glenelg opened fire with her 4-inch gun. Under cover of this fire (31 rounds), which effectively silenced the Japanese mortars, the American party was able to withdraw to cover with all wounded, leaving five dead on the beach. Lieutenant Peebles (United States Army), the senior surviving officer, was emphatic that the fire laid down by Glenelg and directed from the open beach by Lieutenant Pennington and Signalman Greet, was the decisive factor in the successful withdrawal. The air/sea rescue vessels AIR CLOUD, (SBLT S. C. Hines, RANVR), and AIR GUIDE, (ex-AIR HOST, SBLT A. B. McLean, RANVR), were commissioned. LEUT H. L. Bellman, RANVR, landed with the first wave of assault troops on Panaon Island. Bellman cleared enemy mines and unexploded bombs in the path of the advance, and engaged the Japanese at close quarters. His bravery and devotion over a period of four months won him the DSC. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, (20-27 October), HMA Ships AUSTRALIA, ARUNTA, GASCOYNE, SHROPSHIRE, WARRAMUNGA, and the landing ships WESTRALIA, MANOORA, and KANIMBLA were engaged. AUSTRALIA suffered damage and casualties when struck by a kamikaze aircraft. HMAS Three Cheers commissioned

1945

HMAS QUEENSBOROUGH was commissioned into the RAN after service in the RN. She replaced HMAS NORMAN on transfer to the RAN.

1959

The RAN's three Daring Class destroyers operated together for the first time, when Vendetta II, Vampire II and Voyager II conducted a series of exercises and manoeuvres in Jervis Bay area, the trio now forming the 9th Destroyer Squadron

1968

The USN Communication Station at North West Cape, WA, which commenced operation in 1962, is formally renamed USN Naval Communications Station Harold E. Holt, in memory of the late Prime Minister. The station remained operational with a combined USN/RAN presence until April 2002.