On This Day

On This Day - 11 March

1803

CAPT James Colnett, RN, in HMS GLATTON, was appointed Senior Officer of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in Port Jackson.

1919

HMAS PLATYPUS was commissioned as a submarine depot ship, and HMAS KURUMBA as oiler for the flotilla of "J" class submarines presented to the RAN as a gift by the British Admiralty.

1936

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), joined HMAS AUSTRALIA in ADML Sir Max Horton's 1st Cruiser Squadron at Malta.

1942

HMS NAIAD, (cruiser), was sunk while escorting a convoy to Malta. The cruiser's First Lieutenant, LCDR A. S. Storey, RAN, was awarded the DSC for conspicuous bravery in the operation. A Bar to the DSC was awarded to this officer some months later "for gallantry, skill and seamanship in a brilliant action against strong enemy forces" when serving in his next ship, HMS CLEOPATRA, (cruiser).

1944

HMAS ARUNTA, (destroyer), along with US destroyers, closed to 4000 yards to bombard Japanese positions at Seeadler Harbour, Manus Island.

1953

723 Squadron received the RAN’s first rotary wing aircraft – three Bristol Sycamore helicopters – adding search and rescue, rotary wing training and fleet support to the Squadron’s roles.

1957

The tug HMAS EMU, (LCDR J. Toulouse, RANVR), rescued six survivors of the merchant ship GOLD SEEKER from Bowen Bay, Bathurst Island.

1963

The first Wessex helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) mission occurred when GPCAPT Mather ejected from his RAAF Sabre jet near Lake Bathurst in NSW, and was reported as having landed near ‘a red farmhouse’. Wessex N7-200 was dispatched with two doctors aboard.  The first red farmhouse they visited yielded only two dogs and a very scared cat. The second, however, produced a ute with a parachute in the back and the missing Air Force officer on the verandah sipping whiskey.  The first SAR by the Wessex was a complete success!