On This Day

On This Day - 21 April

1941

HMAS VENDETTA, (destroyer), sank an Italian supply schooner in a night action off Derna, Libya. HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), and HM Ships AJAX and ORION, (cruisers), provided support for the bombardment of the port of Tripoli, (Tunisia).

1944

ADML Somerville signalled the British Admiralty after the successful attack on Sabang; 'We caught the Japs with their kimonos up and their heads down and gave Sabang a good bang'. Six Australian ships participated in Operation Cockpit.

1945

WRAN Olwyn Crouch was assigned to HMAS Adamant in Fremantle as the ships official driver. She did sea time up and down Gage Roads. Olwyn was the only WRAN assigned to a vessel during WW2.

1953

HMAS Culgoa gave strong support to partisan troops in trouble ashore on the mainland. While a United States sergeant spotted, Culgoa fired 102 rounds of 4-inch ammunition, dispersing the attacking North Korean forces, killing many. The enemy's mortars were silenced and the partisan troops were able to evacuate the mainland to the safety of off shore islands

1967

HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), came under North Vietnamese battery fire when she closed the coast to engage enemy barges.

1969

HMAS HOBART, (destroyer), awarded the USN Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam.

1978

CDRE Sir James Ramsay, became the first officer of the RAN to be knighted twice. CDRE Ramsay, a Knight Bachelor and Governor of WA, was created a KCMG.

1979

VADM Sir James Willis, KBE, AO, RAN, is appointed Chief of Naval Staff.

1982

VADM D. W. Leach, AC, CBE, LVO, RAN, is appointed Chief of Naval Staff. He had joined the RAN College in 1942 as a Cadet Midshipman, and was the last CNS to have seen service in World War II.

1985

VADM M. W. Hudson, AC, was appointed Chief of Naval Staff. On his last day of service in 1991, he was promoted to the rank of Admiral.