On This Day - 23 September
- 1940
- HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), participated in the combined British-Free French attack on French ships at Dakar, Operation Menace. AUSTRALIA engaged two enemy destroyers attempting to leave the port, and drove them back. Later in the day a third destroyer, L'AUDACIEUX, was sighted heading out to sea, and guns from the fleet set her on fire.
- 1941
- The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS WARRNAMBOOL, (LEUT E. J. Barren, RANR(S)), was commissioned. WARRNAMBOOL was laid down in Mort's Dock, Sydney, on 13 November 1940, and launched on 8 May 1941. The vessel was lost in 1946 while sweeping a minefield off Queensland.
- 1942
- HMAS STUART re-embarked the Australian 2/10th Battalion, and eight Japanese POWs, from Normanby Island. The prisoners were survivors of the Japanese destroyer YAYOI, sunk off the island by American bombers on 11 September. The destroyer HMAS VOYAGER, (LCDR R. C. Robison, RAN), ran aground at Betano Bay, Timor, while attempting the relief of the Australian Commandos of Sparrow Force. Despite attempts to free VOYAGER, Robison found the pounding sea had built up a sand bar between the vessel and open water, and she could not be freed without assistance, which was not available. The next day demolition charges were placed under her keel and exploded to prevent her falling into enemy hands.
- 1955
- HMAS QUICKMATCH was re-commissioned as an anti-submarine Frigate
- 1969
- The RAN Clearance Diving Team 3 was awarded the USN Meritorious Unit Commendation for conspicuous service in Vietnam.
- 1985
- HMAS Balikpapan was temporarily decommissioned and placed in a state of reserve at Cairns. She remained in reserve until mid-1989, when it was decided that she would be reactivated as a training vessel for the Darwin Port Division of the RAN Reserve.
- 1988
- The first National Submarine Reunion was held at HMAS PLATYPUS, (submarine base), Sydney
- 1989
- HMAS SUCCESS, (auxiliary oiler replenishment), and HMAS SYDNEY, (guided missile frigate), recovered 14 bodies from the sea, near the island of Palawan, while conducting a transit of the South China Sea from Subic Bay, (the Philippines), to Singapore. The decomposing bodies were mainly of Indo-Chinese ethnicity, but one body appeared to be that of a Caucasian with English language tattoos on his arms. When found, the bodies had been in the water for about a week, and none had any valuables or identification on them; which suggested they may have been attacked and robbed by pirates. When it became apparent that the dead could not be identified, and landing the bodies for burial in Singapore was not possible, it was decided to bury the 14 at sea in weighted-down shrouds.
- 2004
- The mine-hunter HMAS DIAMANTINA, (LCDR Peter Bartlett, RAN), returned to Sydney after six weeks service in the Solomon Islands, as part of Operation Anode. During her deployment her ships company helped dispose of 230 pieces of WWII ordnance, ranging from hand grenades to 250 pound bombs. They also assisted in repairing medical equipment at the hospital at Taro.
- 2017
- HMAS Hobart III, lead ship of the Hobart Class Airwarfare Destroyers, commissioned
'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.