On This Day - 20 May
- 1918
- HMAS PARRAMATTA, (torpedo boat destroyer), attacked an Austrian submarine with gunfire and depth charges. The submarine was sighted from the ship's observation balloon.
- 1940
- HMS SHROPSHIRE, (cruiser), relieved HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser), as escort for troop convoy US3, in the Indian Ocean. SHROPSHIRE was commissioned into the RAN as a replacement for CANBERRA in 1943.
- 1941
- The Battle of Crete commenced, and lasted until 31 May, 1941. HMA Ships PERTH, STUART, VAMPIRE, VENDETTA, VOYAGER, WATERHEN, NAPIER and NIZAM, (destroyers), were all involved in evacuating Allied troops from the island. LEUT L. M. Hinchliffe, RAN, (from HMAS NAPIER), was landed at Sfakia Beach, and took control as the Beachmaster, and coordinated evacuations from that port. He was later awarded the DSC for his conspicuous service during this time.
- 1945
- HMAS NORMAN,(destroyer), took under tow HMS QUILLIAM, (destroyer), which was damaged in a collision with HMS INDOMITABLE, (aircraft carrier). HMAS KIAMA, (minesweeper), bombarded Japanese troop positions and installations on the east coast of Buka Island.
- 1947
- HMAS QUICKMATCH, (destroyer), arrived at Nanking with Professor Copeland, the newly appointed Australian Ambassador to China and his staff. QUICKMATCH was the first ship of the RAN to visit the port.
- 1959
- LEUT(P) Stanley Ray Carmichael RAN & ASLT(O) Mike Williams RAN lost their lives when their Sea Venom aircraft of 724 Squadron flew into the sea whilst on a photographic exercise at sea off Ulladulla, NSW. Aircraft WZ909 (RAN code N4-909) was seen to circle the merchant vessel Komona before crashing into the sea at 1514 hrs, approximately 18 miles east of Ulladulla. LEUT Carmichael was one of the RAN’s very early trained pilots, and was highly experienced having flown Sea Furies from HMAS Sydney during the Korean war. Twenty nine years later on 18/05/88 the remains of their aircraft was bought to the surface by a CSIRO vessel. The port wheel cover is now displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Nowra, NSW.
- 1966
- Over the night of May 20th and into the morning of May 21st HMAS VENDETTA and 723 Squadron scrambled two Iroquois to search for survivors from the Dredge WD Atlas which had capsized about 18 kilometres south-east of Jervis Bay. The pilots, Lieutenants Pat Vickers and Barrie Lovett, and their crews hovered their helicopters in 45 knot winds just a few feet over ten metre waves. Thirteen sailors lost their lives but thanks to the efforts of 723 Squadron, four others were rescued.. A Queens Commendation for the rescue was awarded to LEUT R. B. Lovett, RAN, LEUT P. J. Vickers, RAN, PO F. C. McCreanor, PO G. W. Peters, and Leading Airman K. J. Beaton.
- 1967
- Three divers of Clearance Diving Team 3 were flown to Phu Loi, Vietnam, to recover a Chinook helicopter which had crashed into the sea. The team recovered the bodies of the crew, and assisted in the raising of the sunken helicopter. Two battalions of troops guarded the area against Viet Cong attack during the operation.
- 1968
- The ashes of CMDR E. A. Feldt, OBE, RAN, Commander of Australian Coastwatchers in WWII, were scattered in New Guinea waters by HMAS SAMARAI, (patrol boat).
- 1983
- HMAS ACUTE, (patrol boat),was paid off in Darwin and commissioned into the Indonesian Navy as the KRI SILEA. She joined her sistership, HMAS BARRICADE, renamed KRI SIGALU, which was given to Indonesia in 1982.
- 1991
- HMAS PERTH, (guided missile destroyer), arrived at the port of Pireaus, Greece, to take part in the 50th Anniversary commemorations of the Greece and Crete Campaigns. During her time in the Mediterranean she embarked a number of RAN and AIF veterans of the campaigns.
- 1993
- HMAS JERVIS BAY and HMAS Tobruk departed from Mogadishu with personnel and cargo at the conclusion of Operation Solace
- 2004
- The ADF ceased to formally provide security forces in Timor Leste, (formerly East Timor), when security for the nation was handed over to the country's own Defence Force and Police. Approximately 100 ADF and Australian Federal Police personnel remained behind in Timor Leste as advisors.The ADF had first entered the country in 1999, to restore law and order following the violence that had erupted following the pro-independence elections. The survey vessel HMAS MELVILLE, (CMDR A. J. Withers, RAN), rescued five people from the stranded catamaran BAGATELLE, which had run aground on Scott Reef, (off Russell Heads, QLD). The catamaran had left Dunk Island earlier that day, and was bound for Fitzroy Island, when she struck the reef late in the day and was severely damaged
'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.