On This Day - 14 September
- 1873
- The graving dock at Williamstown, Melbourne, was completed.
- 1914
- HMAS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), shelled German positions at Toma, New Britain. This was the first occasion a ship of the RAN had fired on an enemy. HMA Submarine AE1, (LCDR T. F. Besant, RN), was lost with 2 officers and 32 ratings, while patrolling off the Duke of York Island. The wreck of the submarine was found in December 2017. HMAS WARREGO, (torpedo boat destroyer), captured the German steamer NUSA at Kavieng.
- 1915
- The tender, (steam yacht), HMAS FRANKLIN, was commissioned. FRANKLIN, (as ADELE), was laid down in Hawthorn & Co, Leith, Scotland, in 1906. She was purchased for the RAN from her owner, the estate of Henry Dutton of Kapunda, SA, in 1915.
- 1941
- The auxiliary boom defence vessel HMAS KARA KARA, was commissioned. KARA KARA was laid down in Saltney, England, in 1926. She was requisitioned for the RAN, from her owners, Sydney Ferries Ltd, on 27 February 1941.
- 1942
- The Q class destroyer HMAS QUICKMATCH, (CMDR R. Rhoades, RAN), was commissioned at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. LEUT R. H. E. Kerruish, RAN, was navigator of HMS COVENTRY, (anti-aircraft cruiser), when it was sunk by German bombers, during a British Commando raid near Tobruk. He was also serving in HMS ARK ROYAL, (aircraft carrier), during the operations against the German-pocket battleship GRAF SPEE, in 1939. The training ship/tender/store-carrier HMAS KOOPA, was commissioned. KOOPA was laid down in Ramage & Ferguson Ltd, Leith, Scotland, in 1911. She was requisitioned for the RAN, from her owners, the Brisbane Tug & Steamship Co Ltd, on 10 August 1942.
- 1945
- HMAS Winter decommissioned in Sydney. She was sold on 25 January 1946.
- 1960
- On 14 September 1960, Tobruk was performing gunnery exercises with sister ship HMAS Anzac off Jervis Bay. A malfunction in Anzac's gun direction equipment negated the deliberate 6° mis-aiming of her guns, with the resulting shell hitting Tobruk and doing enough damage to the destroyer to require lengthy repairs. Temporary repairs were made to Tobruk in Jervis Bay before the ship limped back to Sydney, where she was placed into reserve on 29 October 1960. Two of Anzac's crew were charged over the incident. Repairing the destroyer was considered uneconomical, and she remained moored until the ship was marked for disposal on 14 May 1971. Tobruk was sold for scrap to Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan on 15 February 1972, and departed Sydney under tow on 10 April 1972.
- 1969
- The guided missile destroyer HMAS BRISBANE, (CAPT A. A. Willis, RAN), completed 143 gunfire missions, in which 389 enemy defences were either destroyed or damaged, 313 bunkers hit, 14 supply sampans sunk, and 900 metres of tunnels and trenches were destroyed. BRISBANE also took 11 prisoners during her tour of duty in Vietnam, which extended over the period 31 March to 14 October, 1969.
- 1990
- Third Officer Ruby O. Boye-Jones, BEM, WRANS, the only woman to serve as a coastwatcher in a battle zone in the Pacific in WWII, died at the age of 99
- 2001
- Australia invokes the ANZUS Treaty following terrorist attacks in the United States
'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.