On Sunday 21 June 1981 HMA Ships Melbourne and Torrens were participating in Exercise Starfish 81 in the South China Sea when they rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees, now known as ...
Vietnam War
HMAS Melbourne Refugee Rescue Mission
By John Ingram ‘Oh, hear us when we cry to thee, For those in peril on the sea’. Some of the immortal words of the Naval Hymn composed by ...
Occasional Paper 75: The Vietnam War and the Royal Australian Navy
The following address was delivered by Captain Ralph T. Derbidge MBE RAN (Retired) at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance to mark Vietnam Veterans Day on 18 August 2010. It describes ...
Book review: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Royal Australian Navy in Vietnam 1965-72
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Royal Australian Navy in Vietnam 1965-1972. Second Edition. By John R. Carroll. First published in 2013, this second edition has been revised with ...
The Unit Citation for Gallantry of the Royal Australian Navy Helicopter Flight Vietnam Extraordinary and Gallant
By CDR Ian (Max) Speedy, DSC, RANR With the passing of the years, we tend to forget just how defining the Vietnam War was in so many aspects. It was ...
Book Review: Vietnam The Complete Story of the Australian War
Vietnam: The Complete Story of the Australian War. By Bruce Davies with Gary McKay. Published by Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2012. Hardback, 690 pages with photographs. rrp $55. ‘You ...
Book Review: The Vung Tau Ferry
THE VUNG TAU FERRY – HMAS SYDNEY and Escort Ships (Vietnam 1965-72) By Rodney Nott and Noel Payne 1998 has certainly been a bumper year for Australian Naval histories concerning the ...
The RAN Clearance Diving Team in Vietnam
Farewell to Old Sydney Forever
ALTHOUGH HER DAYS WERE NUMBERED, the shock announcement on July 20th ‘The transport HMAS Sydney is to be paid off. She will be withdrawn from the Australian Fleet and will ...
Australian Naval History on 8 December 1971
The landing craft heavy HMAS BALIKPAPAN, was commissioned. BALIKPAPAN was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in May 1971, and launched on 15 August 1971. In Vung Tau HMAS ...
Australian Naval History on 30 December 1970
Helicopters flown by the RAN Helicopter Flight operated from an advanced landing zone at Chau Lang, in Chau Doc Province, to strike at strong Viet Cong forces. The landing zone ...
Australian Naval History on 21 December 1970
HMAS PERTH, (guided missile destroyer), engaged in a counter-battery duel with Viet Cong guns in the Long Hai hills, Vietnam. ...
Australian Naval History on 15 December 1970
The following gallantry awards were announced for RAN personnel who served in the Helicopter Flight in Vietnam. DSC LCDR D. A. Farthing DFC LEUT P. L. Clark DFC LEUT R. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 December 1970
HMAS PERTH, (guided missile destroyer), shelled Viet Cong in the field, and destroyed a mobile wireless van. ...
Australian Naval History on 4 December 1970
There was an extraordinary act of flying skill by Lieutenant Buchanan, RAN, and his crew for which the Australian pilot was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. While engaged in the ...
Australian Naval History on 27 December 1969
HMAS VENDETTA, (destroyer), was Navy gunfire ship for US II Corps’ operations in Vietnam. ...
Australian Naval History on 15 September 1969
HMAS VENDETTA, (Daring class destroyer), relieved HMAS BRISBANE, (guided missile destroyer), in the US Seventh Fleet off Vietnam. VADM Sir Victor Smith presented a cheque for $32,500 to VADM William ...
Australian Naval History on 1 January 1969
The following awards were made for bravery and resource in HMAS HOBART when the destroyer was struck by American aircraft missiles off Vietnam: DSM for ME G. H. Sculley MID ...
Australian Naval History on 20 December 1968
HMAS PERTH, (guided missile destroyer), provided naval gun support in IV Corps sector in Vietnam. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 December 1968
Clearance Diving Team 3 recovered bodies, weapons and diving equipment from a Viet Cong supply sampan, sunk in an ambush at Rung Sat, Vietnam. ...
Australian Naval History on 21 November 1968
HMAS SYDNEY, (fast troop transport), landed the Australian 9th Battalion, RAR, at Vung Tau, Vietnam. ...
Australian Naval History on 15 March 1968
RADM G. J. B. Crabb, DSC, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet. PO W. H. Ellery, (Clearance Diving Team 3), accompanied a US Navy reconnaissance of Long ...
Australian Naval History on 19 December 1967
HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), and USS CANBERRA, (guided missile heavy cruiser), attacked an enemy missile site near Dong Hoi, Vietnam, with gunfire. ...
Australian Naval History on 17 December 1967
HMAS PERTH and USS HAMNER, (guided missile destroyers), came under heavy fire from Viet Cong shore batteries off Dong Hoi. ...
Australian Naval History on 15 December 1967
HMAS PERTH, (guided missile destroyer), sank four and damaged four, enemy supply craft near Dong Hoi, Vietnam. Later, on the same day, PERTH fired on three barges alongside a pier ...