During the early hours of Christmas Day 1974,
devastated the city of Darwin with winds in excess of 160 knots, killing 49 people ashore and a further 16 at sea. During the following month, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) would embark upon its largest peacetime disaster relief operation, involving 13 ships, 11 aircraft and some 3000 personnel.
The 351 naval personnel then based in Darwin possessed only a limited capability to render immediate assistance to the stricken city and its community.[1] Of the four Darwin based Attack Class patrol boats, HMAS Arrow had sunk under Stokes Hill Wharf with the loss of two lives, HMAS Attack was driven ashore at Doctor’s Gully by the sheer force of the cyclonic winds, and HMAS Advance and HMAS Assail were damaged. Darwin Naval Headquarters was destroyed, as was 80 per cent of the patrol boat base and 90 per cent of the naval married quarters. The oil fuel installation and the naval communications station HMAS Coonawarra were extensively damaged. Initial relief was limited to search and rescue operations on the harbour foreshore and in waters out to Melville Island. Communications facilities in Darwin, both military and civil, were crippled, and initial communications were dependant upon Army mobile terminals and the communications systems in Advance, Assail and the motor vessel Nyanda
As the gravity of the disaster became apparent, a naval task force, under the command of the Flag Officer Commanding the Australian Fleet (FOCAF), Rear Admiral DC Wells, CBE, RAN, was assembled to render aid to Darwin. A general recall was issued to all personnel. Approximately 50 per cent of all Sydney based ships’ companies were on annual leave, with many interstate. Of the 2700 personnel on leave, 2200 were able to return to their ships prior to sailing, and others subsequently managed to join their ships in Townsville. Volunteers from other Sydney-based ships and establishments filled the positions of those who could not return to their ships in time. All manner of stores were embarked on the deploying ships, ranging from combat bridges, vehicles and building materials down to disposable cutlery.
The response of Operation NAVY HELP DARWIN was swift. The first RAN asset to arrive in the disaster stricken city, on 26 December, was a HS748 aircraft from 851 Squadron, carrying blood transfusion equipment and a team of Red Cross workers. A second HS748 aircraft carrying members of Clearance Diving Team One (CDT1) arrived shortly thereafter. On 26 December HMAS Balikpapan and HMAS Betano sailed from Brisbane, HMAS Flinders sailed from Cairns, and HMAS Melbourne (with FOCAF embarked), HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Stuart sailed from Sydney. Four S2E Tracker aircraft from 816 and 851 Squadrons prepared to fly to Darwin, but were placed on standby and eventually stood down. The following day, HMAS Hobart, HMAS Stalwart, HMAS Supply and HMAS Vendetta sailed from Sydney, and HMAS Brunei and HMAS Tarakan sailed from Brisbane. Nine Wessex helicopters from 817 and 725 Squadrons were embarked in Melbourne and Stalwart. HMAS Wewak subsequently sailed from Brisbane on 2 January 1975. The submarine HMS Odin had been nominated to proceed to Darwin to act as a power station, before the authorities determined that appropriate power conversion facilities did not exist in Darwin.
The Director General of the National Disasters Organisation, Major General AB Stretton, DSO, arrived in Darwin on 26 December with his staff officers to establish an Emergency Services Organisation Committee. Captain EE Johnston, OBE, RAN, Naval Officer Commanding the North Australia Area (NOCNA), was appointed to the committee as Port Controller, with responsibility for controlling the port and its approaches, and for drafting an Emergency Plan in the event of a further cyclone.
As preparations were made for the arrival of the naval task group, Captain Johnston relocated the naval headquarters to his residence, Admiralty House. Following an exchange of signal traffic between FOCAF and NOCNA, it was agreed that the RAN relief force would be allocated responsibility for clearing and restoring 4740 houses in the northern suburbs of Nightcliff, Rapid Creek and Casuarina. HS748 aircraft continued to ferry personnel and stores to Darwin and evacuees south. Evacuees were accommodated in HMAS Kuttabul, HMAS Penguin and HMAS Watson in Sydney; and HMAS Moreton in Brisbane. CDT1 was surveying damage to the patrol boats and civilian craft, searching for missing vessels, clearing Stokes and Fort Hill Wharves, and assessing how to extract the wreck of Arrow.
The first ships, Flinders and Brisbane, arrived in Darwin on 31 December. Flinders surveyed the approaches to Darwin to ensure the safe passage and anchorage of the Task Group, while Brisbane landed working parties and established communications with NOCNA. Melbourne and Stuart arrived on 1 January; Stalwart on 2 January; Hobart, Supply and Vendetta on 3 January; and Balikpapan and Betano on 4 January. Brunei, Tarakan and Wewak arrived the following week on 13 January. The ships had brought with them some 3000 naval personnel.
The arrival of Melbourne precipitated the establishment of a Shore Command Headquarters (SCHQ) at Admiralty House to coordinate the working parties, which were tasked by the Emergency Services Organisation. Working parties were typically composed of 10 or 15 officers and sailors, depending upon the nature of the task.
With the arrival of the Task Group, the primary focus for CDT1 turned to the extraction of Arrow from Stokes Hill Wharf, a task achieved on 13 January after much work. Unfortunately Arrow was damaged beyond repair and was subsequently decommissioned and scrapped.
The raw statistics amply illustrate the magnitude of the relief work undertaken by the RAN. Between 1 and 30 January naval personnel spent 17,979 man days ashore, with up to 1200 ashore at the peak of the operation. Working parties cleared some 1593 blocks and cleaned up schools, government and commercial buildings and recreational facilities. They installed generators, rewired houses, repaired electrical and air conditioning systems, reroofed or weatherproofed buildings, and maintained and repaired vehicles. Some parties worked to save rare plants in the Botanic Gardens. Hygiene parties disposed of spoiled foodstuffs from houses, supermarkets and warehouses. Female personnel from Coonawarra supported civil relief organisations and manned communication centres. One enterprising sailor from Hobart filled in as a relief disc jockey for the local commercial radio station. The Wessex helicopters transported 7832 passengers, 244,518lbs (110,912kg) of freight and made 2505 landings. The HS748 aircraft completed 14 return flights to Darwin and carried 485 passengers and 50,000lbs (22,680kg) of freight
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Timeline
25 December 1974
Cyclone Tracy struck and leveled the city of Darwin.
The Naval Headquarters building was destroyed, and the Naval Officer Commanding Northern Australia, (CAPT E. E. Johnston, OBE, RAN), and two of his staff, were trapped in the rubble, and had to dig their way out.
In the harbour the patrol boats HMAS ARROW, (LEUT R. G. Dagworthy, RAN), and HMAS ATTACK, (LEUT P. Degraaff, RAN), attempted to sail and ride out the storm as sea. Neither vessel made it out of the harbour.
ATTACK was blown ashore and damaged, and ARROW was driven under Stokes Hill Wharf, and sank with the loss of two of her crew, (PO Leslie Catton and AB Ian Rennie).
HMA Ships ADVANCE and ASSAIL, (patrol boats), also suffered some damage, but remained afloat.
Later that day CAPT Johnston was able to re-establish communications with Fleet Headquarters, and advise them of the total destruction of Darwin, and loss of vessels and life. He later wrote; ‘The scene at first light was beyond belief, the harbour empty, every building within eyesight destroyed with the exception of Government House. Soon after dawn the crew of the patrol boat ARROW arrived outside my wrecked headquarters to report that their vessel had been driven under Stokes Hill Wharf, losing two crew in the process’.
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26 December 1974
Operation Navy Help, to assist with the clean up and re-establishment of services in the shattered city of Darwin, commenced. The first RAN asset to arrive was an HS748 aircraft, on 26 December, carrying blood transfusion equipment and a team of Red Cross workers. Shortly after a second HS 748 arrived carrying personnel from CDT1. HMAS MELBOURNE and HMAS BRISBANE sailed from Sydney. HMA Ships STUART, STALWART, SUPPLY, HOBART, and VENDETTA, sailed two days later. HMA Ships BALIKPAPAN, BETANO, BRUNEI, TARAKAN, and WEWAK, (landing craft heavy), also sailed from Queensland ports, in what was to become the largest peace-time mission mounted by the RAN. The first ships arrived on 31 December, and over the next 4 weeks the RAN provided over 18,000 man days of effort to clean up Darwin, create temporary accommodation, restore some services, and bring in supplies and material to help the civilian population.
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31 December 1974
HMA Ships BRISBANE and FLINDERS were the first ships to arrive in Darwin, to commence work as part of Operation Navy Help, the cleanup and rebuilding of Darwin following the devastating effects of Cyclone Tracy. FLINDERS surveyed the entrance to Darwin Harbour to ensure the safe passage of the RAN Task Group, and BRISBANE landed work parties to commence the massive job of cleaning up the devastated city.
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1 January 1975
HMAS MELBOURNE and HMAS STUART arrived in the cyclone destroyed city of Darwin. Over the following days they were joined by HMA Ships STALWART, HOBART, SUPPLY, VENDETTA, BALIKPAPAN, BETANO, TARAKAN, and WEWAK. CDT1 also arrived to recover the wreck of HMAS ARROW from underneath Stokes Hill Wharf. During the period 1 to 30 January 1975 the RAN contributed 17,979 man-days of effort in cleaning up the city. The peak was 1200 personnel ashore at the height of the clean up operation. Wessex helicopters from the Task Group carried some 7832 passengers and delivered over 110,000kg of cargo ashore. RAN HS 748 aircraft from HMAS ALBATROSS, Nowra, NSW, made 14 return flights into the city and carried 485 passengers, and delivered nearly 23,000kg of cargo.
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7 January 1975
RAN Clearance Diving Team 2 recovered bodies from vehicles under the collapsed span of the Tasman Bridge at Hobart. The divers worked under difficult conditions in murky water.
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13 January 1975
RAN Clearance Diving Team 1, under LEUT D. Ramsden, RAN, salvaged the patrol boat HMAS ARROW at Darwin. The patrol boat sank during Cyclone Tracy.
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30 January 1975
Operation Navy Help, the support to the clean up and rebuilding of Darwin following Cyclone Tracy, was completed. Over a dozen RAN warships, and thousands of sailors had been involved in the operation, and contributed greatly to getting Darwin cleaned up, and restoring essential services. The next day the last two warships, (HMA Ships STALWART and BRISBANE), departed. BRISBANE had the distinction of being one of the first ships to arrive in Darwin on 31 December, and being one the last to leave.