January 15th - On This Date - Royal Australian Navy

1918

C in C, China Station, received a signal which contained information solving the fate of the Burns Philp steamer MATUNGA, which disappeared mysteriously on a voyage from Sydney to Port Moresby. The signal read:- “Bottle found 9 December in sea off Toli Toli, Celebes, by natives, contained two papers forwarded to me by Consul General, Batavia. First (Begins) Prisoners on board German raider. Will reader please notify the British authorities that German raider passed Celebes this day 29 August, on her way we presume to mine Singapore, PEDRA BRANCA having previously mined Cape Town, Bombay, Colombo, North Cape, (New Zealand), Cook Strait, Gabo Island.

Crews of following vessels are on board:- TURITELIA, JUMNA, WORDSWORTH, DEE, WAIRUNA, WINSLOW, BELUGA, ENCORE, and MATUNGA. She has on board 110 mines to mine, we think, Rangoon and Calcutta. She was formerly WACHENFELS of German merchant service. (Ends). Second message is a descriptive drawing of vessel, 3-island type, 1 funnel, 2 masts, several 6-inch guns, 2 on forecastle, 2 on broadsides, 1 on poop, 4 torpedo tubes 18-inch.”

1936

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), became Cock of the Mediterranean when she won the Cruiser Regatta from HMS LONDON. She also won this regatta. in 1935.

1940

The auxiliary patrol vessel HMAS ST. GILES was commissioned. ST. GILES was built in 1919 at Ferguson Bros. Scotland. In 1922 ST. GILES was purchased by J. & A. Brown of Newcastle, NSW, and brought to Australia. She was requisitioned for naval service in 1939.

1941

HMAS PERTH was withdrawn from operations with the 7th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean and docked at Malta for urgent boiler repairs.

The British Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, Mrs Churchill, Lord and Lady Halifax, and American Special Envoy Harry Hopkins, embarked in HMAS NAPIER for passage from Thurso to Scapa Flow.

1943

Stoker G. H. McCredie and Steward R. Smith, of HMAS PERTH, died of wounds following the bombing of the POW ships MIKITIEI MARU and MOJI MARU by Allied planes in the Bay of Bengal.

1944

Fremantle-based USS THRESHER, (submarine), sank the Japanese transports TATSUNO MARU and TOHO MARU off the north coast of Luzon.

1962

Divers discovered the wreck of MV FAIR WIND at the entrance to the Macleay River, NSW. The vessel was under charter to the RAN for surveying in New Guinea waters and vanished without trace in 1950 while on passage from Port Moresby to Sydney.

1979

The RAN Staff College was officially opened at HMAS PENGUIN, Sydney, under the command of CAPT N. Ralph, AM, DSC, RAN. Prior to this all RAN officers undergoing staff training had undertaken the RN course in the United Kingdom, or other overseas courses. When the college was closed in 2000, (following creation of the Tri-Service Australian Command and Staff College in Canberra), it had trained over 1000 officers for staff duties, (including Army and RAAF officers, as well as 162 foreign students).

1990

HMAS JERVIS BAY, (training ship), was placed on alert to evacuate Australian nationals from Bougainville in the wake of unrest between the local population and the PNG Government.

1992

HMAS SYDNEY, (guided missile frigate), completed her 200th merchant ship boarding in the Red Sea. This was then the highest tally by any ship in the fleet conducting UN sanctions against Iraq.