January 16th - On This Date - Royal Australian Navy

1882

HMS WOLVERINE, (screw corvette), was presented to the NSW Government as a “royal gift”. The ship was used for training the NSW Naval Brigade

1915

HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), pursued an unidentified merchant ship off Havana, Cuba. MELBOURNE fired four shots at the vessel before it stopped. The ship proved to be a neutral Dutch vessel

1941

HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), suffered damage during an air raid while berthed at Malta. An enemy bomb landed between her and the merchant ship ESSEX, causing underwater and internal damage to PERTH. ESSEX was hit by other bombs and set on fire. Personnel from PERTH were involved in the efforts to extinguish the fire onboard ESSEX.

 1942

The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS GEELONG, (LCDR C. G. Hill, RANR(S)), was commissioned. GEELONG was laid down at Williamstown Dockyard, VIC, on 16 October 1940. Lady Dugan, (Wife of the Governor of Victoria), performed the launching ceremony on 22 April 1941. GEELONG was sunk in action on 18 October 1944.

HMAS MARYBOROUGH, (minesweeper), picked up 37 survivors from a Dutch merchant ship sunk by a mine in the Rhio Straits, Malaya.

1943

Brisbane-based US submarines GREENLING and GROWLER, sank the Japanese transports KINPOSAN MARU and CHIFUKU MARU off Rabaul.

1945

Japanese aircraft sank the Fremantle-based British submarine HMS PORPOISE, in Malacca Strait. PORPOISE had been involved in the ill-fated operation RIMAU, when she conveyed Z force operatives to the Singapore area in late 1944. PORPOISE was the last British submarine lost during World War II.

1956

HMS NEPAL, formerly HMAS NEPAL, (destroyer), was paid off for disposal.

1977

The Minister for Defence, Mr D J Killen, announced the purchase of the roll-on, roll-off vehicular/passenger ship AUSTRALIAN TRADER for conversion to a training ship for the RAN. The ship was commissioned as HMAS JERVIS BAY.

1980

The keel for HMAS SYDNEY, the third guided missile frigate ordered from the USA, was laid at Seattle, USA.

1988

An RAN Hydrographic Party under the command of LCDR. D. Bryce, RAN, departed for Antarctica to carry out surveys and update charts on the approaches to Mawson Base.

1991

The UN deadline for Iraq to remove it’s troops from Kuwait passed and Operation Desert Storm commenced. Australian ships in the Gulf were part of the force screening the aircraft carriers which conducted strikes against Iraqi targets. Additionally the RAN provided an underway replenishment ship, HMAS SUCCESS, a clearance diving team, and medical staff onboard the hospital ship USNS COMFORT.

1993

HMA Ships JERVIS BAY, (troop transport), and TOBRUK, (landing ship heavy), transported troops and equipment to Somalia, as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force.