February 22nd - On This Date - Royal Australian Navy

1858

HM Ships ELK, BOSCAWEN, and HMVS VICTORIA, searched Bass Strait and the south coast of Victoria for HMS SAPPHO which vanished without trace on a passage to Sydney.

1865

LEUT Cornelius E. Hunt of the Confederate States raider Shenandoah recorded in his journal two days out of Port Phillip:""Our ship's company has received a mysterious addition of 45 men". The men were Australian volunteers smuggled on board at Williamstown.

1873

CAPT John Moresby, RN, HMS BASILISK, (wooden paddle sloop), discovered Port Moresby, New Guinea. He named it in honour of his father, ADML Sir Fairfax Moresby.

1942

HMAS PLATYPUS, (depot ship), made the following signal to all RAN units in northern waters:- "Intention is to hold Darwin". The signal was repeated during all subsequent Japanese air attacks on Darwin. HMAS BALLARAT, (minesweeper), returned to Oosthaven after the port had been evacuated and salvaged vital aircraft spares and ammunition. HMAS WARRNAMBOOL, (minesweeper), rescued 73 survivors from the bombed merchant ship DON ISIDRO on Bathurst Island. The merchant ship KOOLAMA was bombed by Japanese aircraft and driven ashore west of Darwin. The auxiliary boom defence vessel HMAS KURAMIA was requisitioned as an auxiliary boom defence vessel, and commissioned on 30 June 1942. KURAMIA was built in 1914, and served as a Sydney Harbour ferry. The ship was sunk as a target by aircraft from HMAS SYDNEY, (aircraft carrier), in 1953.

1943

HMAS GASCOYNE, (frigate), was launched at Mort's Dock, Sydney, and HMAS ATARAT, (minesweeper), was launched at Evans Deakin, QLD. ARARAT was the only Australian minesweeper to bear a 'K' pennant number. The Brisbane-based USS ALBACORE, (submarine), sank the Japanese destroyer OSHIO off the north coast of New Guinea.

1945

Fremantle-based US Submarines GUAVINA and PARGO sank a Japanese tanker and a destroyer. GUAVINA torpedoed the tanker EIYO MARU off Malaya, and PARGO torpedoed the destroyer NOKAZE off the east coast of lndo China. NOKAZE was the 126th and last Japanese destroyer sunk during the Second World War.

1946

The armament store-carrier HMAS WOOMERA, was commissioned. WOOMERA was allocated to the Australian Army, and named ASHBURTON, and taken over by the RAN on 23 January 1946.

1958

The RAN's veteran depot ship, HMAS PLATYPUS, departed Sydney bound for Japan to be broken up. She had commenced service with the RAN in 1919, and had been present at the first bombing of Darwin in 1942.

1992

HMAS DARWIN, (frigate), departed Fremantle for service in the Arabian Gulf as part of the RAN's Operation Damask commitment.

'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.