On this day in Royal Australian Navy History 13 July 1888 The South Australian Government came under bitter criticism for not despatching their gunboat PROTECTOR to sea, to search for survivors of the sailing ship STAR OD GREECE. PROTECTOR stood by in Port Adelaide with steam up, but the order to sail was not received. 1915 HMS MALLOW, (sloop), later HMAS MALLOW, was launched at Barclay Curie, England. 1940 HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron at Scappa Flow, Scotland. 1942 HMAS PENGUIN, was commissioned as a naval depot at Balmoral, Sydney. 1943 HMAS AUSTRALIA, (cruiser), was the only Australian ship engaged in the second battle of Kolombangara, Solomon Islands. HMA Ships GERALDTON, CAIRNS, CESSNOCK, and WOLLONGONG, (minesweepers), patrolled off the beaches of Sicily, as the invasion forces fought ashore during Operation Husky. HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), picked up a lifeboat containing 13 survivors from the torpedoed American merchant ship SEBASTIAN CERMENO, 300 miles from the position where the ship sank off Madagascar. 1944 Task Force, (TF), 74, including HMA Ships AUSTRALIA and SHROPSHIRE, (cruisers), ARUNTA and WARRAMUNGA, (destroyers), and US Ships AMMEN and BACHE, were ordered to furnish gun support to troops at Aitape, New Guinea. Lt. D. R. Wilson, RANVR was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for skill, courage and devotion to duty in a successful patrol in HM submarine UNTIRING. 1970 LEUT R. K. Marum, RAN, directed an attack by helicopter gunships on a Viet Cong unit near Tra Vinh, Vietnam. The gunships were led by SBLT J. R. J. Cooper, RAN, who was forced to make an emergency landing under fire during the attack. Cooper and his crew were picked up by another gunship. 2004 HMAS BRISBANE, (former guided missile destroyer), was handed over to the Queensland Government in a ceremony at Fleet Base East, Garden Island, Sydney. The ship left Sydney Harbour, under tow, for the last time three days later. The Queensland Government plan was to sink the ship off the Sunshine Coast, (near Mudjimba Island), where she would become a dive wreck.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 00:09:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015