On this day in Royal Australian Navy History. 28 November 1940 The N class destroyer HMAS NAPIER, (CAPT S. H. T. Arliss, RN, CAPT(D), 7th flotilla), was commissioned. NAPIER was laid down in Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering co Ltd, Govan, Scotland, on 26 July 1939, and launched on 22 May 1940. CAPT Arliss was the brother of the actor George Arliss. 1941 The Commanding Officer of the German raider KORMORAN, (CAPT T. Detmers), was interrogated at Carnarvon, WA. On the same day HMAS HEROS found a Carley float from HMAS SYDNEY. The float had been badly damaged by shell fire, and was the only substantial wreckage ever recovered from SYDNEY. The float is now on permanent display in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. 1942 HMAS QUIBERON and HMS QUENTIN, (destroyers), sank the Italian submarine DESSIE, north of Bone, North Africa. HMA Ships BALLARAT and KATOOMBA, (minesweepers), were attacked by 10 Japanese dive bombers west of Buna. The ships escaped serious damage, shot down one aircraft, and damaged two. 1943 The Fremantle-based USS BOWFIN, (submarine), sank the Japanese troop ship SYDNEY MARU, and the tanker TONAN MARU, in the South China Sea. 1944 HMA Ships KALGOORLIE and TOWNSVILLE, (minesweepers), completed a three months search for mines in the Great Barrier Reef, during which time 491 mines were swept. The mines were laid by HMAS BUNGAREE, in 1942 and 1943. LEUT K.R. Hudspeth, RANVR was awarded his third DSC, while commanding the midget submarine X-20 off the beaches of Normandy, prior to the Allied landing. 1968 The Attack class patrol boat HMAS MADANG, was commissioned. MADANG was laid down in Evans Deakin & Co Pty Ltd, Brisbane, in March 1968, and launched on 10 August 1968. Mrs Feldt, (Widow of CMDR E. A. Feldt, RAN), performed the launching ceremony. 1980 The Defence Department invited tenders for the construction of two prototypes of an Australian designed mine hunter catamaran to replace the Ton class mine hunters. 1981 The Fremantle class patrol boat HMAS WOLLONGONG, was commissioned. WOLLONGONG was decommissioned on 11 February 2006 after 24 years of service. 1985 HMAS OVENS, (Oberon class submarine), made the first submerged firing of a UGM48 Harpoon missile from a conventional submarine, off Hawaii, USA.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 23:34:10 +0000