View allAll Photos Tagged quickmatch
creative commons by marfis75
Twitter: @marfis75
License: cc-by-sa
you are free to share, adapt - attribution: Credits to "marfis75 on flickr"
blaues Holzlager
Last in the Q?
HMAS Quickmatch backs out from Garden Island on a damp and foggy morning in the early '60s.
The crew huddle in their raincoats while steam curls upwards from the capstans and the overboard exhaust.
All the ESM gear has been removed from the topmast, replaced by the US style radomes on the mainmast,
Behind the Manly Ferry Bellubera is on her way to the Quay.
Imagery Scanned from Navy Historic Archive.
As seen from the bridge of HMAS Parramatta. Technically she wasn't HMAS- flying the red ensign she was still three weeks from commissioning which put her to the rear of the formation. As well as her new crew she carried a number of spectators notably Cockatoo Island personnel which is how we come to have this!
She is preceded by HMAS Quickmatch (F04), Quiberon, Vampire, Voyager and Melbourne. In the van were two RN T class submarines.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oA3-i15eoI
Photo by Roger (Dad) Eastwood.
Posted for rarity not quality.
The type 15 frigate closing on HMAS Parramatta, off Sydney's northern beaches, for a ceremonial fleet entry in June 1961.
She was originally built as a Q class destroyer by J Samuel White on the Isle of Wight and commissioned into the RAN on completion in 1942. This had been somewhat delayed by the Luftwaffe.
A major rebuild in the 50s saw her emerge as an Anti Submarine frigate as shown here. The bow plating bears out the arduous war service nonetheless...
Serving until 1963 she was eventually sold for scrap in 1972. Of note is the US sourced ECM gear on her mainmast, being trialled for upcoming ships and crew training. From this point the RAN would gradually re-epuip itself more along US lines, moving away from the traditional British connection.
Photo by Roger (Dad) Eastwood, June 1961.
6191. The photo, from the Northern Territory Library, shows HMAS VOYAGER [I] in Darwin in 1942.
Well, this is going to be a biggy. With a title like that above, one feels that critical and artistic success is assured, as well as a smash hit at the box office. We wish to stress from the outset, however, that the collection does NOT contain images of warships battling storms at sea. All the images linked below are contained within ports and harbours, mostly around Australia, but also overseas.
We now go further and say that not only does it illustrate barometric pressure readings, but that the COMPENDIUM is open to serious scientific study.
With almost 6,200 images on the Photostream the scope of it reaches a scientifically acceptable survey or polling sample. So, the question is this: with roughly 35,000 nautical miles of Australian coastline, why is it that something like 95% of our awful weather images seem to come from the one place, Port Phillip Bay and the dear old city of Melbourne?
Dealing with thousands of ship photographs over more than 100 years of RAN history - particularly the superb images of Allan Charles Green [1878-1954] from the State Library of Victoria - this is something we have noticed for years.
Being a Melbourne resident, born and bred, Kookaburra would have to say there is a serious and consistent difference in the light between Port Phillip and perhaps all of our northern other ports and harbours. It's a guesstimate, but we would say that 60-70% of Green's Melbourne images - and there are thousands of them - are taken in poor light, ranging from a monotone dull to drizzling and outright stormy. Weather to turn an umbrella inside out [ like the first few images in the COMPENDIUM below].
We forgot some of this weather effect here during South Eastern Australia's 13 years of drought, from 1997-8 to 2010-11, when Victoria was something like living in Queensland and intra-state migration patterns reversed. But now the low pressure systems coming from Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean are seriously back. Water storages are nearly full again, and we're nostalgic for the sunny days of drought.
We present here the raw data in COMPENDIUM form of more than 60 images. Our 'comment' boxes are open below for similar scientific obervations.
Photo: Northern Territory Library, artistic treatment H.J. Kookaburra.
The COMPENDIUM:
Pics 1058, May 23, 1949: HMAS SYDNEY [III] departs Melbourne on a dark delivery voyage 1. A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4345193761/
Pic 1636: May 23, 1949, HMAS SYDNEY [III] departs Melbourne on a dark delivery voyage 2, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4360904373/
Pic 1097: May 23, 1949, HMAS SYDNEY [III] departs Melbourne in bleak weather, A.C., Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4577505567/
Pic . 1057. Nov. 6, 1952, frigate HMAS MACQUARIE shivers in Melbourne’s Yarra, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4345177809/in/photostr...
Pic 933, P&O’s PATONGA, drenched at Station Pier Melbourne, 1960s, by Robert Winduss
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4312835219/
Pic 2704. HMAS ANZAC [II] launched in drizzle at Williamstown, Aug. 20, 1948, A.C. Green SLKV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4892343795/
Pic 605. Destroyer HMAS SWORDSMAN with advancing thunderheads in Melbourne’s Yarra, 1920s, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3955549603/
Pic 790: Destroyer HMAS QUICKMATCH under lowering skies, Melbourne Dec 17, 1946, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3992948775/
Pic 794. HMAS SHOALHAVEN gets a soaking in Melbourne Feb. 13, 1947, A.C. Green , SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3995426712/
Pic 603. HMAS SUCCESS [I] in light but drenching rain, Melbourne, 1920, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3956282074/
Pic. 1500, frigate HMAS CULGOA docks against advancing weather, Melbourne, Nov. 8, 1948, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4502030857/
Pic 583. Mar. 7, 1949, frigate HMAS BARCOO on bracing Port Phillip Bay, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3952907481/
Pic 1436 BARCOO in showery Melbourne on July 24, 1946, A.c. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4469043601/in/photostream
Pic 973. Frigate HMAS BARWON pays off on chilly Port Phillip Bay, Mar. 1947, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4324991062/in/photostream
Pic 1073: Carrier HMS THESEUS gets an inkling of Melbourne’s weather, July 11, 1947, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4351297646/in/photostream
Pic1003. Battleship USS OKLAHOMA approaches Bleak City, July 1925 – A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4331975373/in/photostream
Pic 1071. July 5, 1947, frigate HMAS SHOALHAVEN and the colours of Melbourne, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4351266864/in/photostream
Pic1401: AUSTRALIA [II] and frigate MURCHISON huddle at Wellington, NZ, Feb. 1950
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4456567793/in/photostream
Pic 1524. LST 3014 docked docked a dreary day in Melbourne, ca 1946, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4519690668/in/photostream
Pic. 1121. Mar. 76, 1949, a brisk outing for corvette HMAS LATROBE in Melbourne, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4368799985/
Pic 1038 “S’ Class destroyer HMAS TATTOO on a gloomy Melbourne day, ca. 1925, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4339669975/
Pic. 724. June 17, 1946, HMAS BATAAN leaves Melbourne on a dark day, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3976460375/
Pic 1902, Ca. 1920s, cruiser HMAS BRISBANE [I] is accord with Melbourne’s weather, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4634137541/
Pic 488. HMAS TOBRUK in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay on a typical 1952 day, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3936697627/
Pic 1531. Oct. 1934 Italy’s ARMANDO DIAZ arrives to a cloudy Melbourne welcome, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4525739266/
Pic 1608-9. Feb. 14, 1946, returning HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] departs stormy Melbourne, A.C. Green SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4550740472/in/photostr...
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4550208057/
Pic 2159: Oct 1938: HMAS HOBART [I] and HMAS ALBATROSS in puddled Portsmouth, UK.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4700579900/in/photostr...
653. May 1920, HMS RENOWN and the Prince of Wales receive a less-than-sunny welcome in Melbourne, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3966188930/
Pic 1059, Torpedo Boat Destroyer [TBD] HMAS WARREGO [I] on inclement Port Phillip Bay, May 1920, A.C. Green, SLV.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4345961320/in/photostr...
Pic 476. A new mother farewells HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] from a wet pier in Melbourne, Clarrie Cook
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3935037747/in/photostream
Pic 596-7: HMAS HOBART [I] under modernization with grey skies in Newcastle, NSW, Feb. 21, 1955.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3955737932/in/photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3954982237/in/photostr...
Pic 965. July 17, 1937, HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] at a wet, puddled wharf in Brisbane.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4321657659/in/photostream
Pic 2384. HMAS BRISBANE [II] swept by showers in Manila, Aug 28, 1992, by Glenn Crouch.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4751101969/in/photostr...
Pic 2581: HMAS WARRAMUNGA and HALIGONIAN DUKE in Melbourne during the great nationwide winter strike of July 1949.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4842094665/in/photostr...
Pic 188. HMAS BARCOO grounded at Glenelg, South Australia, April 12, 1948.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3855981171/in/photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3856098645/in/photostream
Pic 241. A November storm builds up over Garden Island, Sydney.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3873916165/in/photostream
Pic 2398; HOBART [II] and PERTH [II] in wet windy Auckland, Oct 2, 1991, Glenn Crouch.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4754093340/in/photostr...
Pic2607 HMAS QUEENBOROUGH on a dark 1967 day in Sydney.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4851969286/in/photostr...
Pic3035; destroyer HMAS in overcast Newcastle NSW , April 27, 1955, Sam Hood.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5025083414/in/photostr...
Pic 3161: HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] under a cloud, 1950.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5067676552/in/photostr...
Pic 3422; HMAS ARUNTA, CULGOA, and AUSTRALIA [II] at blustery Port Melbourne.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5240222214/in/photostr...
Pic 3931. Corvette HMAS MARYBOROUGH nearing completion at Walkers yard in Maryborough, Qld.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5444533793/in/photostr...
Pic 4270 HMAS QUEENBOROUGH and PERTH [II] on a drizzling day at Garden Island, Sydney, 1969.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5591978834/in/photostr...
Pic 4280. HMAS KANIMBLA and HMS LEANDER in light drizzle on the Brisbane River, Ca. 1941.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5602764249/in/photostr...
Pic 4473. Another of the HMAS BARCOO grounded pics, April 1948.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5688748130/in/photostr...
Pic 4490: HMAS QUEENBOROUGH makes a stormy day departure from Sydney, Ca. 1960s.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5692078445/in/photostr...
Pic 4638. HMAS MELBOURNE at Tamar Basin, Hong Kong just before Typhoon Irma, May 1966.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5884239158/in/photostr...
Pic 4670. HMAS WESTRALIA [II] and STUART [II] at rainswept HMAS STIRLING dock, WA, 1991.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5884239158/in/photostr...
Pic 4752. Umbrella farewell for HMAS QUEENBOROUGH bound for Britain, Jan. 1955
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5985100454/in/photostr...
Pic 5076-7 July 1945, HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] on a puddled dock in New York’s Hudson River.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6359850705/in/photostr...
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6359783505/in/photostr...
Pic 5126.Seeking shelter: a scene from the London Victory March, June 8, 1946.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6402310205/in/photostr...
Pic5256. Frigate HMAS HAWKESBURY under stormy skies in Sydney.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6490285905/in/photostr...
Pic 5349. HMAS SYDNEY [II] arrives in brisk and breezy Port Melbourne, 1936.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6551213897/in/photostr...
Pic 5351. HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] and an overcoat, overcast day at Port Melbourne.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6553713499/in/photostr...
Pic 5352-3. Definitely a brisk day for HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] at Port Melbourne.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6556727947/in/photostr...
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6556811575/in/photostr...
Pic 5404-6. Cloudy arrival at Port Melbourne for HMAS AUSTRALIA [II], CA. 1946.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6594504133/in/photostr...
Pic 6016-18. Ton Class minesweepers at Tamar Basin HK, Typhoon Irma in vicinity, May 1966.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/7517252470/in/photostr...
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/7517412038/in/photostr...
Pic 6198: Cross winds and showers sweep HNLMS PIET HEIN in Melbouyrnbe's Yarra - A.C. Greeen.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/7793963014/in/photostream
Pic 6201. HNLMS PIET HEIN [ex-HMS SERAPIS] departs Melbournbe under lowering skies, March 1953 - A.C. Green.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/7794434052/in/photostream
Pic 6202: Another dark view of HNLMS PIET HEIN's Melbourne departure - A.C. Green.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/7794489300/in/photostream
PHOTOSTREAM COMPENDIA COMPLETED THUS FAR:
HMAS AUSTRALIA [I] Indefatigable Class battlecruiser; two parts, beginning under Entry 5476, 100 images.
HMAS WARRAMUNGA [I] Tribal Class destroyer: single entry under pic 5470, 50+ images
HMAS ARUNTA [I] Tribal Class destroyer, two parts, under Pic entries 5467-5468, 80+ images
HMAS HOBART [I] Modified Leander Class light cruiser: Two parts, under pic entries 5464-5465, 100+ images
HMAS MELBOURNE [II] Light fleet aircraft carrier: seven parts, under pic entries 5444-5450, 350+ images
HMAS QUEENBOROUGH, 'Q' Class or Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate; Two parts under pic entries 5435,5436, 60+ images.
HMAS ANZAC [II] Battle Class destroyer, Two Parts under pic entries 5429-5430; 60+ images.
HMAS SHROPSHIRE, heavy cruiser: Three Parts under pic entries 5415-5417, 75+ images
HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] heavy cruiser : Three parts under pic entries 5412-5415, 200+ images
BRITISH PACIFIC FLEET IN AUSTRALIA; single entry; under Pic 5365, 50+ images
HMAS BARCOO, WWII River Class frigate, under Pic NO. 6186, 30+ images
HMAS VAMPIRE [II], Daring Class destroyer, three parts beginnging at Pic NO. 5501, 100+ images.
HMAS WATERHEN. WWII 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' destroyer, single entry Pic 6266, 20 images. '
BOYS AND BATTLESHIPS: COMPENDIUM ESSAY on a 20th Century Romance, under Pic NO. 5488, 20+ images
FOUL WEATHER IN PORT COMPENDIUM - single entry at Pic NO. 6191, 60+ images.
2483. The photograph here is taken in 1970. On July 6, 1981, HMAS DERWENT [above] entered the Williamstown Naval Dockyard for her half-life refit and modernisation, and was not to emerge until December 16, 1985 - 4 years and 6 months later.
In the same era, the modernisation of her sister ship, HMAS PARRAMATTA [III] - May 17, 1977 to August 26, 1981 - had taken four years and two months. The modernisation and half-life refit of HMAS STUART [II] - Jan. 30 1979 to July 29, 1983 - was the same as Derwent, again four years and six months.*
[Source: The Table, 'Summary of Major Refits' published in the Dockyard's 1986 publication 'Welcome to Historic Williamstown Naval Dockyard: Home of the Australian Frigate'
to mark the RAN's 75th Anniversary.
In the decade that preceded this moment for HMAS DERWENT, the men who reffectively ran the Williamstown Naval Dockyard - the Federated Ships Painters and Dockers Union - had been involved in power struggles and criminal operations that have been estimated to have left up to 60 men dead: murdered, like the union secretary John Francis 'Pat' Shannon, shot dead in the front bar of the Druids Hotel, South Melbourne, on Oct 17, 1973; disappeared, like his associate Alfred 'The Ferret' Nelson; possibly suicided, like the subsequent death of Union Secretary, Jack 'Putty-Nose' Nicholls, found shot dead in his car along the Hume Highway ; or just sent off to jail, like Union one-time president and gunman Billy 'The Texan' Longley, convicted of directing Pat Shannon's murder.
The unions elections had come to be accompanied by gunfights around the docks and in the nearby streets of Williamstown. For some details, see the 'See 'Comment' notes under pic 1308, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4423184549/
The Ships Painters and Dockers Union were about to face a Royal Commission that would find them involved in almost many forms of criminal - like the 'Bottom Of The Habour' tax schemes which stripped companies of their assets and left everyone out of pocket except the union and corporate crooks employing them.
The union would eventually be de-registered in 1993, but former members would continue distinguish themselves on Melbourne's crime scene. Crime gang patriarch Lewis Moran, and
gangland associate Graham 'The Munster' Kinniburgh, both shot dead during Melbourne's TV-celebrated gangland wars in the early years of the present decade, were both former members of the Federated Ships Painters abnd Dockers Union.
It's disturbing to realise that for years, a national defence service like the Royal Australian Navy, in fact the Australian Government and indirectly all Austrralian taxpayers, had been held hostage to such corrupted organisations. Tens of millions of dollars had been lost. The cruiser HMAS HOBART was sacrificed in 1955 when the Navy could not get its work done through the Australian dockyards, and was retired unfinished. The aircraft carrier HMAS SYDNEY [III] had suffered sabotage at Garden Island by having its radar cables slashed during a final refit before leaving for Korea* [Source, Colin Jones's book 'Wings and the Navy 1947-1953' Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1997] p74]. The destroyer HMAS VENDETTA [II], having taken an extraordinary 9 1/2 years to built, appeared to have had its bridge to engineroom telegraph signals reversed so that it lurched forward instead of reverse when first leaving its brth and crashed into the caisson gates at Williamstown in 1958, endangering both itself and the frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH in the dock below it.
As shown in recent entries [pic NO. 2472, www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4770468307/ ], the modernisation and half-life refits of HMASs DERWENT , STUART [II] and PARRAMATTA [III] in the late 1970s-1980s at the Williamstown Naval Dockyard took longer than John Brown's took to build the world's largest warship, HMS HOOD in 1916-1918; longer than it took Mitsubishi to build the Japanese super battleship HIJMS YAMATO; longer than it took Blohm and Voss to build the BISMARCK; almost as long as the 5 years and 5 months it took Northrop Grumman to build the 113,600 short tons American Nimitz Class super carrier, USS RONALD REAGAN.
The 9 1/2 years it took Williamstown to build the Daring Class destroyer HMAS VENDETTA was more than twice the time taken to build most of these great warships.
The survey vessel HMAS COOK emerged from Williamstown in 1980 with such engineroom defects that she spent her almost her entire first two years in service in other dockyards getting repairs done.
There are many other examples. Mercifully, the dockyard was privatised, sold to Tenix in 1987 [and later to the present owners BAE Systems Ltd], and the large Anzac frigate project of 10 ships proceeded well. The delays and engine defects of the two newly completed New Zealand Protector Class patrol vessels, however, are a worry.
CONTINUED WITH NEXT ENTRY
The photo above shows HMAS DERWENT in the 1970s, before her half-life modernisation. It is produced from the HMAS CERBERUS Museum Archives, courtesy of the Curator Warrant Officer Martin Grogan, RANR. The photograph also appears in John Bastock's limited edition book 'Australia's Ships of War' Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1975]p341.
3283. One of the Royal Navy's classic Ca-Class destroyers, the 1,710 ton HMS CARYSFORT turn into the wake of the fast anti-submarine frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH, showing one of the two formidable 3-barrel Limbo anti-submarine mortars on her after deck.
We believe this photo has been taken during the Commonwealth navies Exercise JET 1961, conducted in the Indian Ocean from Feb 26 to March 9, 1961.
Photo: Graeme K. Andrews, RAN 1955-1961, from a private disc with permission.
5505. An image that enlarges well, it was uploaded on Wikipedia Commons by 'Bukvoed.' In searching some VAMPIRE and Daring Class details, we happened upon a nominal crew list for VAMPIRE at the time of her Jan. 25-29, 1962 visit to Saigon, assembled by the Department of Veteran's Affairs,
There is a similar list on the webpage for crew of HMAS QUICKMATCH, which was there with her. Both can be found here:
www.vietnamroll.gov.au/QUICKMATCHandVAMPIRE.aspx
THE HMAS VAMPIRE list follows:
R57009 - AALBREGT, Jacobus
R50982 - ABEL, Dale Ross
R55287 - ADAMS, James Stuart
R15907 - AINSWORTH, Peter Houghton
R57013 - ALBROW, Tony Reginald
R42201 - ALDERTON, John
R54051 - ALEXANDER, Joseph Erin
R56503 - ALLEN, John Ewart
R53479 - ALLEN, Michael John
R52943 - ANDERSON, Colvin Francis
R57317 - ANSON, Colin Robson
R53483 - ARNDELL, John Joseph
R53070 - ARTHUR, Graeme Martin
R51194 - AXTON, Brian James
R48076 - BABINGTON, Kenneth Keith
R42033 - BAILEY, Graeme Hutton
R39517 - BAKER, Anthony George
R57016 - BARLOW, Lewis Frederick
R56566 - BARTON, Kenneth James
R57017 - BATCHELOR, Kevin Frank
R55297 - BEAUMONT, Norman
R52069 - BEECH, Ronald Neville
R48441 - BELL, Robert Thomas
R55904 - BELL, Sydney Kenneth
R57030 - BELLETTE, Maxwell Arthur
R56909 - BERMINGHAM, Graham George
R54911 - BERTRAM, Douglas Leslie
R44191 - BIBO, Robert John
R57162 - BILLING, Christopher James
R36084 - BLACKMORE, John Stanley
R57369 - BLACKWOOD, Ian David
R52155 - BLENKINSOPP, Peter Joseph
R39110 - BOLGER, Brian Lenard
R55429 - BOON, Alfred Neal
R53383 - BOWD, John William
R55980 - BOWKETT, George Douglas
O10399 - BOWRA, Timothy Douglas
R42010 - BRADBURY, Keith Charles
R38482 - BRADFORD, John Thomas
O11199 - BRETT, Donald Clarence
R56781 - BROADBENT, David Victor
R51399 - BROADBENT, Norman Francis
R54644 - BRODRICK, John Thomas
R56782 - BROWN, David Neil
R37358 - BROWN, Ernest Robert
R56914 - BROWN, Trevor John
R56916 - BURNS, Malcolm George
R55830 - CALLAGHAN, Robin Charles
R32498 - CAMPBELL, Ian Kenneth
R36264 - CAREY, Donald Herbert
R48097 - CARTER, Douglas John
R51892 - CASHION, Donald Kevin
O19399 - CHANDLER, Robert Thomas
R53083 - CLARKSON, Kenneth Barry
R53267 - CLARKSON, Ronald Thomas
R45342 - COGZELL, William James
R57027 - COMPTON, Michael Stanley
R35834 - COOKE, Maurice Lloyd
R56575 - COPPING, Victor Roger
R55182 - COULTER, Raymond Ernest
R54649 - COWELL, Kenneth John
R57296 - COX, Graeme Charles
R37694 - CRAIG, Donald Maxwell
R50486 - CROESE, Ronald
R51773 - CROTHERS, Thomas David
R53692 - CTERCTEKO, Neil Duncan
999999 - CUMMING, James Stuart
R24901 - CUNNINGHAM, Thomas William
R55442 - CURTAIN, John Thomas
R54651 - DAVIES, John Beavans
R28197 - DAVIS, Kenneth Lindsay
R56926 - DAY, John Frederick
R53090 - DE LISLE, Roger Brock
R56927 - DEAKIN, Kenneth Francis
O16669 - DENNIS, Leonard James
H36275 - DILLON, Edward John
R41677 - DOBSON, Allan Graham
R36276 - DODSON, Campbell Morton
R51200 - DONALD, Peter John
R34036 - DONOHUE, Raymond
R57033 - DUFFY, Edward Kevin
R44641 - DULEY, Harold John
R35843 - EASTERBROOK, John Godfrey
R49515 - EBERT, William Edward
R51837 - ELWELL, Victor Reginald
R57305 - ENNOR, Stanley Paul
R51497 - FARLEY, Neil
R36111 - FARQUHARSON-SCOTT, Leonard John
R55773 - FELMINGHAM, Peter Robin
R57092 - FISCHER, Michael Frederick
R53178 - FITZGERALD, Peter Desmond
R57093 - FLUX, Cecil Bruce
R57240 - FOALE, Roland Robert
R39591 - FOLEY, Leslie John
O38999 - FOX, Leslie Graeme
R54936 - FRANCIS, James Wallace
R54764 - FRANKLIN, John Orton
R53787 - FRENCH, Ernest Graeme
R41737 - FRIMSTON, Franklyn William
R52656 - FROST, Robert Garry
R55848 - FYFFE, William Hugh
R55200 - GALLAGHER, Peter James
R56936 - GARDNER, Geoffrey Allan
R55690 - GARNER, Frank Allen
R38067 - GEERING, William David
R57042 - GILBERT, George Barry
R53408 - GILBERT, Gerald Francis
R55339 - GOLINSKI, Garry
R53183 - GOODE, Robert John
R57179 - GOODSON, Ian Michael
R53611 - GOTTSCH, Leo Edward
R49634 - GOUGH, Neville John
R53613 - GRAHAM, Dalmain Trevor
R58051 - GRAHAM, George Ronald
R53703 - GRAHAM, Gerald
R56942 - GRAHAM, Peter Napier
R55850 - GRANT, Neil Douglas
R50371 - GRANT, Raymond
O17839 - GRANT, Roger Thomas
R56805 - GRANT, Stewart Macarthur
R54937 - GREENHALGH, Alfred John
R55502 - GRIFFIN, Robert Eric
R56587 - GUPPY, Denis William
R54107 - HALL, George Albert
R56945 - HALL, Gregory Craig
R47808 - HALSEY, Frederick Ernest
R53615 - HAM, Leonard Roy
R53616 - HAMDORF, Darrol Ivan
R46278 - HAMMOND, Arthur James
R52474 - HAMMOND, Neil John
R55032 - HANLEY, Ronald George
O49299 - HARRIES, David Alexander
R56808 - HARRIS, Kingsley Maxwell
R54453 - HARRIS, Raymond John
R53515 - HARRISON, Roger Thomas
R55851 - HARRISON, William
R94221 - HARRISON, William John
R54111 - HARRISON, William Thomas
R53418 - HATTENFELS, Peter Austen
R57463 - HAYES, Barry John
R49959 - HAYES, Brian James
R56454 - HEAD, John Robert
R54943 - HILARY-TAYLOR, Donald Gerald
R37038 - HILLS, Kevin James
R53622 - HOLGATE, Barry Ronald
R48454 (B6587) - HOLMES, William John
R54255 - HOWARD, David George
R55855 - HUTCHINGS, Mervyn Warwick
R42417 - HUTCHINS, Keith William
R56820 - JACKEL, Klaus Rudiger
R56821 - JACKSON, Ronald Leslie
R42042 - JACOBS, Barry John
R55220 - JAQUES, Leonard Charles
R52772 - JEFFERY, Laurence Ross
R53713 - JOYCE, Reginald James
R54366 - KEARNEY, Peter
R53424 - KEEN, Leslie
R55857 - KELLY, Peter Leslie
R54737 - KERRIGAN, Kenneth Harry
R35295 - KIMPTON, Allen Edward
R29712 - KNIGHT, Barry William
R52554 - KRIEGER, Thomas Richard
R52618 - LACEY, Marcus Murray
R52555 - LAMBERT, Barry James
B23020 - LAMSHED, Albert Ray
R55935 - LANCASTER, Malcolm John
R56830 - LAWRENCE, Raymond James
R53196 - LAWSON, Darryl John
R52658 - LE BOYDRE, Louis Kevin
R53527 - LENNOX, Thomas Robert
R54558 - LEVAY, John
R25131 - LEWIS, Colin Derek
R42046 - LEWIS, Robert Edward
R54785 - LEWIS, Richard Gray
R53990 - LIPMAN, Neville Morris
R42020 - LLOYD, Terry Peter
R34127 - LOCKETT, George Frederick
R36588 - LOWIEN, Kevin John
R56833 - LUCAS, Paul Norman
R53198 - LUDWICK, Robert John
R37869 - LUNEY, William James Frederick
R44367 - LUSCOMBE, Norman Edward Charles
R50801 - LYONS, Terence John
R56834 - LYONS, William Richard
R52105 - MACDONALD, Keith
O13909 - MACRAE, Norman Bruce
R50532 - MAJOR, Leonard James
R57064 - MANLEY, John Phylid
R40311 - MANN, John McGrath
R53717 - MANNING, Terence Charles
R34167 - MANSFIELD, Spencer Raymond
R57065 - MARTIN, Graham
E73799 - MATTHEWS, Reginald Gordon
R51601 - MCDADE, Victor McMillan
R53584 - MCDONALD Ray Norman
R56844 - MCDOWALL, Phillip Murray
R53535 - MCGRATH, Anthony Dominic
R53316 - MCINNES Lance Donald
R53318 - MCKINNON, Angus Mitchell
R57262 - MCLAUGHLIN, Brian Joseph
R38995 - MCLEAN, Ronald George
R55794 - MEYERS, Brian Roger
R56969 - MICKLEBURGH, James Henry Parker
R54390 - MIDDLETON, Kenneth Joseph
R54391 - MILLER, Lyall James
R28644 - MOBBS, John Arthur
R55949 - MONTGOMERY, Clifford George
R49065 - MOON, Malcolm Claude
R53539 - MOORE, Graham Victor
R56843 - MUNTON, Sydney
R53543 - MURRAY, Ian Frederick
O1499 - NOBLE, Ian Appelbe
R50443 - NUGENT, Noel Daniel
O37199 - NUNN, Richard Bradford
R42080 - NUTTALL, Allan Frederick
R55877 - O'BRIEN, Raymond John
R23096 - O'DWYER, John Wallace
R37187 - OLIVER, Raymond
R53913 - OWEN, George Barrie
R56854 - OZOLINS, Andrejs
O14859 - PAGE, Henry George
R56660 - PAGE, Ronald Edmund
R52321 - PARKER, Alfred Earnest
R56659 - PARKES, Michael Anthony
R54888 - PARRY, Peter Cedric
R57077 - PASSMORE, Albert John
R53547 - PAUL, Frederick Albert
R53331 - PAXMAN, Anthony John
R53639 - PAYNE, Joseph
R56536 - PERRY, Francis Donald
R51932 - PETERS, Douglas John
R54395 - PHILLIPS, Robert Allan
R55054 - PIIRSALU, Vello
R49612 - PITT, Robert Howard
R35066 - PLAISTED, Robert Charles
R54288 - PONT, Norman Ronald
R55799 - PREDL, John Robert
R35252 - PRIEST, Allan George
R57132 - PRYOR, Trevor Charles
O1749 - QUINN, Stanley Alan
R53835 - RAATZ, Clifford Lloyd
R52527 - RANKIN, Gary Leslie
R46062 - RATHBONE, Rodney Major
R42136 - REDSHAW, William Victor
R53647 - REID, George Stewart
R54166 - REIDY, Robert Douglas
R41698 - RICHARDS, Clayton Howell
R57082 - RINEHART, Lawrence Joseph
R51572 - ROBERTSON, Graeme John
R54018 - ROBINSON, John Dennis
R52567 - RODGERS, Barry John
R53342 - ROESLER, Kevin Deane
R55262 - ROSE, Bruce Edward
R35127 - ROSE, Edward William
R56758 - ROSE, Kevin William
R52121 - ROSE, Reginald James
R49500 - RUDD, Cecil
R53343 - SAVIC, Slavko
R53654 - SCANLON, Barry George
R53345 - SCOBLE, Joseph James
R57090 - SCOTT, Alan Melross
R27705 - SCOTT, Bernard Robins
R/51423 - SCOTT, Robert
R88136 - SENIOR, Geoffrey Frederick
R42090 - SHANNON, Garry French
R56553 - SHAW, James Edward
R54299 - SHAW, Kevin
R36036 - SHEPPARD, Gilbert Charles
R53557 - SHEW, Douglas Henry
R31206 - SILVER, John Kenneth
O1071 - SLADDIN, Lindsay Alexander
R57199 - SLY, John
R53745 - SNOWDON, Barry John
R55563 - STAFFORD, David Neville
R36242 (F5213) - STANDISH, Reuben Charles
R57357 - STARK, Derek John
R28949 - STOTT, Malcolm John
R52512 - STRAWHAN, George Austin
R55964 - SULLIVAN, Terence
R55395 - SUTTON, Peter John
R55495 - SWANSON, Henry George
R50112 - SYKES, Frederick John
999999 - SYNNOT, Anthony Monckton
R53563 - TAYLOR, Gerald
R52021 - TAYLOR, Robert George
R55496 - THEEUF, Roger
R38610 - THOMPSON, William Claude
999999 - THOMSETT, Harold William
R57097 - THOMSON, Robin Howard
O1171 - TOOTH, Harold Edward
R56998 - TUMATH, Victor Thomas
R54990 - TURCSANYI, Tibor Erno
R53232 - TWYFORD, Joseph Leonard
R56999 - UNDERWOOD, Brian Norman
R28711 - VIANELLO, John Osborne
R53367 - WALKER, Lyle Farrell
R53750 - WALKER, Vere Trevor
R88157 - WEBB, George Lionel
R46155 - WEBB, Graham Arthur
R57212 - WELLINGTON, Trevor Gordon
R30742 (PA3123) - WHARLDALL, Ronald Garth
R56895 - WHITBURN, Norman Lindsay
R35441 - WHITFIELD, Raymond Claude
R31775 - WILKINSON, Richard Frank
R55414 - WILLIAMS, James Price
R36372 - WILLIAMS, Leslie Bruce
R51228 - WILLIS, Edward Emslie
R57105 - WILSON, Robin Lionel
R56898 - WINCKLE, David William
R52135 - WINTON, Leonard Leslie
R37082 - WORSLEY, Owen Walter
R53754 - WRIGHT, Barry Aubrey
R53666 - WUILLEMIN, Kevin John
R54904 - YATES, Kenneth
5129. Occasionally we have overlooked the historical value of sailor's snapshots in cities they visited, belatedly realizing their interest both to men of the ships and as time capsules for the people connected to those places.
We'll try to correct that. This is a good example in a city soon to be ruined by war. The Daring Class destroyer .HMAS VAMPIRE [II] and frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH visited Saigon in early 1962 during their South East Asia deployment prior to Exercise JET in the Bay of Bengal.
Graeme Andrews,. a generous contributor to this Photostream, was on HMAS QUICKMATCH at that time, and took this gentle street scene in Saigon.
We had some of Graeme'S pics of VAMPIRE and QUICKMATCH berthed in the Saigon River at and around pic NO. 3927, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5444292166/in/photostr...
5410. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY of sources, December 31, 2011:*
* This image has now been replaced at its original location by an impressive ca1941 image of the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS KANIMBLA, at pic NO. 3894 here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5435698338/?reuploaded=1
The car in this image [my moher's, that's here behind the wheel, is a Willy's Coupe 77 [identified here on the Photostream, see comments below. Kookaburra doesn't know much about cars].
Back to the Bibliography:
ALLISTON, John: "Destroyer Man' [Greenhouse Publications' Richmond 1985].
ANDREWS, Graeme: ‘Fighting Ships Of Australia and New Zealand’ Regency House, Sydney [1973].
ANDREWS, Graeme: ‘Fighting Ships Of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania’
AH & A.W. Reed, Sydney [1981].
ASKEY, M.W. ‘Participation Of Australian Water Transport Units In World War 11’ M.W. Askey, David Murray Publishing, Canberra [1998].
BASTOCK, John: ‘Australia’s Ships Of War’ Angus and Robertson, Sydney [1975]
BASTOCK, John 'Ships Onn The Australia Station,' [Child and Associates, Sydney 1988].
BROMBY, Robyn: ‘German Raiders Of The South Seas: Naval Threats to Australia and New Zealand 1914-17.’ Doubleday, Sydney [1985].
BUCKLY, K. & KLUGMAN, K. 'The History of Burns Philp: The Australian Company in the South Pacific' [Burns Philp 1981].
BURRELL, Vice Admiral Sir Henry 'Mermaids Do Exist' [autobiography] Macmillan Australia 1986.
CARLTON: mIKE, 'Cruiser: The Life and Loss of HMAS PERTH and her Crew' Wiulliam Heinemann Australia [2010].
CASSELLS, Vic: 'For Those in Peril' Kangaroo Press, Sydney 1995.
CASSELLS, Vic: The Capital Ships, Their Battles and Their Badges' [Kangaroo Press, Sydney 2000].
CASSELLS, Vic. The Destroyers: Their Battles and Their Badges' Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 2000].
COLLINS, Vice Admiral Sir John: 'As Luck Would Have It: The Reminiscences of an Australian Sailor.' Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1965.
COOK, David: 'Picture Postcards in Australia 1898-1920' Pioneer Collecting Antiques Series [Pioneer Design Studio, Lilydale, Voc, 1986].
DOAK, Frank "Royal Australian Navy: A Brief History [Australian Government Publishing Service, 1986].
EVANS, Alun : ‘Royal Australian Navy’ Time-Life Books, Sydney [1988].
FAZIO, Vince 'RAN Aircraft Carriers' [Naval Historical Society of Australia 1997].
FIRKINS, Peter: ‘Of Nautilus and Eagles: History Of The Royal Australian Navy’ Cassell Australia, Sydney [1975].
FRAME, Tom: Where Fate Calls; The HMAS Voyager Tragedy [Hodder and Stoughton, Sydney 1992]
GATACRE, Rear Admiral G.G.O. "Reports Of Proceedings: A Naval Career 1921-1964' [Nautical Press, Manly 1982].
GILLETT, Ross: ‘Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945’ Doubleday, Sydney [1983]
GILLETT, Ross: ‘Australian and New Zealand Warships Since 1946’ [Child and Associates, Sydney [1988]
GILLETT, Ross and Michael MELLIAR-PHELPS: ‘A Century Of Ships In Sydney Harbour’ Rigby Australia 1977.
GILLLETT, Ross: ‘HMAS Melbourne – 25 Years’ – Nautical Press, Sydney [1980]
GILLETT, Ross: ‘Warships of Australia’ Rigby Australia [1977]
GILLETT, Ross: 'Wings Across The Sea' [Aerospace Publications, Canberra 1988.
GORDON, Malcolm R. ‘From Chusan To Sea Princess: The Australian Services Of The P&O and Orient Lines’ George Allen and Unwin, Sydney [1985].
GREGORY, Mackenzie: War In The Pacific: And So To Tokyo' [[National Biographica Australia, 2009].
HALL, Timothy: ‘HMAS Melbourne’ Allen & Unwin, Sydney [1982].
HICKLING, Harold: ‘One Moment Of Time: The Melbourne-Voyager Collision A.H. &; AW Reed, Sydney [1965].
JOHNSTON, George H. : “Grey Gladiator’ ‘Angus and Robertson, Sydney [1941].
JONES, Colin: Wings and the Navy: 1947-1953' [Kangaroo Press, Sydney 1997].
LANSDOWN, John R.P. 'With the Carriers in Korea: The Sea and Air War in SE Asia 1950-53' [Crecy, Manchester 1997].
LEGGOE, John 'Trying To Be Sailors' St George Books, Perth 1983].
LEWIS, Stephen: 'Voyages To Vietnam,' Limited Edition [My Vietnam Trust, Adelaide 2004].
LIND, Lew: ‘Historic Naval Events Of Australia Day By Day’ AH and AW Reed, Sydney [1982].
LIND, Lew: ‘The Royal Australian Navy: Historic Naval Events Year By Year’ Reed Books, Sydney [1982].
McGGUIRE, Paul and Frances Margaret: ‘The Price Of Admiralty’ Oxford University Press, Melbourne [1944].
McGUIRE, Frances Margaret: ‘The Royal Australian Navy: It’s Origin, Development and Organisation’ Oxford University Press, Melbourne [1948].
MEARNS, David L. ‘The Search For The Sydney’ HarperCollins, Sydney [2009].
MONTGOMERY, Michael: 'WHo Sank The Sydney?' [Cassell Australia, 1981].
NALLY, Jonathon: editor of 'Aircraft Carriers and Squadrons of the Royal Australian Navy' [Topmill Pty Ltd, Sydney, ca 2010 publication date not given].
NALLY, Jonathon: compilation of 'Australian Warships and Auxiliaries of the 1940s' [Topmill Pty Ltd, Sydney, ca2010, publication date not given].
NOTT, Rodney, and Noel Payne: 'The Vung Tau Ferry: HMAS Sydney and Escort Ships, Vietnam 1965-1972' [Rosenberg Publishing, Sydney 2008].
ODGERS, George: ‘The Royal Australian Navy: An Illustrated History’ Child and Henry, Sydney [1982].
PARKER, R.G: ‘Cockatoo Island: A History’ Thomas Nelson [Australia], Melbourne [1977].
PELVIN, Richard: 'Australians In World War 1: Royal Australian Navy' [Department of Veterans' Affairs, Canberra 2010].
ROSE, Andrew, Rose, Sandra 'Man Overboard: The HMAS Nizam Tragedy' [Red Rose Books, Augusta WA, 2006].
SILVER, Lynette Ramsay: 'The Heroes of Rimau; Unravelling the Mystery of One of Australia'sost Daring Raids' {Sally Milner Publishing, Birchgrove NSW, 1990].
STEVENS, David [editor of] “The Centenary History of Australian Defence, Vol 111, The Royal Australian Navy’ [Oxford University Press Melbourne, 2006].
Topmill Pty Ltd 'Preparing for War: The Royal Australian Navy Leading into WWII' [Topmill Sydney, quoted as '1938 reissue].
VAT VAN DER, Dan: 'Gentlemen of War: The Amazing Story of Captain Carl von Muller and the SMS Emden'[Williamn Morrow, New York 1984].'
WILSON, Stewart: “Sea Fury, Firefly and Sea Venom In Australian Service’ Aerospace Publications, Canberra [1993].
WILSON, Stewart: Phantom, Hornet and Skyhawk In Australian Service' [Aerospace Publications, Canberra 1993].
WINTER, Barbara: 'HMAS Sydney, Fact Fantasy and Fraud' [Boolarong Publications, Brisbane
Photo: Author [far right] home collection. Visiting HMAS QUICKMATCH, Nelson Pier, Williamstown,1958, with brother and friends, in his mother's Willys coupe 77.
Select from the list below to view ship data and historical facts of past RAN vessels.
We apologise if a ship you are particularly interested in is not on this list. Our Naval History Section continues to work on updating this list however researching each individual ship history is an involved process that entails reviewing monthly Reports of Proceedings and official logs for each year of a ship's commission.
Often this material can span a period of greater than 20 years and it takes considerable time to review it and author an accurate history suitable for publication. Your patience in this matter is appreciated.
Name
Pennant
Commissioned
Decommissioned/Lost
HDML 1347 Q1347 1 January 1945 29 April 1946
HMAS Aase Maersk Not Commissioned
HMAS Abraham Crijnssen 26 May 1937 5 May 1943
HMAS Adelaide (I) 5 August 1922 13 May 1946
HMAS Adelaide (II) FFG 01 15 November 1980 19 January 2008
HMAS AE1 80 28 February 1914
HMAS AE2 81 28 February 1914
HMAS Albatross (I) 23 January 1929 26 April 1933
HMAS Anzac (I) G90 27 January 1920 30 July 1931
HMAS Anzac (II) D59 14 March 1951 4 October 1974
HMAS Ararat (I) K34/M34 16 June 1943 11 April 1947
HMAS Armidale (I) J240 11 June 1942
HMAS Arrow P88 3 July 1968 7 February 1975
HMAS Arunta (I) I30/D5/D130 30 March 1942 21 December 1956
HMAS Assail (I) P89 12 July 1968 18 October 1985
HMAS Australia (I) C6/C09/C81 21 June 1913 12 December 1921
HMAS Australia (II) I84/D84/C84 24 April 1928 31 August 1954
HMAS Balikpapan L 126 27 September 1974 12 December 2012
HMAS Ballarat (I) J184 30 August 1941 27 September 1946
HMAS Barbette P97 16 August 1968 15 June 1984
HMAS Barcoo K375/F375/A245 17 January 1944 21 February 1964
HMAS Barwon K406 10 December 1945 31 March 1947
HMAS Bataan D9/I91/D191 25 May 1945 18 October 1954
HMAS Bathurst (I) J158 6 December 1940 27 September 1946
HMAS Benalla (I) J323 27 April 1943 28 January 1946
HMAS Bendigo (I) J187 10 May 1941 27 September 1946
HMAS Bendigo (II) FCPB 211 28 May 1983 9 September 2006
HMAS Beryl (II) F71/BT 9 October 1939 13 December 1945
HMAS Betano L 133 8 February 1974 12 December 2012
HMAS Biloela 5 July 1920 14 November 1927
HMAS Bonthorpe 5 February 1940 17 February 1945
HMAS Boonaroo 1 March 1967 8 May 1967
HMAS Bowen J285/M285 9 November 1942 17 January 1946
HMAS Brisbane (I) 31 October 1916 24 September 1935
HMAS Broome (I) J191 29 July 1942
HMAS Buna L132 7 December 1973 14 November 1974
HMAS Bunbury (I) J241 3 January 1943 26 August 1946
HMAS Bunbury (II) FCPB 217 15 December 1984 11 February 2006
HMAS Bundaberg (I) J231 12 September 1942 26 March 1946
HMAS Bungaree 9 June 1941 7 August 1946
HMAS Burdekin K376 27 June 1944 18 April 1946
HMAS Burnie (I) J198 15 April 1941 5 July 1946
HMAS Cairns (I) J183 11 May 1942 17 January 1946
HMAS Canberra (I) D33 9 July 1928
HMAS Canberra (II) FFG 02 21 March 1981 12 November 2005
HMAS Castlemaine J244 17 June 1942 14 December 1945
HMAS Cessnock (I) J175 26 January 1942 12 July 1946
HMAS Cessnock (II) FCPB 210 5 March 1983 23 June 2005
HMAS Chinampa 1 March 1942 31 December 1945
HMAS Colac J242 6 January 1942 27 November 1945
HMAS Condamine (I) K698 22 February 1946 2 December 1955
HMAS Coolebar J25 18 December 1939 1 June 1945
HMAS Cootamundra J316 30 April 1943 8 June 1959
HMAS Cowra J351 8 October 1943 26 June 1953
HMAS Culgoa K408 1 April 1947 15 April 1954
HMAS Curlew M1121 12 August 1962 30 April 1990
HMAS Deloraine (I) J232 22 November 1941 30 June 1948
HMAS Derwent F22/DE22/DE49 30 April 1964 8 August 1994
HMAS Diamantina (I) K377 27 April 1945 29 February 1980
HMAS Dubbo (I) J251/M251 31 July 1942 7 February 1947
HMAS Dubbo (II) FCPB 214 10 March 1984 2 February 2007
HMAS Duchess D154 8 May 1964 23 October 1977
HMAS Echuca J252/M252 7 September 1942 29 June 1948
HMAS Encounter (I) 1 July 1912 1 January 1923
HMAS Fantome 27 November 1914 14 January 1919
HMAS Fremantle (I) J246/M246 24 March 1943 22 June 1959
HMAS Fremantle (II) FCPB 203 17 March 1980 11 August 2006
HMAS Gascoyne (I) K354 18 November 1943 1 February 1966
HMAS Gawler (I) J188 14 August 1942 5 April 1946
HMAS Gawler (II) FCPB 212 27 August 1983 8 July 2006
HMAS Gayundah 26 September 1984 23 August 1918
HMAS Geelong (I) J201 16 January 1942
HMAS Geelong (II) FCPB 215 2 June 1984 8 July 2006
HMAS Geraldton (I) J178 6 April 1942 14 June 1946
HMAS Geraldton (II) FCPB 213 10 December 1983 7 October 2006
HMAS Gladstone (I) J324 22 March 1943 16 July 1956
HMAS Gladstone (II) FCPB 216 8 September 1984 13 March 2006
HMAS Glenelg (I) J236 16 November 1942 14 January 1946
HMAS Goulburn (I) J167 28 February 1941 27 September 1945
HMAS Gull M1185 19 July 1962 7 November 1969
HMAS Gunbar (I) 18 December 1940 30 June 1943
HMAS Gympie (I) J238 4 November 1942 23 May 1946
HMAS Hawk M1139 18 July 1962 7 January 1972
HMAS Hawkesbury (I) K363 5 July 1944 14 February 1955
HMAS Hobart (I) D63 13 January 1936 20 December 1947
HMAS Hobart (II) D39 18 December 1965 12 May 2000
HMAS Horsham (I) J235 18 November 1942 17 November 1945
HMAS Huon (I) D50 14 December 1915 7 June 1928
HMAS Ibis (II) M1183 7 September 1962 4 May 1984
HMAS Inverell (I) J233 17 September 1942 14 June 1946
HMAS Ipswich (I) J186 13 June 1942 5 July 1946
HMAS Ipswich (II) FCPB 209 13 November 1982 11 May 2007
HMAS J1 25 March 1919 12 July 1922
HMAS J2 25 March 1919 12 July 1922
HMAS J3 25 March 1919 12 July 1922
HMAS J4 25 March 1919 12 July 1922
HMAS J5 25 March 1919 12 July 1922
HMAS J7 25 March 1919 12 July 1922
HMAS Jeparit (I) 11 December 1969 15 March 1972
HMAS Junee (I) J362 11 April 1944 21 August 1957
HMAS Kalgoorlie (I) J192 7 April 1942 8 May 1946
HMAS Kangaroo (I) A291 27 September 1940 15 December 1955
HMAS Kanimbla (I) F23 6 October 1939 25 March 1949
HMAS Kanimbla (II) L51 29 August 1994 25 November 2011
HMAS Kapunda (I) J218 21 October 1942 14 January 1961
HMAS Kara Kara (I) Y276 23 December 1941 8 December 1945
HMAS Karangi (I) A304 23 December 1941 31 May 1957
HMAS Katoomba (I) J204 17 December 1941 2 August 1948
HMAS Kiama (I) J353 26 January 1944 3 April 1946
HMAS Koala (I) A315 7 February 1940 18 April 1957
HMAS Kookaburra (I) A331 28 February 1939 3 December 1958
HMAS Koompartoo Z256 23 December 1942 8 June 1962
HMAS Koopa KP 14 September 1942 10 January 1947
HMAS Kuru 8 December 1941 22 October 1943
HMAS Kurumba 11 March 1919 29 July 1946
HMAS Lachlan K364 14 February 1945 05 October 1949
HMAS Larrakia (I) 8 December 1941 16 February 1944
HMAS Latrobe J234 6 November 1942 13 March 1953
HMAS Launceston (I) J179 9 April 1942 23 March 1946
HMAS Launceston (II) FCPB 207 1 March 1982 8 September 2006
HMAS Lismore J145 24 January 1941 3 July 1946
HMAS Lithgow J206 14 June 1941 8 June 1948
HMAS Macquarie K532 7 December 1945 17 March 1954
HMAS Manoora (I) F48 12 December 1939 6 December 1947
HMAS Manoora (II) L52 25 November 1994 27 May 2011
HMAS Marguerite T51 8 June 1919 23 July 1929
HMAS Maryborough (I) J195 12 June 1941
HMAS Matafele 1 January 1943
HMAS Melbourne (I) 18 January 1913 23 April 1928
HMAS Melbourne (II) R21 28 October 1955 30 June 1982
HMAS Mildura (I) J207 23 July 1941 11 September 1953
HMAS Moresby (I) 20 June 1925 14 March 1946
HMAS Mulcra S-141 11 June 1945 10 January 1946
HMAS Murchison K442 17 December 1945 31 January 1956
HMAS Napier G97 28 November 1940 25 October 1945
HMAS Nepal G25 11 May 1942 22 October 1945
HMAS Nestor G02 3 February 1941
HMAS Nizam G38 19 December 1940 17 October 1945
HMAS Norman (I) G49 15 September 1941
HMAS Otway (I) 9 September 1927 24 August 1945
HMAS Ovens S70 18 April 1969 1 December 1995
HMAS Oxley (I) 1 April 1927
HMAS Oxley (II) 21 March 1967 13 February 1992
HMAS Paluma (I)
HMAS Parkes (I) J361 25 May 1944 17 December 1945
HMAS Parramatta (I) D55 10 September 1910 22 July 1919
HMAS Parramatta (II) U44 8 April 1940
HMAS Parramatta (III) DE 46 4 July 1961 11 January 1991
HMAS Patricia Cam 3 March 1942
HMAS Penguin (I) 1 July 1913
HMAS Perth (I) D29 15 June 1936
HMAS Perth (II) D 38 17 July 1965 15 October 1999
HMAS Pioneer 1 March 1913 7 November 1916
HMAS Pirie (I) J189 10 October 1942 5 April 1946
HMAS Platypus (I) 25 March 1919 13 May 1946
HMAS Poyang 6 May 1943 6 March 1946
HMAS Protector (I) 19 June 1884
HMAS Psyche 1 July 1915 26 March 1918
HMAS Quadrant G11 26 November 1942 16 August 1957
HMAS Quality G62 7 September 1942 25 January 1946
HMAS Queenborough G70 29 October 1945 1 April 1972
HMAS Quiberon G81 6 July 1942 26 June 1964
HMAS Quickmatch G92 14 September 1942 26 April 1963
HMAS Riawe 772 26 December 1942 12 December 1945
HMAS Rockhampton J203 21 January 1942 5 August 1946
HMAS SDB 1323 21 January 1944 15 August 1958
HMAS Shepparton (I) J248 1 February 1943 10 May 1946
HMAS Shoalhaven (I) K535 2 May 1946 19 December 1955
HMAS Shropshire (I) 73 24 September 1929 10 November 1949
HMAS Snipe M1102 11 September 1962 17 June 1983
HMAS Sprightly 23 February 1944 31 March 1958
HMAS Stalwart (I) H14 27/01/1920 1/12/1925
HMAS Stalwart (II) D215 9 February 1968 9 March 1990
HMAS Stawell (I) J348 7 August 1943 26 March 1946
HMAS Strahan J363 14 March 1944 25 January 1946
HMAS Stuart (I) D00 11 October 1933 27 April 1946
HMAS Success (I) H02 27 January 1920 21 May 1930
HMAS Swan (I) D61 16 August 1916 15 May 1928
HMAS Swan (II) U74 21 January 1937 20 September 1962
HMAS Swan (III) DE 50 20 January 1970 13 September 1996
HMAS Swordsman H11 27/01/1920 21/12/1929
HMAS Sydney (I) 26 June 1913 8 May 1928
HMAS Sydney (II) D48 24 September 1935
HMAS Sydney (III) R17 16 October 1948 12 November 1973
HMAS Tamworth J191 8 August 1942 30 April 1946
HMAS Tarakan (I) L3017 4 July 1946 12 March 1954
HMAS Tasmania H25 27/01/1920 09/01/1928
HMAS Tattoo H26 27/01/1920 19/06/1936
HMAS Teal M1152 30 August 1962 31 May 1973
HMAS Terka TR 31 January 1941
HMAS Three Cheers 20 October 1944 20 February 1946
HMAS Tingira 25 April 1912 30 June 1927
HMAS Tobruk (I) D37 8 May 1950 29 October 1960
HMAS Toowoomba (I) J157 9 October 1941 5 July 1946
HMAS Torrens (I) D67 3 July 1916 12 May 1926
HMAS Townsville (I) J205 19 December 1941 5 August 1946
HMAS Townsville (II) FCPB 205 18 July 1981 11 May 2007
HMAS Vampire (I) D68 11 October 1933
HMAS Vampire (II) D11 23 June 1959 13 August 1986
HMAS Vendetta (I) D69 11 October 1933 27 November 1945
HMAS Vendetta (II) D08 26 November 1958 9 October 1979
HMAS Vengeance R71 13 November 1952 25 October 1955
HMAS Voyager (I) D31 11 October 1933
HMAS Voyager (II) D04 12 February 1957
HMAS Wagga J315 18 December 1942 28 October 1960
HMAS Wallaroo (I) J222 15 July 1942
HMAS Waree 18 September 1942
HMAS Warramunga (I) I44 23 November 1942 7 December 1959
HMAS Warreen 22 October 1942 31 March 1966
HMAS Warrego (I) D70 1 June 1912 22 July 1919
HMAS Warrego (II) U73 22 August 1940 15 August 1963
HMAS Warrnambool (I) J202 23 September 1941
HMAS Waterhen (I) D22 11 October 1933
HMAS Wato 11 May 1941 12 November 1945
HMAS Westralia (II) AO 195 9 October 1989 16 September 2006
HMAS Westralia (I) F95 17 January 1940 19 December 1961
HMAS Wewak L 130 10 August 1973 11 December 2012
HMAS Whyalla (I) J153 8 January 1942 16 May 1946
HMAS Wollongong (I) J172 23 October 1941 11 February 1946
HMAS Wollongong (II) FCPB 211 28 November 1981 11 February 2006
HMAS Wyatt Earp 17 November 1947
HMAS Yandra FY91 22 September 1940 25 March 1946
HMAS Yarra (I) D79 10 September 1910 30 September 1929
HMAS Yarra (II) U77 21 January 1936
HMAS Yarra (III) DE 45 27 July 1961 22 November 1985
ML 814 ML 814 1 January 1943 12 October 1945
MSA Brolga 1102
6784. Her flight deck slicked by tropical showers, and crowded with traineee national servicemen and recruits, HMAS SYDNEY [III], Capt. W.H. Harrington [later VADM], is seen here on the first day of the SEATO Exercise ALBATROSS off Singapore. She is refuelling from the British RFA WAVE CHIEF, with a destroyer, possibly HMS COCKADE visible astern.
With ships from the Royal Navy, USN, Pakistan, Thailand and New Zealand involved, the RAN's initial component for the SEATOI Exercise ALBATROSS [ Sept. 22-Oct 17, 1956], is the RAN's new flagship HMAS MELBOURNE [II], SYDNEY [III], and the Q Class or Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigates HMAS QUEENBOROUGH, QUICKMATCH and QUADRANT. The Battle Class destroyers HMAS ANZAC [II] and HMAS TOBRUK [I] joined for the second Phase of the Exercises.
SYDNEY [III] on training duties, is not carrying an air wing, only a Sycamore M51 helicopter, and MELBOURNE [II] provides the air component, defending the fleet from sorties by shore-based aircraft from Singapore.
The 1950s and the Cold War were one of the peak periods for the RAN, which operated a total of three aircraft carriers during the period [SYDNEY [III] VENGEANCE and MELBOURNE [II]; had two cruisers HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] and HMAS HOBART [I], the latter part-modernized but left in reserve; also Tribal, Battle and Daring Class destroyers;
the Q Class Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigates; Bay and WWII River Class frigates, the latter mainly involved in surveys and training; and many smaller vessels. The RAN also now operated much more closely with the Royal New Zealand Navy, with its anti-aircraft cruisers [HMNZS BLACK PRINCE , BELLONA, and ROYALIST later] and frigates, as well as its frequently utilizing its traditional links with the RN, USN, and other Commonwealth navies.
Photo: RAN, it appeared with HMAS SYDNEY [III]'s Report of Proceedings RoP] for Sept. 1956 , held by the Australian War Memorial, with thanks to Contributor Ashley Moore for guiding us to this and other Exercise ALBATROSS photographs. The images are publicly released and out of copyright.
4911. 4910. For naval ships buffs the Reserve Fleet dolphins at Sydney's Athol Bight, off Bradley's Head and Taronga Park Zoo, always had a peculiar fascination - an inticement of the imagination back to the adventures of boyhood, the years 1945 to the mid-1980s.
We have fully indulged that spirit on the Centenary Photostream, with now scores of photos of the ships laid up at Athol Bight [No I on the map above] and other dolphins nearby, in Shell Cove [No 2 on the map] and Kirribilli [No. 3], along with the breakers yards of Sydney's Harbour's old Inner West ship repair industries, around Balmain, Birchgrove, Rozelle and White Bay. We've had some rare, much harder to find postwar images too of ships in reserve in Corio Bay Geelong, and we're finding one or two of other reserve groups in Western Australia.
The 'junkyard' pics - sometimes of visits aboard the laid-up ships - have come from regular Contributors Geoff Eastwood, Graeme Andrews, and Ashley Moore particularly, along with more random reserve fleet appearances in offering from others. At the end of the Pacific War, the RAN, a small navy whose main combat ships were generally subsumed into task groups of the US Seventh Fleet and the British Pacific Fleet, nonetheless had more than 330 ships in commission.
The Australian Army's Water Transport Units also had more than 2000 generally much smaller vessels in service.
That created a lot of surplus leftovers in the backwaters of our main ports after the war, just as there were Army Disposals Stores down the streets of our main cities, and Army truck depots providing surplus trucks and other heavy equipment to our farmers, builders and contractors. All more sources of junkyard fascination.
We have some new 1970-1972 slide images just come in, from John Darroch of the Sydney Heritage Fleet ferries group, via Geoff Eastwood, and we are going to combine these with a group we've been putting together from the Navy Heritage Collection [including the only image, albeit blurry, we've ever seen of our famous HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] during her brief last period on the reserve dolphins].
This is going to take a little while to put together.
Meantime we invite all junkyard afficionadoes to look at some of the reserve fleet images we've been uploadfing over the past two years:
HMAS DUCHESS in reserve, Athol Bight [No. 1 on the map] Year 1978: Christoper J. Howell Collection, pic NO. 3601.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5240541404/?reuploaded=1
HMAS HOBART [I] and HMAS SYDNEY [III] in Athol Bight, with Reserve Fleet overview, Ross Gillett Collection, pic NO. 160:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3848755368/
HMAS DUCHESS in reserve, Athol Bight [No. 1 on the map] Year 1978: Christoper J. Howell Collection, pic NO. 3601.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5240541404/?reuploaded=1
HMAS SHROPSHIRE in reserve, Athol Bight [ map No 1], 1950. Sydney Heritage Fleet, pic NO. 2903
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4973682800/
HMAS QUALITY alongside HMAS SHROPSHIRE at Athol Bight, Circa 1947, Lindsey Poole, SLV, pic NO. 2997.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5007588141/in/photostr...
HMAS HOBART [III] and HMAS SYDNEY [III] in another Reserve Fleet overview, 1959, Graeme Andrews/Naval HGistorical Society of Australia, pic NO. 1337.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4437490282/
HMAS SYDNEY [III] and HMAS HOBART, a colour photo of the same grouping in 1961 from an angle including the destroyers ARUNTA [I], WARRAMUNGA [I] TOBRUK [I] with frigates and corvettes. Image by the late Roger Easterwood, pic NO. 1335.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4433972300/
HMAS MELBOURNE [II] and HMAS VENDETTA [II] with other consorts, Athol Bight, 19, by Geoff Eastwood, pic NO. 1339:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4437001045/
HMAS SHROPSHIRE and HMAS QUALITY seen presiding over the reserve fleet from Taronga Park Zoo, 1953, a Naval Historical Society of Australia/Graeme Andrews pic, NO. 1336.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4437427122/
HMAS KARA KARA, Athol Bight 1960, by Alan Zammit, pic NO. 161:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3848849630/
HMAS VENDETTA [II] with HMAS SNIPE and HMAS IBIS, seen from HMAS MELBOURNE [II} Athol Bight, Circa 1984, by Geoff EWastwood, pic NO. 1318:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4428454838/in/photostr...
HMAS VENDETTA foredeck with HMAS MELBOURNE [II] alongside, ALSO HMAS SNIPE and HMAS IBIS, Athol Bight 1984.By Geoff Eastwood, pic NO. 1323.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4431126404/in/photostr...
Inside the bow compartments of HMAS MELBOURNE [II] at Athol Bight, 1984, by Geoff Eastwood, pic NO. 1317.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4427640433/in/photostr...
Frigates HMAS GASCOYNE [I] and HMAS QUICKMATCH mothballed at Williamstown, Vic., 1972, RAN pic NO. 4802.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6011218331/in/photostr...
HMAS HAWKESBURY, HMAS BURDEKIN and HMAS CONDAMINE, Shell Cove Sydney [NO. 2 on the map] 1961, RAN Photo at pic NO. 1387, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4450636400/
There are many other mothball fleet photos on the Photostream, a large number of which can be found in the images adjacent to the links given here.
Map of inner Sydney Harbour, courtesy of Ashley Moore.
5448. We continue with a repeat of a busy image: the flight deck late in the FAW Mk53 Sea Venom era, with a Westland Wessex on the stern. The Wessex came into service in 1962.
While this is an image we have now seen in a couple of sources it is credited to Reg Howden in Stephen Lewis's limited edition book Vietnam' [My Vietnam Trust, Adelaide 2004] p170.
The website for the Stephen Lewis book can be seen here: www.myvietnam.com.au/voyages/
THE HMAS MELBOURNE [II] 350 IMAGES COMPENDIUM - Part Five.
Pic 3092: Refuelling HMAS WARRAMUNGA [II] from RAN 1961 Golden Jubilee booklet.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5046211850/in/photostream
Pic3093: Sea Venom launch, from RAN 1961 Golden Jubilee booklet
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5046233690/in/photostream
Pic 3098: Gannet launch and Sycamore rescue helicopter in RAN 1961 Golden Jubilee booklet.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5045742913/in/photostream
Pic 3105. Familiar 1950s newspaper recruiting ad photo of MELBOURNE launching Gannet and refuelling HMAS QUICKMATCH.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5047242700/in/photostream
Pic 3111. Loading Grumman Tracker ASW aircraft at San Diego, Oct 1967.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5051069558/in/photostream
Pic 3 112 Westland Wessex Mk31A helicopters leave MELBOURNE heading for the volcano calderas of Rabaul, New Britain, probably Aug. 21, 1964.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5050570169/in/photostream
Pic 3113. MELBOURNE’S Westland Wessex Mk31As sweep in closed to Rabaul’s Mt Tarangunan volcano.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5051288834/in/photostream
Pic 3114. Prob. August 21, 1964, and Fairey Gannet flypast over Rabaul that unsettled locals
at a time of pre-Self Government and Independence tensions.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5050697633/in/photostream
Pic 3128 VOYAGER [II], MELBOURNE [II] and VENDETTA [II] in close company, in colour.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5053607775/in/photostream
Pic 3129. Excellent HMAS MELBOURNE [II] and A4 G Skyhawks painting.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5054958209/in/photostream
Pic 3130. MELBOURNE [II]’s decommissioning ceremony at Garden Island, June 30, 1982.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5056511847/in/photostream
Pic 3155. GREAT COLOUR IMAGE of departure for Operation SANDGROPER, Aug 18, 1980
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5063290527/in/photostream
Pic 3184. RARE 1956 COLOUR IMAGE of MELBOURNE [II] and SYDNEY [III] together as carriers at sea.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5103555091/in/photostream
Pic 3185. Maintenance crew work on a Gannet’s Double Mamba engines.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5104553922/in/photostream
Pic 3186 rare 1958 COLOUR of MELBOURNE flight deck in the China Strait, Papua New Guinea, by Graeme Andrews.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5103972553/in/photostream
Pic 3187, Melbourne in colour, mid-Pacific 1958, by Graeme Andrews.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5103986189/in/photostream
Pic 3262: Hangar concert on MELBOURNE, with a firsthand account. Graeme Andrews.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5173481581/in/photostream
Pic 3263: Pipe dream in the after machinery space – photo Graeme Andrews.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5174005737/in/photostream
Pic 3264. A twin bofors mount on MELBOURNE and its performance statistics. Graeme Andrews.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5174041405/in/photostream
Pic 3296: Filming ‘On The Beach’ at Williamstown with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Stanley Kramer et al, and an eyewitness account by Graeme Andrews .
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5188563831/in/photostream
Pic 3297. Another mess deck scene on MELBOURNE – the other side of ‘glamour’
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5188674529/in/photostream
Pic 3298: Refuelling HMAS VAMPIRE [II] at sea in the mid 1960s.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5188767267/in/photostream
Pic 3299 RARE: High speed Gannet crash landing without flaps, blown off by its own rockets. A picture and story by Kimberley Dunstan.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5189470522/in/photostream
Pic 3300. An Open Day at Brisbane August 1961.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5191055319/in/photostr...
Pic 3301. Immaculate Gannets lined up for an Admiral’s inspection, date and place unknown.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5191079771/in/photostr...
Pic 3430. Film celebrities Gregory Peck, Director Stanley Kramer, and Anthony Perkins stroll the flight deck during the making of ‘On The Beach.’
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5240784204/in/photostream
Pic 3463, grass skirt welcome to Hawaii, June 11 1958.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5251246659/in/photostream
Pic 3464. MELBOURNE WITH ‘Aloha’ deck sign on first arrival in Pearl Harbour, June 11, 1958.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5251904300/in/photostream
Pic 3465. Docking Pearl Harbour March 22, 1077 with new Trackers after Nowra hangar arson.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5253925060/in/photostream
Pic 3466. March 9, 1970, departing Garden Island for SE Asia Exercise SEA ROVER.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5253346531/in/photostream
Pic 3492; A Fairey Gannet on display during an Open Day in Brisbane, August 1961.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5263400246/in/photostream
Pic 3504; August 1982, paid off, but quarterdeck used for a Canadian trainee’s graduation ceremony
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5268025201/in/photostream
Pic 3505. A leafy glimpse of MELBOURNE’s superstructure in reserve.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5268081567/in/photostream
Pic 3511: MELBOIURNE leaves Sydney Oct 1981 unknowingly on her last service voyage – Collection of Geoff and Roger Eastwood.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5269075369/in/photostream
Pic 3512 Another view of MELBOURNE’S last departure under her own steam, Oct 1981, Geoff and Roger Eastwood Collection.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5269164427/in/photostream
Pic 3524. At Honiara in the Solomon Islands, April 8-10, 1980. Nick Thorne.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5277351466/in/photostream
CONTINUED NEXT ENTRY
5502. HMAS VAMPIRE [II] as tens of thousands of visitors each year now know her, at the Australian National Maritime Museum [ANNM} in Sydney's Darling Harbour.
This 2005' image by 'mikstan43' was selected by Goiogle Earth for its Darling Harbour/ANNM entry.
From a WWII design, VAMPIRE was one of eleven 2,800 ton [standard] 20th Century Daring Class destroyers built [there is a new Royal Navy AWD Class of this name now]. Eight ships of the Class were bult for the Royal Navy, and three for the RAN. A planned further eight RN ships were cancelled, and a fourth RAN ship HMAS WATERHEN was ordered in 1952, reportedly laid down at Williamstown Naval Dockyard, but cancelled in 1954. The RAN did acquire a fourth Daring Class ship, initially on loan in 1964, when HMAS DUCHESS arrived in April 1964 to replace the tragically lost HMAS VOYAGER [II].
Two of the original Royal Navy ships ended up with the Peruvian Navy [details next entry].
Images of HMAS VAMPIRE today are a ball of string, as she is so much photographed by the public at ANMM. The COMPENDIUM is mainly devoted to operational images of the ship in RAN service.
Pic 1727: Another image of paying off, Aug. 13, 1986.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4600656729/in/photostream
Pic 1728. Sunrise on VAMPIRE’s paying off day, Aug. 13, 1986.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4600692849/in/photostream
Pic 1729: Stern view at Townsville, Oct 1972, Geoff Green series reprise.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4601339812/in/photostream
Pic 1730, Crew present for Customs or similar, Townsville, Geoff Green series reprise
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4601378478/in/photostream
Pic 1731. Townsville, Oct 1972, superstructure detail, Geoff Green.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4601406148/in/photostream
Pic 1732 – at Garden Island shortly before paying off in 1986. Geoff Eastwood.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4600981069/in/photostream
Pic 1733: Off NSW coast, May 6 1983, with sub Ovens and Patrol Boat.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4601663302/in/photostream
Pic 2096 VAMPIRE and QUICKMATCH in Saigon, 1962.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4684350182/in/photostream
Pic 2103. Leaving GI dock to escort SYDNEY [III] on Vietnam run
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4684797028/in/photostream
Pic 2107: VAMPIRE and VOYAGER in Hong Kong, early 1960s.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4686418283/in/photostream
Pic 2471: MAGNIFICENT IMAGE, 1972, after modernisation.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4770667508/in/photostream
Pic 2528: VAMPIRE in self maintenance, guns elevated 1960s.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4791845499/in/photostream
Pic 2514. Classic Wikipedia shot of VAMPIRE at Darling Harbour.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4786180746/in/photostream
Pic 2858: In Hong Kong, Sept. 1964.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4953949528/in/photostream
Pic 2880: STUART and VAMPIRE depart for US Bicentenary, June 7, 1976.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4966676839/in/photostream
Pic 2914: Nov. 2, 1966, in heavy seas.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4978553999/in/photostream
Pic 2915: Second in heavy seas sequence, Nov. 2, 1966.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4979265038/in/photostream
Pic 2916. Third in heavy seas sequence, Nov. 2, 1966.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4979278364/in/photostream
Pic 2917. Fourth in heavy seas sequence, Nov 2, 1966.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4978696599/in/photostream
Pic 2918: Leaving for SE Asia, B turret missing, March 23, 1969.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4979360904/in/photostream
Pic 2919: VAMPIRE in the 1960s, pre-modernisation.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4979391444/in/photostream
Pic 2920: VAMPIRE in the 1970s, after modernisation.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4979398150/in/photostream
Pic 2921: Nov 25, 1971. Crew embarking after re-commissioning at WND.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/4981044526/in/photostream
Pic 3103: VAMPIRE commissioning at GI, June 23, 1959.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5047166578/in/photostream
Pic 3221: VAMPIRE aerial over bows, post 1971 modernisation again. GREAT PHOTO
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150087847/in/photostr...
Pic 3222. First of modelmaker’s series of detail images, deck plans I.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150788052/in/photostream
Pic 3223: Second of modelmaker’s series of detail images, deck plans 2.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150861256/in/photostream
Pic 3224. Third of modelmakers series of images, silhouettes.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150908346/in/photostream
Pic 3225: Fourth of modelmakers series of images, profile diagrams, 1959, 1980.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150335963/in/photostream
Pic 3226. Fifth in modelmakers series, forward turret.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150407741/in/photostream
Pic 3227: Sixth in modelmakers series of images: Turret and mazines diagram.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5151064864/in/photostream
Pic 3228. Seventh in modelmakers images, midships photo 1971, Chris Strockman.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5150569975/in/photostream
Pic 3229. Eighth in modelmakers images, wardroom phot0, post 1971.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5152775434/in/photostream
Pic 3230. Ninth in modelmakers images, wardroom dining area photo
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5152511503/in/photostream
Pic 3231: Tenth in modelmakers images, external wardroom ventilator hatch photo.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5152551483/in/photostream
Pic 3232. Eleventh in modelmakers images – ships badge.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5162571722/in/photostream
Pic 3233. Twelth in modelmakers image series, foredeck photo
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5162033399/in/photostream
Pic 3234: Thirteen in modelmaker’s images – gun tampion in colour.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5162658072/in/photostream
Pic 3235. Fourteenth in modelmaker’s images, turret interior.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5163090200/in/photostream
Pic 3236. Fifteenth in modelmakers images, operations room.
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5163535100/in/photostream
Pic 3237: Sixteenth in modelmakers images, galley.
COINTINUED NEXT ENTRY;
5092. A stained old image from more than 50 years ago, but we better have it for history. The 1710-2510 tons full load British 'C' Class destroyers were regarded as classics of style. Appearing from the mid-to-late WWII period they were the last British destroyers to have their 4.5 inch armament mounted in single open shields. As shown here, however, they served well into the post-WWII period.
This photo has been taken in South East Asian or Australian waters. There is an image on the Shipspotting website showing HMS CAVENDISH in Hobart on May 19, 1960. It can be seen here:
www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=333236
CAVENDISH, launched in 1944, was eventually scrapped at Blyth in August 1967.
Photo Archives of the HMAS CERBERUS Museum, image NO. 1084, courtesy of the curator Warrant Officer Martin Grogan RANR.
3419. One never knows what kind of old military gear you are going to find out in the sticks - and, let's face it men, Cowra NSW IS out in the sticks.
You can tell that by the Bugs Bunny sign on the fire engine sitting on top of a shipping container right out by the road. Also the stripped out old 4.7 inch naval gun; the old railway signal by the Caravan Park entrance, and what looks like a U.S. Sherman or a Matilda tank perhaps on the opposite mound.
As one of the hack magazines of the 1950s used to say 'That's Australia All Over ...'
Cowra, in fact, is 310 kms west of Sydney, in central NSW on the Lachlan River. It is, of course, genuinely famous as the scene of one of the two bloodiest events on Australia soil during WWII, or at any other time in fact. This was the mass breakout by hundreds of Japanese prisoners from their section of the huge Cowra prisoner of war camp there on August 5, 1944 - the 'Cowra Breakout' in which 231 Japanese PoWs and four Australian guards were killed, and almost 200 other Japanese PoWs were wounded. As an Australian mainland event, the death toll at Cowra is eclipsed only by the first bombing of Darwin on Feb. 19, 1942.
With a population of just under 13,000, Cowra is now the site of a Japanese War memorial, on land ceded to Japan in 1963, and a Japanese memorial garden designed by the world renowned Japanese garden designer Ken Nakajima (1914–2000). The first stage opened in 1979, and a second stage in 1986.
As a result of this history and its memorials, Cowra hosts many Japanese and Australian visitors.
Maritime writer and Photostream contributor Graeme Andrews was driving through in 2006 when this rather run-down looking collection of roadside military memorabilia caught his eye. Graeme says: 'The 4.7 in gun and the Limbo [next pic] were by the side of the road, along with TWO 4.5 inch gun turrets, a few kms northward from Cowra, outside some sort of combined caravan park and historical junk yard, which also contained rail cars and other bric a brac.
'I tried to interest the new RAN Museum on Garden Island, but the Supply officer in charge didn't seem to get the idea. The 4.7 looked just right to me - although many bits were missing. I trained on them at FND, HMAS Cerberus, but they had gun shields. When I last went past about 18 months back, neither the mortar nor the mount were there.'
Meantime, we've been trying to work out which ship the 4.7 inch gun may have come from, if indeed it had been ship-mounted and not from naval stores. The RAN ships that carried 4.7 inch guns were the Scott Class flotilla leader HMAS Stuart [I]; the seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross; and the three Tribal Class destroyers, Arunta, Warramunga and Bataan, and the five Q Class destroyers, Quality, Quickmatch, Quiberon, Queenborough and Quadrant. Beyon that, we can't decide.
Whether or not the roadside display is still there, as far as we can ascertain from a webpage the 'Cowra Fun Museum,' boasting military and railway relics, is still in operation on the Grenfell Road north of the town. There is also a webpage for a Caravan City which refers to a barbecue area and museum relics on the Midwestern Highway.
Photo Graeme Keith Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980 - from a private disc with permission.
In this simulation, a mannequin looks into a professional display shell while lighting the quickmatch fuse and is surprised by the instantaneous ignition, resulting in decapitation.
2302. The company of HMAS QUICKMATCH in Hong Kong, early, Circa 1960.
Photo: From the archives of the HMAS CERBERUS Museum, Flinders Naval Establishment, Victoria. It has been made available through the generous support and assistance of the Curator, Warrant Officer Martin Grogan, RANR.
2486. Here is the RAN Seapower Center's description of the half-life modernisation work done on HMAS DERWENT, and which took the Williamstown Naval Dockyard in Melbourne from July 3 1981 to May 6, 1985 to achieve.
,
The most obvious change to HMAS DERWENT, the Seapower centre says, was Williamstown's removal of the LWO 2 search radar from the foremast to a position further aft and situated lower down.
The MR3 Fire Control System Director was replaced by an M22 Fire Control System radar 'golf ball' dome.
Re-designed masts and funnels were also fitted.
Two triple tube surface torpedo mounts were installed while the Limbo Mortars were removed and the Ikara missile system upgraded.
Below decks, the Seapower Centre says, the installation of the Australian designed and built Mulloka sonar was of note.
Fuel efficiency was improved with steam atomizers being fitted in the boilers.
The 500kw Turbo Alternators were replaced with 750kw Turbo Alternators along with a new electrical switchboard.
And that's it. As we believe we may have mentioned, this is about as long, or longer than it took overseas shipyards to build the BISMARCK, HMS HOOD, or the Japanese super-battleship HIJMS YAMATO.
Where was the Auditor-General, or his Defence departrment equivalent, the Defence Minister and his staff - the people who were and are supposed to stop the body politic, from being fed upon, and eaten alive like this? Where were the defence correspondents of the newspapers ? Why did they fail to notice and report this, even after HMAS VENDETTA [II] crashed into the drydock gates at Williamstown on her first trial in 1958 - very nearly destroying HMAS QUICKMATCH down below The paper's had a field day with the simple fact of the accident, but failked to nbotice that she'd taken 9 years, four months and 22 days to build, and that her engineroom telegraph device had been wired back to front.?
VENDETTA [II]'s construction time was almost four times as long as it took the United States to build the 45,000 battleship USS NEW JERSEY and her sisters during WWII. All that time, almost 9 1/2 years, and no-one noticed a thing. HMAS DERWENT's modernisation, the shopping list above - about a year's work, stretching it - took longer than it took to build NEW JERSEY, the BISMARCK, the YAMATO, the RICHELIEU, and the HOOD.
Well, we guess that with the Costigan Royal Commission, the National Crime Authority and the dockyard privatisation, 'the system ' did react to what was happening at Williamstown eventually - but it took decades to get there.
Photo: From the Archives of the HMAS CERBERUS Museum, and produced here by courtesy of the Curator, Warrant Officer Martin Grogan RANR. With thanks to Toni Munday, of CrestCerberus for kind assistance with photos.
3370. Looking at the RAN 75th Anniversary booklet 'Historic Williamstown Naval Dockyard,' there are two tables which indicate what naval work was going on in the dockyard when the Federated Ships Painters and Dockers fought a bloody union election around the Dockyard in Dec. 1971.
The Daring Class destroyers HMAS VAMPIRE [II] and HMAS VENDETTA [II] were both undergoing extensive half-life modernisations, projects that blew out to $10m [equalling their original construction cost ], and which ran so far over budget that plans to fit both with the Australian-designed Ikara anti-submarine missile system had to be scrapped.
The 800 ton new hydrographic survey ship HMAS FLINDERS was under construction, the shipyard's first naval nu-ship order for almost five years. As Christmas approached in 1971, one wonders what young sailors living on the barracks ship HMAS QUICKMATCH would have thought as they observed the goings on surrounding the union election in their midst.
The voting was held on December 17. Gunman James Frederick Bazeley [mentioned in the last entry, and 'minder' for union 'reform' candidate Billy 'The Texan' Longley], had stood with a gun in his hand and his foot on the ballot box, as the Dockers at H.M. Williamstown Naval Dockyard voted. Other weapons were also in sight. At the end of the process, Longley and his supporters were confident that they had won, fair and square, and were all set to claim their victory - but they still had to get the ballot boxes to the union headquarters in South Melbourne.
On their way out of the naval docks, 'the Texan's' car was blocked by three cars from which the occupants emerged, guns blazing, one of them apparently with a machine-gun. Anyway, Bazeley was wounded four times, and lost control of the ballot box. Thus, it was announced some time later from the union HQ that, lo and behold, the rival ticket of union secretary Pat Shannon had prevailed. All in all, in Docker terms, there had not been too many dead during the actual election campaign itself. One of Pat Shannon's supporters, the union's amiable but illiterate welfare officer, Alfred 'The Ferret' Nelson, had disappeared without trace from his Collingwood home, and his two-door Valiant coupe recovered from 10m of water off No. 21 South Wharf three weeks later. Meantime a docker named Desmond 'Cossie' Costello had been shotgunned to death in an apparent retaliation, and his body dumped in Clifton Hill, not far from 'The Ferret''s former residence. In general things settled down a little until Shannon, the election winner, was shot dead in the front bar of the Druid's Hotel South Melbourne 18 months later [in October 1973], and the late Jack 'Putty Nose' Nicholls took over. Tensions eased when Longley was arrested, and eventually convicted for his part in the Shannon assassination.
In the 1980s, the Costigan Royal Commission resulted in a number of criminal prosecutions, but In the end the Painters and Dockers were de-registered in 1993 not for their criminal activities, but for a lack of surviving members. A law introduced by the Hawke Government required registered unions to have at least 1000 members, and the Painters and Dockers could no longer raise that muster, probably as a result of its own rampant notoriety.
And such were the days around the dark dockyard out at Williamstown. finally privatized in 1987.
Photo: Graeme Keith Andrews Collection, it appears on the Naval Historical Society of Australia's two-disc set 'Warships of the Past and Present,' compiled by Mr Andrews, an Honourary Life Member of the Society. *Apologies to Henry lawson for the title 'The Union Buries Its Dead.' It is from a Lawson short story, first published in 1893.
1138. After the Balikpapan landings in July 1945 HMAS MANOORA [I] was back in Sydney when WWII finally ended. She would begin an almost equally busy period of re-supply and repatriations from the islands north of Australia.
The 10,900 tons [grt] former Adelaide Steamship Company coastal liner is seen here making her way towards Walsh Bay, under the Harbour Bridge. MANOORA's very crowded wartime career was briefly sketched at pic No 584. In Dec. 1941, as an AMC, she had taken the Chief of the Naval Staff Sir Guy Royle, RN, to Singapore*, where she experienced her first air raid, the first of many, and then began convoy escort work in the Indian Ocean.
In March, 1942 she picked up a total of more than 10,000 Australian troops from the Middle East in Colombo and ferried them back to Australia, amidst the controversy referred to several entries back, under the photos of the great troopship QUEEN MARY.
In the middle of 1942 MANOORA was taken in hand at Garden Island Dockyard, and converted to a Landing Ship Infantry, and began a long period of training in Melbourne's Port Philip Bay for her new role, which woud eventually take her to all the main landings in the Southwest Pacific.
MANOORA was not returned to her owners until 1949. In August 1961, with the coastal passenger trade in Australia giving way to mass air travel, she was sold to the Indonesian Goverment for use as a pilgrim ship, plying the route to Saudi Arabia under the name ALBULOMBO. She was finally sold for scrapping in October 1972, and dismantled in Taiwan. *Some confusion regarding the Singapore conference reported above. We've since seen and reported an RAN Seapower Centre history page that states the cruiser HMAS SYDNEY [II] took Royle to Singapore for a conference, in April 1941. Perhaps there were two conferences there.
Photo: Taken by W.A. Shearon of George St, Sydney, it appears here courtesy of Jeannie, whose dAD had served on both HMAS QUICKMATCH and HMAS MANOORA [I] during WWII. The photo, and one to follow, were first posted on the World Naval Ships Forums website.
4092. We have no further details of this Japanese WWII destroyer escort-type ship left behind at Singapore. Graeme Andrews photographed the ship when he was there on HMAS QUICKMATCH in 1961, from memory.
Graeme's picture notes say the vessel was used for damage control exercises, presumably somewhere near the Sembawang Basin.
Perhaps someone else will recall the ship, or can trace a type from what we can see of her. She's a genuine WWII relic - a second pic coming up.
Photo: Graeme K. Andrews, RAN 1955-1961, RANR 1980. From a private disc, with permission.
3285. Skills for life. A cross between a dhobi-wallah and a Westinghouse is sailor Andrews, seen here doing a tub of washing for himself on HMAS QUICKMATCH, 1961.
Not only was this 'pogo stick' and suds bucket method effective, but Graeme has held onto the pogo stick and wielded it twice to the astonishment of his wife Win in later life. In fact, when the washing machine broke down last year.
Graeme explains his technique: 'The pogo stick was a copper pipe with a copper h andle. At the bottom was a funnel point upper, with many small perforated holes therein. Weilded with vigor in a bucket of hot water, clothing and soap flakes it did a great job of washing. I still have the pogo stick. Last year when we were without a washing machine for about a week I used it twice to my wife's astonishment.
The techinical term might be as follows - the Armstrong Washing machine and Weight Reducer.'
The Kookaburra remarks: 'By God! Cheap. Quiet. Environmentally friendly. Admirable - totally bloody admirable. I'm thinking of getting one for Lady Kookaburra today.'
Photo: Collection of Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, from a private disc, with permission.
3367. Newspapers had a field day with the HMAS VENDETTA [II]'s gate crashing incident, labelling the Daring Class destroyer 'The Wrong Way Warship.'
The embarrassing 'accident' was treated as a great joke on the Navy - except it wasn't a joke, and maybe it wasn't an accident.
It was possibly sabotage. A Photostream contributor who was working in the draftsman office at the dockyard has already told us that the prevailing belief there was that the telegraph signals between VENDETTA's bridge and the engineroom were wired in reverse - put simply, 'Astern' signals from the bridge came out 'forward in the engineroom.'
NEXT: The two types of sabotage on the Australian waterfront.
Photo: credited RAN Historical Section, it appears in Vic Cassells's book 'The Destroyers; Their Battles and Their Badges' [Kangaroo Press, Sydney 2000] p. 165.
5130. Like our recent photographs of Hong Kong in the 1950s, this is a world now gone. Two sailors from HMAS QUICKMATCH or HMAS VAMPIRE [II], on the left, make their way past a hairdressing salon down this quiet Saigon street in 1962. So poeaceful, and tidy. It's an illusion of course, but - compared to what was soon to come - this looks idyllic.
Photo Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980.
3633. Three days after Christmas, and HMAS VOYAGER [II] goes astern as she leaves her berth at Garden Island for her fourth tour of duty in South East Asia. Sailing with the anti-submarine frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH, they will exercise in Malaysian waters before making a goodwill visit to Bangkok in February.
Contributor Graeme Andrews served on both these ships in the early 1960s.
Photo: Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980. With permission. This image appeared on the front page of the NAVY NEWS of Feb. 21, 1964, covering the collision with HMAS MELBOURNE [II]. The caption was 'A recent picture of the ill-fated destroyer HMAS VOYAGER.'
1535. Perhaps like the Regia Marina [preceding Entry] the RAN has had more than its share of mishaps. On July 18, 1958 a dramatic incident occurred at Williamstown Naval Dockyard in Melbourne, when the newly completed Daring Class destroyer HMAS VENDETTA [I] was about to reverse away from the pier beside the Alfred Graving Dock for trials. Instead, she inexplicably shot forward!
When VENDETTA crashed into the caisson of the dry dock, the first alarm was that the gates would collapse, instantly flooding over the frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH which was down in the dock below her. QUICKMATCH was at risk too of having the new 2,800 to 3,600 ton destroyer come crashing down in the flood on top of her.
In this photo, quick-thinking dockyard workmen have equalized the pressures on the damaged caisson by a controlled filling of the drydock - the gate, mercifully, having held until this process was completed.
Earlier, with alarm bells sounding, the men of HMAS QUICKMATCH had been forced to abandon ship. While we presume an official inquiry was held into the incident, as VENDETTA was not yet a commissioned ship, we're not sure. If an inquiry was held, it's findings are unknown to us. According to one report that we have received from a Dockyard source present at the time, the signals in VENDETTA's engineroom telegraph had been wired in reverse - which of course raised the question whether of this was careless or accidental work, or sabotage, of which there had been occasional incidences of in Australian dockyards against naval ships over many years.
VENDETTA went on to have an otherwise largely untroubled career, but had taken more than nine years to build, an incredible amount of time, although we have never seen that discussed or explained either, outside this Photostream.
Photo: The Age, from the archives of the HMAS CERBERUS Museum, Flinders Naval Training Establishment, Victoria, courtesy of the Curator, Warrant Officer Martin Grogan RANR.
827. Guns at the ready in all directions, HMS QUADRANT is seen as a unit of the British Pacific Fleet approaching the battleship USS MISSSOURI to whom she will highline transfer a Royal Navy Admiral, with the carrier USS WASP [CV-18] being one of the ships in the distance.
It is three months before QUADRANT's transfer to the RAN, initially on loan, ikmmediately after the Pacific War's end.
Credited to the U.S. Navy, it is a fine wartime shot of the ship, one of eight Q Class destroyers that were built, five of which would see service with the Australian Navy. QUIBERON and QUICKMATCH were commissioned directly into the RAN on loan at the point of their completion in July and September 1942 respectively; QUADRANT, QUALITY and QUEENBOROUGH did not make the switch to the RAN until October 1945, after hostilities had ended.
As has been noted previously, between 1953 and 1957 four of the five RAN Q Class ships were converted to Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigates.
HMAS QUADRANT was the first to be converted, and the first paid off, being scrapped in Japan in 1963.
HMAS QUALITY, not converted, had been scrapped in 1958, but the remaining three Q Class ships survived until the early 1970s.
Photo: USN Official it is from an album compiled by RADM Joseph C. Clinton, the Executive Officer aboard USS WASP at the time, and held by the U.S. Navy's National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida.The photograph appears in Wikipedia Commons and is listed as being in the public domain.
3246. The anti-submarine frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH is seen here in June 1961 dressed ship for the official opening of reconstructed port facilities at Port Alma in Queensland's Fitzroy River delta.
While the port's main role is handling nitrates and other minerals from nearby mines, it is also a major stores and supply depot for RAN ships engaged in regular military exercises in nearby Shoalwater Bay.
In addition to the port opening, on this occasion QUICKMATCH's CO, Commander Brian Cleary, RAN, was to perform a Navy public relations duty, presenting a ships bell from the corvette HMAS ROCKHAMPTON to the City of Rockhampton, a further 60 miles up the river. An official march was to solemnize the event, but - as Graeme Andrews recalls - it turned into a Monty Pythonesque farce.
First the bus taking the marching party into 'Rocky' went went into the soft side of the mounded dirt road crossing the mud flats and bogged, causing a late arrival. Then, when the marching party and its band set out from Rockhampton to march a couple of kilometres to the site of a new Olympic pool, where Captain Cleary was to present the bell to the Mayor, the band and marching squad behind were separated by a cane train about half a kilometre long. Graeme Andrews recalls 'By the time a hundred or so cane trucks had gone past at 10km/h the band was out of sight, and we were still marching on the spot!'
Captain Cleary is recalled as a very well-liked and respected CO, who went to the Bar after leaving the Navy and became a Queen's Counsel. On QUICKMATCH he had been replaced by LCDR P.H. Doyle, RAN - known to the men as 'Daphne.'
Photo: Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, from a private disc, with permission.
3773. Of the Iowa class that were the four largest surviving battleships in the world, the 45,000 ton USS MISSOURI had been commissioned on June 11, 1944. Now a Museum at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, she was the last battleship completed by the United States.
Appropriately for the surrender ceremony, she was named for President Harry S. Truman's home State.
There were 258 ships in Tokyo Bay for the surrender, including at least 14 RAN - Cruisers SHROPSHIREe and HOBART, destroyers WARRAMUNGA, BATAAN, NAPIER, NIZAM, NEPAL, NORMAN, QUIBERON, and QUICKMATCH. corvettes BALLARAT, IPSWICH, CESSNOCK and PIRIE.
Photo: Collection of Alan Meade, RAN 1943-1946, it is from Alan's wartime HMAS Shropshire photo album. From a disc, with permission.
3927. An emulsion marred slide egative, but a photo that conveys the atmosphere of this Asian river docks arrival scene anyway.
We have a vague memory of reading that Navy Clearance Diver Team checks were needed for visits even this early, but can't be sure if that it correct.
Photo: Graeme K. Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980. From a private disc, with permission.
A three-part COMPENDIUM of 100 Photostream images of HMAS VAMPIRE [II] also begins at Entry 5501, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6865664335/in/photostream
3245. The Type 15 converted fast anti-submarines frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH is seen here in early 1961 in one of her five tours of duty with the Far East Strategic Reserve, a period which saw her spend three successes Christmases in Hong Kong. She has called here at Labuan Island in British North Borneo, which in 1963 became port of the State of Sabah in the new Malaysian Federation.
North Borneo had been liberated by Australian Forces at the end of WWII, and again became a British Protectorate in the immediate postwar period. Graeme Edwards remembers it as a very quiet place, where the men of QUICKMATCH found their relaxation in a local RAF Club.
The ship here has an awning out over her forecastle, forward of the sentry on the dock.
Photo, GKA, reproduced with permission.
2890. We are going with the photographers caption here that this is HMS ROEBUCK, although some limited sources give that ship's hull numbers as H95 during wartime, and H195 as a converted Type 15 anti-submarine frigate in the 1950s. However, she does look right for a 1,705 ton 'R' Class destroyer, and perhaps there was an interim pennant number series our reference sources have not mentioned.
HMS ROEBUCK was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering at Greenock ,Scotland, during WWII, but was prematurely launched and left part-submerged and damaged by a bombing raid in 1941, and not completed until May 1943. She and many of her sister ships subsequently served with the RN's Eastern Fleet based at Trincomalee, often in company with the RAN manned and commissioned 'Q' Class destroyers Quibeon, Quickmatch and their RN sisters.
Like most of her Class HMS ROEBUCK was one of the 23 RN destroyers converted to Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigates in the 1950s. ROEBUCK's conversion began in 1952 and was completed in May 1953. She remained in service until 1968, and was broken up at Inverkeithing in August of the following year.
Photo: Allen Porter, N/A [Phot], RAN 1946-1952, with kind permission for the Unofficial RAN Centenary 1911-2011 Photostream. Allen Porter is a past president of the HMAS SYDNEY Association, now the the HMAS SYDNEY and Vietnam Logistic Support Veteran's Association.
3810. In late March 1958, the converted 'Q' Class fast anti-submarine frigates HMAS QUEEMBOROUGH and HMAS QUICKMATCH left Sydney on a one-month cruise to Lord Howe Island, Brisbane, Noumea, Norfolk Island, Auckland, and Wellington.
During this cruise, according to Trevor Weaver's book 'Q Class Destroyers and Frigates of the Royal Australian Navy' [1994] the frigates embarked Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [CSIRO] researchers performing ocean water quality tests on passage [p159].
HMAS QUEENBOROUGH also dumped obsolete ammunition en route to Noumea. Weaver doesn't tell us if the ships were conducting ocean water quality tests and dumping obsolete ammunition at the same time, but this would not be totally inconsistent with the Navy.
'...Hmmm, I say Smithers, there's a strange sulphuric taste to this current off Noumea. Methinks we've found ourselves an undersea volcano ...'
Photo: Collection of Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980. From a private disc, with permission.
3554. Another photo taken in the South China Sea. HMAS QUICKMATCH and HMAS VOYAGER [II] joined company in the Far East on December 28, 1960, and after exercising in Malaysian waters paid a goodwill visit to Bangkok, after which they staged torpedo and gunnery demonstrations for Thai naval officers and press.
The two ships joined other RAN units taking part in the SEATO Exercise JET '61 off the Philippines before returning to Australia.
Photo: Graeme K. Andrews, 1955-1968, RANR 1980, from a private disc, with permission.
4243. We're actually not sure if '42' is the year or a Stores number, but Graeme Andrews thinks his Pusser's scrubber could be WWII issue. Beautifully made and presented, Graeme has now rescued the old brush from a garage shelf and posed it here on his study desk, getting more sentinmental and enthusiastic about it by the minute. In it's time, and in his hands, Graeme says, this humble brush helped keep and the aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE [II], HMAS VOYAGER [II], HMAS QUICKMATCH and HMAS SUPPLY in working order.
They don't make brushes, and they don't make sailors like that now. Like holystoning the teak decks of cruisers [that is, using a soft and brittle sandstone to scour and whiten the teak decks] this feels like another precious skill gone by the wayside.
Photo: Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980.
1892. Like the visit to Melbourne for Cup Week in November and attendance at the Australia Day regatta in Sydney [started 1837], an RAN presence and participation at the Royal Hobart Regatta in February each year is also traditional.
The three-day Hobart regatta, the island state's greatest sporting carnival, was started in 1838 by Governor Sir John Franklin, who was later to die with his expedition party seeking the fabled Northwest Passage through the Arctic.
This photograph is taken towards the end of HMAS QUICKMATCH's 21 years naval service as a WWII destroyer and 1950s conversion to a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate. She paid off at Williamstown on April 30, 1963, but was subsequently used for six or seven years there as an accommodation vessel for the crews of ships under refit and construction.
For a time during her last year in commission, HMAS QUICKMATCH had been under the command of Lieutenant Commander C.H.C. Spurgeon, RAN, a former Fleet Air Arm pilot, and the only pilot to have commanded an RAN combat vessel up to that time.
QUICKMATCH and the River Class frigate HMAS GASCOYNE were towed from Melbourne for scrapping in Moji, Japan, in 1972.
Photo: Lindsay Rex, of Rex-Priest, Down Under Ships Photos, Melbourne - an Unofficial RAN Centenary 1911-2011 photostream acquisition.
2303. Officers of HMAS QUICKMATCH pose with Mrs Ng Muk Kah and her famous 'Jenny's Side Party ' at some undated time, perhaps in the late 1950s.
Few Navy men need to be told her story, except perhaps Mrs Ng's real name, but we had a brief account of the Jenny's Side Party early in the photostream, at pic NO> 71. It is here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/3817330394/
This is a younger photo of Mrs Ng than that shown in pic NO. 71 in the link above, with the officers of HMAS VAMPRE [II]. Born in 1917, according to her Certificates of Service, on a Sampan at Causeway Bay, Mrs Ng, 'Jenny' was the legendary leader of a group of volunteer women workers who painted and cleaned Navy ships, tender buoys and assisted officers and crews in innumerable small ways at the port.
Awarded the British Empire Medal in 1980, she crossed the bar peacefully on February 18, 2009 - a passing marked by Navy men all around the world as they learned of it.
Photo: From the archives of the HMAS CERBERUS Museum, Flinders Naval Establishment, Victoria. Archive image NO. 1019. It has been made available through the generous support and assistance of the Curator, Warrant Officer Martin Grogan, RANR.
2096. Apparently there was speculation at this time that the ships were taking soundings of the Saigon River to see whether it was navigable for ships such as HMAS SYDNEY [III]. Just scuttlebutt,of course.
Photo: Attributed to Cliff Raatz,it appears here with the kind assistance of Warrant Officer Martin Grogan, Curator HMAS CERBERUS Museum, and comes from Stephen Lewis's limited edition book 'voyages to Vietnam' [My Vietnam Trust, Adelaide 2004] p53.
WO Grogan contributed photographic material and some initial inspiration for the book. The website of the book 'Voyages To Vietnam' can be found here:
A three-part COMPENDIUM of 100 Photostream images of HMAS VAMPIRE [II] begins at Entry 5501, here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6865664335/in/photostream
3928. As we have seen earlier in Ron Marsh photos, many ships concentrated at Labuan during the SEATO exercise SEA DEVIL, April 16-May 1, 1962. A big fleet in what was remembered as a small town.
In fact, we've had another photo of QUICKMATCH there from Graeme Andrews. Pic NO. 3245, dated 1961. It's here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/5169321550/
Photo, GKA, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980. With permission.
3105. In the late1950s- early 1960s this photograph must have appeared in thousands of Navy newspaper recruiting advertisements, as did a particular image shown much earlier of the Battle Class destroyer HMAS ANZAC.
Shown here are HMAS MELBOURNE [II] launching a Gannet aircraft while simultaneously refuelling the anti-submarine frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH.
The advertisements made it one of the Navy's most familiar images.
And that completes our extracts from the booklet 'Royal Australian Navy 1911-1961: Golden Jubilee.' Thanks again to Ronald L. Marsh, 1957-1963, of Brisbane, who sent it with much other memorabilia for the Photostream.
A COMPENDIUM of links to some 350 images of HMAS MELBOURNE [II] on this Photostream begins at Pic 5444 and extends over seven entries. It starts here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41311545@N05/6707592179/in/photostream
3983. We love this photo. The Kookaburra is a person who has understood from earliest childhood, before speech - the Kookaburra was 11 when he started to speak - that a well maintained boat of any kind is simply a nice thing to look at.
We like the hard chine of this one. Nice boat's badge on it too!
Photo: Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980, from a private disc with permission.
2097. Attended by local craft, the Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate is seen here in a peaceful, sunlit setting.
Photo: Credited Cliff Raatz, it appears in Stephen Lewis's limited edition book 'Yoyages to Vietnam' [My Vietnam Trust, Adelaide 2004] p52, and here with the assistance of Warrant Officer Martin Grogan,Curator, HMAS Cerberus Museum, a contributor to the book.
The website of the book 'Voyages To Vietnam' can be found here:
3985. A deck scene during one of the more important aspects of exending the range of the Type15 fast anti-submarine frigate.
Photo: Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980. From a private disc, with permission.
3926. Although an ideological and sometime military battleground since 1954, the Vietnamese river port and capital looks appealing and relatively peaceful here.
Photo: Graeme Andrews, RAN 1955-1968, RANR 1980. From a private disc with permission.
2167. Feb. 1961. A Jack-stay transfer from frigate HMAS QUICKMATCH to Daring Class destroyer HMAS VOYAGER [II]. The image brought back a memory for Contributor and author Graeme Andrews, who recalls making the crossing between the two ships on that day.
These photographs have been made available to the Unofficial RAN Centenary 1911-2011 photostream by the HMAS CERBERUS Museum, at the Flinders Naval Training Establishment, courtesy of the Curator, Warrant officer Martin Grogan RANR. With thanks to Toni Munday of CrestCerberus and Geoff Green for assistance.