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The Royal
Australian Navy
1939 - 1945
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We infantrymen would never admit
it to a sailor but quite often we have to say
"thank God for the
Navy"
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From the outbreak of the Second World
War until the cessation of in August 1945 the men, women and ships of
the Royal Australian Navy served in every theatre of operations, from
the tropical Pacific to the frigid Russian convoys.
They took part in
almost every major naval battle from the hunting of the BISMARCK, the
landings on D-Day through to savage Kamikaze attacks in the Philippines
and Okinawa.
When World War Two begun in early
September 1939, The Royal Australian Navy's strength was: two heavy
cruisers (Australia and Canberra), four light cruisers (Sydney, Hobart,
Perth and Adelaide), five destroyers (Stuart, Vampire, Vendetta and
Voyager), two sloops (Swan and Yarra) and a survey ship (Moresby). The
personnel strength was just 5,440 in the permanent force and 4,819 in
the Reserve.
At the commencement of the war the
majority of the Australian Navy strength was serving at home in
Australian waters. But that was to change quickly. Within four months of
the outbreak of war Australian ships were scattered all over the world.
During the first few months of the war
in 1939, the British Admiralty requested the ships of the Royal
Australian Navy be despatched for war service in the European and
Mediterranean waters. On November 7 1939, all Australian vessels were
placed at the Admiralty's disposal on the condition that ships were not
removed from Australian waters without the agreement of the Australian
Government.
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Sub category
index
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| The first deployment of Australian
Naval Ships occurred in October 1939 when the Royal Australian Naval
Flotilla left Sydney for the Mediterranean to join a British naval
force. Three months later, in January 1940, HMAS Hobart assisted in
escorting the first convoy carrying the Australian Army to the Middle
East. |
Naval General Service Medal 1915/62 |
When Italy entered the war in June
1940, HMAS Sydney and five Australian destroyers were serving with the
British Mediterranean fleet from bases at Alexandria. They soon saw
action against the Italian Navy, when on 28 June 1940, HMAS Sydney, as
part of the 7th Cruiser Squadron intercepted three Italian destroyers
guarding a convoy bound for Libya. In the ensuing battle, HMAS Sydney
sunk the destroyer Espero.
HMAS Voyager had the honour on 13 June
1940 of being the first Australian ship to sink an enemy submarine when
she scored a kill with gunfire and depth charges.
On July 9 1940, four Australian ships
( Sydney, Sturt, Vampire and Voyager) participated in the Battle of
Calabria, and although no ships were sunk, it gave the Allied Navy a
major moral victory over the Italians that was never lost.
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On 19 July 1940 HMAS Sydney was
involved in the best known action of the Mediterranean campaign when off
the coast of Crete, she came to the rescue of a British destroyer
division on anti-submarine patrol that was being engaged by two Italian
Cruisers. After a running battle that lasted about an hour, HMAS Sydney
sunk the Bartolomeo Colleoni and damaged the other ship, the Giovanni
Della Bande Nere.
In the Indian Ocean in March 1941,
HMAS Canberra intercepted the German supply ship Coburg and oiler Ketty
Brovig and both ships were scuttled by their crews.
The Australian Navy suffered the worse
loss in its history in November 1941 when HMAS Sydney was lost with all
hands off the Western Australian Coast. HMAS Sydney had engaged and sunk
the German Raider Kormoran but was severely damaged and was last sighted
sailing off towards the horizon.
Following Japan's entry into the war
on 7 December 1941 the Royal Australian Navy quickly went into action in
the Pacific. On 10 December Japanese aircraft sank the British
battleships Repulse and Prince of Wales. HMAS Vampire had formed part of
the destroyer escort for these battleships and along with the British
destroyer Electra was able to rescue 796 people.
HMAS Vampire was also the first
Australian vessel to engage the Japanese navy when on the night of 26-27
January 1942 she, along with HMS Thanet attacked Japanese naval units
off Endau, Malaya..
The Yarra was also busy during this
time. Following an air raid where the Empress of Asia was sunk, the
Yarra, along with the Australian corvettes Bendigo and Wollongong were
able to rescue many of the people aboard.
The Royal Australian Navy's first
victory against the Japanese occurred on 21 January off Darwin when the
submarine I124 was destroyed by depth charges dropped by the Bathurst
Class corvettes Katoomba, Lithgow and Deloraine and the United States
destroyer Edsall.
On 19 February 1942 Japanese aircraft
operating from four aircraft carriers attacked Darwin. During the attack
two Royal Australian Naval vessels, Kelat and Mavie, were sunk. The ship
HMAS Swan and the hospital ship Manundra were among the other ships that
were severely damaged.
The battle of the Java Sea begun on 27
February 1942 when a combined American-British-Dutch-Australian naval
force of eight cruisers and sixteen destroyers assembled for the defence
of Java. Australian ships in this battle force consisted of HMAS Perth
and Hobart. During the battle HMAS Perth was sunk and Hobart was damaged
before proceeding to Ceylon.
HMAS Yarra was given the
responsibility of escorting a small convoy to Australia, but on 4 March
was intercepted by a force of three Japanese cruisers and two
destroyers. Yarra's captain dispersed the merchants and moved to delay
the attacking force by engaging them with light guns and smoke screens.
In what must be the bravest and most futile display of courage by a
vessel of the Royal Australian Navy the Yarra was sunk and 138 men,
including the Captain died.
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On the 30 June 1945 the main combat
strength of the RAN consisted of:
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Ship type: |
Numbers: |
Name: |
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Heavy Cruiser |
1 |
Australia |
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Light Cruisers |
3 |
Hobart, Adelaide, Sydney |
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Destroyers |
11 |
Arunta, Warramunga, Bataan, Vendetta, Napier,
Nizam, Norman, Nepal |
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Frigates |
6 |
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Sloops |
2 |
Swan, Warrego |
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Corvettes |
53 |
Bathurst, Warrnambool, Geraldton, Shepparton,
Castlemaine, Colac, Bendigo, Gladstone, Whyalla |
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Fairmile Motor Launches |
33 |
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Harbour Defence Motor Launches |
28 |
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Landing Ship Infantry |
3 |
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Anti-submarine Auxiliaries |
3 |
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Auxiliary Minesweepers |
6 |
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Minelayer |
1 |
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