hmas melbourne crew list

In June 1981, crew on the Australian Navy's HMAS Melbourne were flying in an anti-submarine patrol plane, a Grumman S-2G Tracker 851, when they helped rescue 99 refugees from their broken-down vessel in the South China Sea, 250 nautical miles east of Vietnam. The integrity of the initial Board of Inquiry has since been questioned, particularly as it was presided over by Rear Admiral Jerome H King, USN, the officer in overall tactical command of Evans at the time of the collision. [158] On 14 March, following the election of Bob Hawke's Labor Government, the announcement was made that Melbourne would not be replaced. [121] Melbourne hit Evans amidships at 3:15am, cutting the destroyer in two. The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928 By Andrew Kilsby and Greg Swinden, Longueville Media, Woollahra, NSW, 2013. HMAS Melbourne was originally one of six Majestic Class light fleet aircraft carriers ordered for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Post-war technological developments saw a rapid evolution in naval aviation driven primarily by the advent of jet propulsion. The impact pushed Voyager through the water laterally for a few seconds, and then she broke in two. Period 1970-1979 She participated in Exercises JUC 61 and HOMERUN with USN units off the New South Wales coast in March, before departing Sydney on 24 February for South East Asian waters. The RN retained ten partially completed aircraft carriers, including the six Majestics, from suspended wartime programs. The ship was not scrapped immediately; instead she was studied by Chinese naval architects and engineers as part of the nation's top-secret carrier development program. Naval units from Australia, the USA, the UK, New Zealand and Canada participated in the exercises which concluded on 18 November. [149] Melbourne remained in dock at the start of 1982, and did not leave before the decision regarding her replacement was made. She participated in the inaugural ANZUK naval exercise GENESIS at the end of March and departed Singapore for Australia on 3 April. [2], Melbourne's initial armament included 25 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns: six twin and thirteen single mountings. Temporary repairs were affected at sea before Melbourne proceeded to Singapore that afternoon. Melbourne then continued on to Japan and Hawaii for Exercise REX with USN units before returning home via Western Samoa and Fiji. He would later finish fourth at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. Some groups of vessels, referred to as tenders, have been recorded together as one ledger. [97] The Royal Commission and its aftermath were poorly handled, and following pressure from the public, media, and politicians, combined with revelations by Voyager's former executive officer that Stevens may have been unfit for command, a second Royal Commission was opened in 1967. [27][126] Melbourne was out of service for most of 1971 while she underwent refits, which concluded in early August. 644 mi - Melbourne, FL. [30] This was immediately followed by a visit to the Solomon Islands in early April. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions. Skyhawks conduct a low flypast, 2 September 1971. [36] Between entering service and 1959, four of the single Bofors were removed. Project Team. [39], From March 1965 until mid-1967, Melbourne underwent a regular pattern of deployments to Southeast Asia, exercises, and flag-showing visits to nations in the Asia-Pacific region. Logs include information on: Most records about crew and ships are available for public access. [95] A Royal Commission into the events of the collision was held in 1964, and found that while Voyager's crew was primarily at fault for neglecting to maintain an effective lookout and awareness of the larger ship's location, Melbourne's bridge crew was also at fault, for failing to alert Voyager and not taking measures to avoid the collision. [130] In December 2012, Stevenson announced that he had received a letter from the Minister for Defence, apologising for his treatment by the RAN and the government of the day.[131]. [38] The fixed-wing aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm were marked for replacement by 27 Westland Wessex anti-submarine helicopters. She participated in Exercise TUCKER BOX 2 later in the year. [166] The journey was delayed when the towing line began to part, requiring the carrier and tug to shelter in Queensland's Moreton Bay, on 30 April. [4], A review by the Australian Government's Defence Committee held after World War II recommended that the post-war forces of the RAN be structured around a Task Force incorporating multiple aircraft carriers. [135] Melbourne, Brisbane, and eleven other ships were deployed as part of the largest peacetime rescue effort ever organised by the RAN: Operation Navy Help Darwin. [82] The Daring-class destroyer HMASVoyager was also present, undergoing her own trials following refit, under the command of Captain Duncan Stevens. This cine film has been placed online as part of the Sea Power Centre - Australias ongoing archival digitisation program. Tenders are additional vessels used to help or serve another vessel. The stern section remained afloat. On 5 March, while conducting an air defence exercise in the southern Coral Sea, one of the ships Wessex helicopters ditched into the water. [82] The trials involved interactions between both ships, and when Melbourne performed night-flying exercises that evening, Voyager acted as the carrier's plane guard escort. She departed Sydney to pick up the RANs new Skyhawks and Trackers in the USA on 20 September 1967. Her forward section passed down Melbournes port side, and the stern section down the starboard side. A line was attached to Morris hammer and he bridged the gap between the two ships with ease, striking Ponchatoula's smokestack. [136] While working up following the refit, Melbourne and HMASTorrens provided assistance to MV Miss Chief off the coast of Bundaberg, Queensland on 16 August 1976. [61][63] Melbourne sailed east via the Great Australian Bight, meeting sister ship HMASSydney near Kangaroo Island a week later. The second collision occurred in the early morning of 3 June 1969, when Melbourne also rammed the United States Navy (USN) destroyer USSFrank E. Evans in similar circumstances. [38] Both options were turned down, and it was instead proposed to operate Melbourne as a helicopter carrier. Later that year she participated in Fleet Concentration Period off Jervis Bay in October, and visited New Zealand in November. Melbourne conducting flying operations with Westland Wessex anti-submarine warfare helicopters. Melbourne and the FAA in general received a boost during the year with the decision to re-equip the FAA with Douglas A4G Skyhawk fighter bombers and Grumman S2E Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft. [37] At the time of their arrival, the Sea Venoms were the only radar equipped and all-weather combat aircraft in the Southern Hemisphere. [54][55] Although one of the largest ships to serve in the RAN, Melbourne was one of the smallest carriers to operate in the post-World War II period. Abaft the funnel, an SPN-35 carrier-controlled approach radar was mounted within a dome, and on the lattice mast a new tactical air navigation (TACAN) aerial and electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods were mounted. We hold several sources of information on RAN ships. [110], In September 1967, Melbourne travelled to the United States to collect new aircraft: 14 Trackers and 10 Skyhawks. She participated in the Fleet Concentration Period off Hervey Bay in August followed by Exercise JUC 58 off Jervis Bay in late August and early September. She returned to sea on 11 October to commence workup exercises and shortly thereafter resumed a regular program of exercises, training and maintenance. 82 of Voyager's personnel were killed, and two Royal Commissions were held to investigate the incident. Home delivery available. [111] Australian aircraft were not to be provided, as the A-4G Skyhawks used by the RAN were optimised for air defence, not the fighter-bomber role performed by the Marines, and would have suffered heavy losses from North Vietnam's heavy anti-aircraft defences. HMA Ship List 1911-1939. [23], At the end of March 1978, Melbourne left Sydney for RIMPAC 78. In November and December Melbourne again visited Port Melbourne where she contributed to the staging of the 16th Olympic Games. [140] A Tracker from Melbourne located the disabled Dutch vessel Impala Princess in the Gulf of Aden on 25 May and directed a French destroyer to assist. Less than three months later, on 29 April, the ship celebrated her 1000th deck landing since completing her refit when Sub Lieutenant Ross Smith, RAN, the youngest pilot aboard Melbourne at the time, successfully landed his Tracker. [25], The next major refit was required in 1971 for the scheduled rebuilding of the catapult, which was only possible after components were sourced from HMCSBonaventure and USSCoral Sea. The deployment was also notable as the only occasion on which both RAN aircraft carriers, Melbourne and Sydney, deployed overseas together. Right: A Hawker De Havilland Sea Venom. Following temporary repairs at Singapore, Melbourne returned to sea on 27 June bound for Australia. [71] At the start of 1959, Melbourne spent four days in her namesake city, where she was used for the filming of On The Beach, based on Nevil Shute's post-apocalyptic novel of the same name. The Melbourne-Voyager collision, also known as the Melbourne-Voyager incident or simply the Voyager incident, was a collision between two warships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN); the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the destroyer HMAS Voyager.. On the evening of 10 February 1964, the two ships were performing manoeuvres off Jervis Bay. She departed Singapore on 3 July and arrived back in Sydney, after disembarking her aircraft at Jervis Bay, on 15 July. [120] After having narrowly passed in front of Melbourne, the turns quickly placed Evans back in the carrier's path. Note: This video is hosted on YouTube and has no audio. [153] By August 1979, the decision was limited to three ships: a modified American Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship, an Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi-class carrier, and a Sea Control Ship design that later became the Spanish Navy's Principe de Asturias. Upon the conclusion of SEADOG, the carrier returned to Australia and arrived at Fremantle, via Singapore, on 8 August. [121] The board found Evans partially at fault for the collision, but also faulted Melbourne for not taking evasive action sooner, even though international sea regulations dictated that in the lead-up to a collision, the larger ship was required to maintain course and speed. When the last ship had passed, tugs were secured and Melbourne berthed at Captain Cook Dock. [23] During this deployment, on 21 June 1981, Melbourne rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees from a disabled fishing vessel in the South China Sea. With 24 ships and submarines from five nations participating, OCEAN LINK was the largest SEATO exercise yet. [9] Construction and fitting out did not finish until October 1955. [112] This deployment did not occur; the Skyhawk pilot training program was experiencing delays because US squadrons were being shipped training equipment and replacement parts in priority to the RAN, and sending qualified pilots overseas would have caused further holdups with the program, while also disrupting Melbourne's post-refit reactivation. Special thanks to Aeroplane Magazine for their explanation of the mirror-deck landing system (Aeroplane September 2004). The helicopters aircrew was recovered uninjured by HMAS Derwent. Blue exterior, Brown interior. Right: Leading Musician Cross lets one the students try out the trombone. Melbourne's first major refit started in December 1967 and continued until February 1969, during which she was upgraded to operate S-2 Tracker and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft. These incidents, along with several minor collisions, shipboard accidents and aircraft losses, led to the belief that Melbourne was jinxed. Both the carrier and destroyer were 'darkened' with only navigational/operational lighting in use. Please be advised that HMAS Melbourne arrived at Port Huangpu, intact and safely afloat, proud and majestic. During the First World War the R.A.N. [159] A Sydney-based group proposed in 1984 to purchase Melbourne and operate her as a floating casino moored in international waters off Eden, New South Wales, but nothing came of this. [116] In preparation for launching a Tracker, Stevenson ordered Evans to the plane guard station, reminded the destroyer of Melbourne's course, and instructed the carrier's navigational lights to be brought to full brilliance. [14] These carriers were intended as "disposable warships": to be disposed of at the end of World War II or within three years of entering service. [121] Melbourne deployed her boats, life rafts, and lifebuoys, before carefully manoeuvring alongside the stern section of Evans, where both ships' crews used mooring lines to lash the ships together. Melbourne was the only British Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions. I am also proud to record that Voyagers officers and men displayed the same high standards of individual behaviour. [135] Melbourne remained off Darwin until 18 January 1975, acting as operational headquarters and a helicopter base. [26][114], Melbourne's commanding officer during the SEATO exercise was Captain John Phillip Stevenson. For more information, you can ask us a question. [114][119] Seeing the destroyer take no action and on a course to place herself under Melbourne's bow, Stevenson ordered the carrier hard to port, signalling the turn by both radio and siren blasts. The Melbourne-Evans collision was a collision between the light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans of the United States Navy (USN). [114][118] Evans had performed the manoeuvre four times over the course of the night. Melbourne's ship's company was recalled immediately from leave, the ship was loaded with supplies, and the carrier departed Sydney on 26 December in the company of HMASBrisbane. [10] As the carrier neared completion, a commissioning crew was formed in Australia and first used to return Vengeance to the United Kingdom. Search using the name of the vessel as a keyword, and the series number as A4624. of 2 Download Low Res Image Order a copy Download Low Res Image Order a copy Description Crew members aboard HMAS Vampire. A shore party took part in an internal security exercise at RNAS Sembawang in August before the ships departed for home later that month. The two other sailors in the car with him suffered only minor injuries. The Australian Government had by this time committed naval forces to what became known as the Far East Strategic Reserve, which provided for an annual visit from an aircraft carrier as part of the RAN's contribution. [155] She was towed to the mooring dolphins near Bradley's Head, where she remained until 1985. [1], Operations in 1972 commenced with a three-month deployment to Southeast Asia. 808 Squadron in 1955 posing before a Sea Venom onboard Melbourne. : USS Redfish United States Navy The decommissioned Balao-class auxiliary submarine was sunk as a target in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, California, by . Gannet 858 precariously suspended over Melbourne's port side after the pilot had unsuccessfully attempted to 'wave off' his landing. One of the ship's anchors is incorporated into a memorial to naval aviation at Nowra, New South Wales. Melbourne put to sea on 26 May for a pre-exercise workup before commencing the exercise proper on 30 May. [166] The towing gear broke a day later, requiring a second tug to secure the carrier while repairs were made to De Ping. [126] However, an industrial dispute amongst the shipyard workers meant that, although the work was completed in early September, the ship remained in the drydock until 11 October. She took part in the convoy defence exercise PASAD in the Tasman Sea in March 1960 before once again making a port visit to Hobart. The Australians got one up on their American counterparts, however, when Sub Lieutenant Charlie Morris, RAN, was piped up to the flight deck with hammer. [45] In 1969, the RAN purchased another ten A-4G Skyhawks, instead of the proposed seventh and eighth Oberon-class submarines. [4] Work progressed on Majestic at a slower rate, as she was upgraded with the latest technology and equipment. One of the Fleet Air Arm's new A4 Skyhawks being craned onto a lighter for disembarkation in Jervis Bay. [134] While the Army supported this proposal, the Navy successfully argued against its implementation, claiming that transporting troops and cargo would be misusing Australia's only active aircraft carrier, and would prevent Melbourne from participating in several major multi-national exercises. [139] A two-seat Harrier jump jet demonstrator undertook a series of trial takeoffs and landings aboard Melbourne on 30 June: a trial organised as part of the project overseeing the ship's potential replacement. In her captain's first television and press interviews much was made of the revelation that Melbourne possessed the ability to operate her jet aircraft by night as well as by day. 2019 GMC Sierra 1500. She fired a 15 gun salute as she rounded Bradleys Head and then held position as the rest of the fleet passed and FAA aircraft performed a fly over. At the end of January 1959 Melbourne returned to her namesake city for the unique experience of filming scenes for the movie On The Beach. Melbournes journey back to Sydney was notable for the Melbourne-Sydney Marathon. The National Archives holds these in Canberra in the record series A4624. [36] The three 277Q radars were replaced with updated American and Dutch designs: a LW-02 air search set and a SPN-35 landing aid radar. State. Search and rescue operations began immediately and 199 men were saved, many of them embarking and receiving treatment in the Australian carrier before transferring to the American carrier, USS Kearsarge. [1] In August, Melbourne sailed for Hawaii to participate in RIMPAC 72. On 5 July Melbourne, along with other RAN and RAAF units, conducted a search and rescue operation for a fishing boat, Fishing News, which had not returned to Sydney after putting to sea the previous morning. The Act applies to most records except: court records some records of Parliament some records of governors-general some records held by other national collecting institutions, such as the Australian War Memorial and the National Library of Australia You have a right of access to most other records in the open access period.

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