On this day in Royal Australian Navy History 17 July 1917 The Minesweeping Section of the Australian Naval Brigade was established. This section became responsible for all minesweeping activities in Australian waters during WWI. Trawlers, tugs, and barges were requisitioned by the Navy for sweeping. 1940 HMAS FALIE, (transport and stores ship), was commissioned. The cruiser HMAS SYDNEY, (CAPT J. A. Collins, RAN), returned from the fleet action in the central Mediterranean to Alexandria, was immediately readied for sea again, after being refuelled, ammunitioned, and having a bottom clean. 1941 HMAS WESTRALIA, (armed merchant cruiser), evacuated 93 refugees from Nauru and Ocean Island. 1944 The Fremantle-based HMS TELEMACHUS, (submarine), sank the Japanese submarine I-166 in the Malacca Straits. 1945 HMA Ships QUIBERON and QUICKMATCH, (destroyers), with HM Ships FORMIDABLE, NEWFOUNDLAND, BLACK PRINCE, BARFLEUR, GRENVILLE, TROUGHBRIDGE, and UNDINE, bombarded the Japanese coast north of Tokyo. QUIBERON and QUICKMATCH were the only RAN ships to fire on the Japanese home islands. 1946 LEUT J. F. Bell, RAN, qualified as the first officer in the RAN to be trained in ship construction. He achieved the highest marks in his course. 1965 The Perth class, (Charles F Adams, DDG), guided missile destroyer HMAS PERTH, (CAPT I. H. Cartwright, RAN), was commissioned. PERTH was laid down in Defoe Shipbuilding Co, Bay City, Michigan, USA, on 21 September 1962, and launched on 26 September 1963. Lady Beale, (Wife of the Sir Harold Beale, Australian Ambassador to the USA), performed the launching ceremony. 1976 HMAS PARRAMATTA, (destroyer escort), arrived at Bali to assist the earthquake-devastated island. 500 people were killed and 2500 injured in the catastrophe.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:10:53 +0000
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