On This Day - 27 April
- 1941
- HMA Ships STUART, VENDETTA, VAMPIRE, and WATERHEN, (destroyers), sailed from Suda Bay to Alexandria as escort to convoy GA12. RAN ships evacuating troops from Greece, picked up the last message from Radio Athens as German troops entered the city; 'Closing down for the last time and looking forward to happier days. God be with you and for you'.
- 1943
- The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS BENALLA, (LCDR L. N. Morrison, RANR(S)), was commissioned. BENALLA was laid down at Williamstown Naval Dockyard, VIC, on 24 March 1942, and launched on 19 December 1942. Mrs A. S. A. Drakeford, (wife of the Minister for Air and Civil Aviation), performed the launching ceremony. The Japanese submarine I-177, sank the American Liberty ship LYDIA M CHILDS, 90 miles east of Newcastle. The ship was on her maiden voyage.
- 1944
- The Brisbane-based USS BLUEGILL, (submarine), sank the Japanese cruiser YUBARI in the Sonsorol Islands.
- 1945
- The River class frigate, HMAS DIAMANTINA, (LCDR M.G. Rose, RANVR), was commissioned. DIAMANTINA was laid down at Walker's Yard, Maryborough, QLD, on 12 April 1943, and launched on 6 April 1944. Mrs W. J. Riordan, (Wife of the Federal Member for Kennedy), performed the launching ceremony. DIAMANTINA later took on the role of oceanographic research ship, and is now a part of the Queensland Maritime Museum, Brisbane.
- 1946
- HMAS STUART was paid off at Sydney for disposal. On 3 February 1947 she was sold to T Carr and Co Ltd of Sydney and was broken up at Ryde.
- 1948
- First of 12 RAAF Vultee Vengeances airframes were allocated to the RAN FAA at Nowra for use as Fire Fighting Training Aids.
- 1955
- Both 816 and 817 Squadron was decommissioned at Nowra as the Firefly was phased out of service and replaced by the Fairey Gannet
- 1973
- The hydrographic survey ship, (small), HMAS FLINDERS, (LCDR I. S. Pullar, RAN), was commissioned. FLINDERS was laid down in Williamstown Naval Dockyard, VIC, in February 1971, and launched on 29 July 1972. Mrs Malcom McKay, (Wife of the Minister for the Navy), performed the launching ceremony.
- 1978
- The Oberon class submarine HMAS OTAMA, was commissioned. OTAMA was laid down at Scott's Yard, Greenock, Scotland, on 28 May 1973, and launched on 3 December 1975. HRH Princess Anne performed the launching ceremony. OTAMA was the last of six Oberon class submarines built for the RAN.
- 1985
- The former aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE, departed Sydney under tow by the Chinese tug DE PING. She was bound for Canton, (Guangzhou), to be broken up. Despite inclement weather, hundreds of former crew members lined the foreshore to see her leave Sydney Harbour for the last time.
- 1990
- HMAS OXLEY, (submarine), sailed through the Dardanelles to the Sea of Marmora, thus emulating the Australian submarine AE2, which had undertaken the same action some 75 years before.
- 2006
- The patrol boat HMAS ARMIDALE, (LCDR J. Hunter, RAN), arrived in Honiara, Solomon Islands, to provide support to ADF and AFP personnel involved in Operation Anode. ARMIDALE conducted patrols, and movement of ADF and AFP personnel to outlying islands.
'On This Day' is based on the book "Navy Day by Day: Historic Naval Events in Australia and Abroad" written by the late Lew Lind. More information.