On this day:
1941 > WW2
There are 188 entries in this era
- 01 Jan 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), bombarded Sollum, Libya.
- 02 Jan 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), joined HM Ships DAINTY, (destroyer) and TERROR, (monitor) in a bombardment of Bardia.
- 03 Jan 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), was part of the screen for the battle-fleet which bombarded Italian defences, at Bardia, Libya.
- 07 Jan 1941
HMAS NAPIER, (destroyer), arrived at Reykjavik, Iceland, as escort for a convoy.
- 08 Jan 1941
The N class destroyer HMAS NIZAM, (LCDR M. J. Clark, RAN), was commissioned. NIZAM was laid down in John Brown & Co Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland, on 27 July 1939, and launched on 4 July 1940.
- 13 Jan 1941
HMA Ships STUART and VAMPIRE (destroyers), intercepted the Italian supply schooner SAN DIEGO attempting to enter Tobruk under cover of darkness. The schooner was later sunk by VAMPIRE.
- 14 Jan 1941
The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS TOORIE was commissioned. TOORIE, (ex-SIR ARTHUR DORMAN), was laid down in Dorman Long, Sydney, in 1925. She was renamed in 1928 under Adelaide steamship ownership, and was requisitioned by the RAN in late 1940.
- 15 Jan 1941
HMAS PERTH was withdrawn from operations with the 7th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean and docked at Malta for urgent boiler repairs.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, Mrs Churchill, Lord and Lady Halifax, and American Special Envoy Harry Hopkins, embarked in HMAS NAPIER for passage from Thurso to Scapa Flow.
- 16 Jan 1941
HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), suffered damage during an air raid while berthed at Malta. An enemy bomb landed between her and the merchant ship ESSEX, causing underwater and internal damage to PERTH. ESSEX was hit by other bombs and set on fire. Personnel from PERTH were involved in the efforts to extinguish the fire onboard ESSEX.
- 18 Jan 1941
The Australian armed merchant cruiser, ARAWA sighted searchlight beams and gun flashes from the German raider KORMORAN in the South Atlantic. The raider escaped before ARAWA could close her.
- 19 Jan 1941
ADML A. B. Cunningham, RN, (C in C, Mediterranean), reported to the Admiralty that the Inshore Squadron had ferried 35000 Italian POWs to Alexandria in 10 days, as well as supplying 5 tons of stores daily to the advancing Army in Libya. The Inshore Squadron was commanded by CAPT H. M. L. Waller, RAN, and had the “Scrap-Iron Flotilla”, HMA Ships, STUART, VAMPIRE, VENDETTA, VOYAGER, and WATERHEN, (destroyers), operating with it.
- 21 Jan 1941
HMA Ships STUART, VAMPIRE, and VOYAGER, (destroyers), took part in the assault on Tobruk, breaking through the outer defences at dawn.
The Australian Forces Club opened in Alexandria, Egypt. A sailor from HMAS STUART later wrote: “Within a few minutes of reaching the city we were sampling a glass of Australian beer. It was our first Australian liquor for 15 months, and it was thoroughly appreciated.”
- 23 Jan 1941
HMAS NIZAM, (destroyer), sustained underwater damage in a collision with the wreck of HMS ROYAL OAK in Scapa Flow.
- 24 Jan 1941
The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette), HMAS LISMORE, (LCDR S. H. Crawford, RANR(S)), was commissioned. LISMORE, was paid off in 1946, and transferred to the Netherlands Navy. She was renamed BATAAN.
- 31 Jan 1941
The auxiliary minesweeper HMAS TERKA was commissioned. TERKA (ex- SIR DUDLEY DE CHAIR), was laid down in the State Dockyard, Newcastle, NSW, in 1925, for Dorman Long & Co, and renamed TERKA in 1928 under the Adelaide Steamship Co ownership. She was requisitioned in December 1940 by the RAN.
- 03 Feb 1941
The N class destroyer HMAS NESTOR, (CMDR G.S. Stewart, RAN), was commissioned at Fairfield Shipbuilding on the Clyde, Scotland. She was laid down in Fairfield’s in 1939, and launched on 9 July 1940.
HMAS NAPIER, (destroyer), escorted HMS KING GEORGE V, (battleship), from the Faroe Islands to Greenock, Scotland. The British Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill, was returning from a diplomatic visit to the USA in the battleship.
- 05 Feb 1941
HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), arrived in Fremantle from the Mediterranean.
HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), arrived in her namesake city, Sydney, to an enthusiastic welcome. The Governor-General, Lord Gowrie, thanked the men on behalf of King George VI, and Sydney’s Lord Mayor unveiled a plaque on the quarterdeck, commemorating the victory over the Italian cruiser BARTOLOMEO COLLEONI. Every man in the crew received a replica of the plaque.
- 07 Feb 1941
The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Menzies, inspected HMA Ships PERTH, STUART, VAMPIRE, and VOYAGER at Alexandria, Egypt.
- 10 Feb 1941
Three sailors from the minesweeper HMAS LISMORE drowned in Jervis Bay.
They were returning to the ship in one of the ship’s boats that was swamped in heavy seas. Those who lost their lives were ERA Edward Dunn, AB John Irving, and AB Tom Lee.
- 11 Feb 1941
HMAS STUART, (destroyer), picked up one survivor from the South African trawler SOUTHERN FLOE at night off Tobruk.
- 14 Feb 1941
HMS SHROPSHIRE, (cruiser), later HMAS SHROPSHIRE, carried out a point-blank bombardment of enemy troop positions at Kismayu, Italian Somaliland.
- 16 Feb 1941
The German raider supply ship, OLE JACOB, was sighted by an Australian Sunderland flying boat in the Coral Sea. The sighting report was intercepted by the raider ORION, whose captain believed the aircraft was calling in HMAS STUART. Both enemy vessels escaped into the Indian Ocean.
- 22 Feb 1941
HMA Ships STUART and VAMPIRE, (destroyers), joined the 1st Battle Squadron screen for an operational sweep towards Rhodes.
- 23 Feb 1941
HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser), passed within 100 miles of the German pocket battleship ADMIRAL SCHEER, while on patrol in the Indian Ocean.
- 24 Feb 1941
The Admiralty informed the Australian Government that “in the event of war in the Far East in the near future no major redistribution of forces is intended other than to send one battle-cruiser, one aircraft carrier, and one cruiser, from Gibraltar to the Indian Ocean, and return those Dominion cruisers now serving with Imperial forces to their Dominions”.
HMAS PERTH, and HMS BONAVENTURE, (cruisers), landed a force of commandos on Castellorizo Island in the Dodacanese. The landing coincided with the landing of a stronger enemy force. HMS JAGUAR, (destroyer), staged a covering diversion with a torpedo attack on enemy shipping in the island’s harbour.
- 26 Feb 1941
The depot ship and accommodation vessel HMAS KUTTABUL, was commissioned. KUTTABUL was laid down in Walsh Island Yard, Newcastle, NSW, in 1922, as a passenger ferry. She was requisitioned for the RAN on 7 November 1940.
- 28 Feb 1941
The Bathurst class minesweeper, (corvette) HMAS GOULBURN, (LCDR B. Paul, RANR), was commissioned. GOULBURN was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 10 July 1940, and launched on 19 November 1940. Mrs. Crace, (Wife of RADM J. G. Crace, RN ), performed the launching ceremony.
- 01 Mar 1941
HMAS BENDIGO, (minesweeper), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.
- 04 Mar 1941
HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser), intercepted the German raider supply ship COBURG and a captured tanker, KETTY BROVIG, south of the Seychelles Islands Group. These two ships were support vessels for three German raiders then active in the Indian Ocean. CANBERRA opened fire on COBURG, and her crew then scuttled the ship, then she launched her Seagull aircraft which intercepted the KETTY BROVIG and dropped bombs close by her to make her stop, but the ships crew began to scuttle the ship. The Seagull aircraft landed close to the KETTY BROVIG, and her observer, (LEUT C.V.S. Malleson, RN), swam across to the ship to try and prevent the ship’s crew from scuttling her, but he was too late. He retrieved some of the ships papers before being taken off the ship. Despite attempts to salvage the vessels, they were both at the point of sinking, and were dispatched by gunfire from CANBERRA.
- 06 Mar 1941
HMAS STUART, (destroyer), was attacked seven times by German bombers while on passage to Piraeus. In the last attack she was near-missed by a large bomb. CAPT H. Waller wrote: “The last aircraft seemed to be out for my blood and nursed his second bomb until I remained on a steady course. The bombs being so large, however, they could be followed all the way down and the requisite alteration could be made”.
- 19 Mar 1941
HMAS PARRAMATTA, (sloop), blockaded the Perim area to intercept enemy shipping attempting to escape from the ports of Massawa and Assab.
- 21 Mar 1941
LEUT C. G. Hill, RANR, of HMAS WARERHEN, boarded the bombed and burning Danish tanker MARIE MAERSK, after the vessel had been abandoned by her crew north of Crete. Hill directed a party of sailors from the destroyer in extinguishing the fires and steamed the tanker to Suda Bay, despite the presence of enemy aircraft. LEUT Hill was awarded the OBE for outstanding courage and leadership.
- 26 Mar 1941
The Australian trawler MILLIMUMU sank after striking a German mine on the south coast of NSW.
HMAS TOOWOOMBA, (minesweeper), was launched at Walker’s Yard, QLD. The vessel was transferred in 1946 to the Netherlands Navy, and renamed BOEROE.
- 28 Mar 1941
The Battle of Matapan commenced. HMA Ships PERTH, STUART, and VENDETTA participated in the battle which destroyed Italian naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. VENDETTA was the first Australian ship to come under fire in the battle.
- 29 Mar 1941
The destroyer HMAS STUART, (CAPT H.M.L. Waller, RAN), fired her last shots, in the Battle of Matapan, at the Italian destroyer VITTORIO ALFERI. The Italian Navy lost three cruisers and two destroyers in this battle.
HMAS SOUTHERN CROSS, (yacht), was commissioned as an auxiliary patrol vessel.
- 30 Mar 1941
The Mediterranean Fleet returned to a vociferous welcome from ships at Alexandria after the Battle of Matapan. HMA Ships PERTH, STUART, and VENDETTA were detached after the battle to escort convoys to Greece.
- 31 Mar 1941
HMAS STUART, (destroyer), was near-missed by a torpedo while engaged in a depth charge attack on the Italian submarine DAGABUR The submarine sank the cruiser HMS BONAVENTURE and escaped.
- 01 Apr 1941
Three sailors from HMAS HOBART, (cruiser), who were captured after volunteering to man a shore-based gun in August 1940, were released from prisoner-of-war camp in Eritria, East Africa. They were PO H. Jones, AB H. C. Sweeney, and AB W. J. Hurren.
- 02 Apr 1941
HMAS VOYAGER, (destroyer), sank the heavily damaged cargo ships HOMEFIELD, and COLOUROUS XENOX, after savage German air attacks in the central Mediterranean.
- 03 Apr 1941
HMAS PARRAMATTA, (sloop), passed a flotilla of Italian destroyers at night while escorting a convoy off Port Sudan. No sighting report was made by either side.