On This Day
1960-1975 > Vietnam era
On This Day - 1960-1975
- March 12, 1972
The fast troop transport HMAS SYDNEY, (CAPT L.J. Merson, RAN), and the supply ship HMAS JEPARIT, (CMDR A.A.C. Philip, RANVR), returned to Sydney, thus completing the RAN’s involvement in the Vietnam War. SYDNEY made 24 voyages to Vietnam, and JEPARIT made 43, carrying troops and supplies to the Australian forces involved in the fighting in Vietnam.
- March 5, 1972
HMAS SYDNEY, (fast troop transport), answered a distress call from the 74,000 ton Italian bulk carrier IGARA, after it struck a reef and sank 60 miles east of Singapore.
- February 29, 1972
HMAS SYDNEY (troop transport), sailed from Vung Tau, Vietnam, on her last troop carrying voyage. SYDNEY was the only ship of the RAN to wear both the British White Ensign and the Australian White Ensign in the war. She completed four voyages to Vietnam before the Australian White Ensign was introduced on 1 March 1967.
- February 15, 1972
HMAS BARCOO, (River class frigate), was sold out of service for breaking up in Taiwan. HMA Ships QUIBERON and QUICKMATCH, (frigates), were sold to the Fujita Salvage Company of Japan for scrapping.
- January 24, 1972
RADM H. D. Stevenson was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty’s Australian Fleet.
- January 7, 1972
LEUT J. C. Buchanan, (RAN Helicopter Flight-Vietnam), was awarded the DFC for conspicuous gallantry while rescuing a disabled patrol boat which was drifting close to enemy positions near U Minh, and was in danger of being captured. LEUT Buchanan hooked the landing skids of his helicopter on to the patrol boat and towed it clear.
HMAS Hawk paid off into operational reserve having steamed 193,867 nautical miles in RAN service. Hawk remained in the Reserve Fleet until 1976, when she was sold and broken up for salvage at Maclean on the Clarence River, northern NSW.
- January 4, 1972
The following awards to the RAN Fleet Air Arm for service in Vietnam, were announced:-DSC LCDR W. P. JamesDFC LEUT B. G. AbrahamMBE LEUT G. P. AllenMID LEUT A. J. LivmanusMID LEUT J. T. GumleyMID SBLT W. J. ShureyMID SBLT S. P. Rawlinson
- December 8, 1971
The landing craft heavy HMAS BALIKPAPAN, was commissioned. BALIKPAPAN was laid down in Walker’s Yard, Maryborough, QLD, in May 1971, and launched on 15 August 1971.
In Vung Tau HMAS Sydney embarked 4 RAR, the final battalion group, together with 104 Field Battery and 9 Squadron RAAF with its 16 Iroquois helicopters. The South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu flew on board to officially thank the Australian forces for their service in Vietnam and Sydney fired a 21-gun salute as the President departed.
- December 1, 1971
The Five Power Defence Agreement, (FPDA), was created with membership by Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. This alliance was created as a result of the withdrawal of British forces east of Suez, where the parties agreed ‘to consult each other in the event of any perceived external threat to Malaysia or Singapore’. Originally land, sea, and air forces of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom were based in Malaysia and Singapore, but these were gradually withdrawn over the next 20 years. Despite this, the ‘Five Powers’ conduct regular exercises, in Malaysia and Singapore, controlled by the Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System, (HQIADS).
- November 1, 1971
Following the expiration of the Anglo-Malaysian Defence Agreement, the Strategic Reserve was replaced by ANZUK, under the Five Power Defence Arrangement plans for the defence of Singapore and Malaysia. A highlight to the changeover was a farewell review of units of the Far East Fleet. HMA Ships Derwent and Swan participated in this event, which marked significant changes in Britain’s defence role in South East Asia, and ended the role of the previous naval command which had existed for 150 years