A.N. Other

Occasional Paper 75: The Vietnam War and the Royal Australian Navy

April 14, 2020

The following address was delivered by Captain Ralph T. Derbidge MBE RAN (Retired) at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance to mark Vietnam Veterans Day on 18 August 2010. It describes the commitment of RAN fleet and air units to that War and the variety of essential tasks and services they provided in support of both the ground and air war.

Captain Derbidge concluded his 36 years of service in 1990 as the Director of Facilities Planning-Navy. A specialist Gunnery Officer he served in that capacity in five RAN and RN ships. He had intervening tours as a Staff Officer to the Australian Naval Attache in Washington, as Deputy Director of Surface and Air Weapons and with the Joint Intelligence Organisation. He commanded HMA Ships Stuart, Canberra and Success and the RAN Apprentice Training Establishment, HMAS Nirimba.

Vietnam – tropical, alluring, fun-filled, breathtakingly beautiful, gastronomically exciting and friendly – today, a magnetic attraction for numerous tourists, businessmen and capital investors, many of them Australians, including Vietnam War veterans. Ask my wife about Vietnam. She welcomed me home from the war 39 years ago, but in recent times she enjoyed greatly with friends a group bicycle tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. I didn’t go – I get sunburnt!

But it was not always like that.

Vietnam, some 7,500 kilometres to our north west as the crow flies from Melbourne, and three hours behind Australia’s Eastern Standard Time, lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. It is bordered to the west by Cambodia and Laos, and to the north by China. The northern part of the long eastern shoreline sits within the Gulf of Tonkin while to the south the coastline is washed by the South China Sea. The shorter western shore faces the Gulf of Thailand.

The scope of my primary interest covers the period from 1956 to 1975 when the country was divided at the 17^th parallel of latitude by the Demiltarised Zone (or ‘DMZ’) into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam or North Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam, albeit South Vietnam. To understand the Vietnam War, and the Royal Australian Navy’s involvement in that war, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the relatively modern history of Indo-China and Vietnam.

Indo-China had been a sphere of French protectorates and colonisation since the 1850’s but the French influence was interrupted by World War 2 and supplanted by Japanese occupation. The French returned in 1945 to face much turmoil and unrest as the countries of the region sought self-determination as the sun was setting on British and European empires. It is not in my brief to dwell at length on the complex issues and proceedings that spawned communist parties and governments in the region and to the north in China and Korea, as Cold War tensions mounted. It is sufficient for me to note that the Viet Minh forces of northern Vietnam, under the command of General Vo Nguyen Giap, comprehensively defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu some 320 kilometres from Hanoi in May 1954 to end the First Indo-China War.

The armistice and Geneva Conference that followed, and the division of the country at the DMZ, set the scene for future hostilities in the guise of the Vietnam War. At the time of the French defeat, I was a 14 year old Cadet Midshipman in my first year at the Royal Australian Naval College, then located at Crib Point on Mornington Peninsula.

The Vietnam War officially was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975 when Saigon fell. This war followed upon the First Indo-China War and was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United State and other anti-communist nations, including Australia and New Zealand.

The Viet Cong, a lightly-armed South Vietnamese communist-controlled common front, largely fought a guerilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. US and South Vietnamese forces relied principally on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search-and-destroy operations involving mainly ground forces, artillery and airstrikes.

The United States entered the war to prevent a communist take-over of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisers arrived, beginning in 1950. US involvement increased in the early 1960’s, with US troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962 when Australian military advisers were first sent to the country. US and Australian combat units were deployed, beginning in 1965. Operations spanned borders, with Laos and Cambodia being heavily bombed. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, US and Australian ground forces were progressively withdrawn as part of a policy called Vietnamisation. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued in the South. The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army in April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

It can be argued that the first peripheral involvement by the RAN in the Vietnam War occurred between 1956 and 1963 when six Australian naval vessels in successive pairs visited the Republic of Vietnam, beginning with HMA Ships ANZAC and TOBRUK, followed by VAMPIRE and QUICKMATCH and, lastly, QUEENBOROUGH and QUIBERON. Former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, was primarily the focal point for this ‘showing of the flag’ as it is colloquially known, but demonstrating at the time, in concert with the United States of America, support for the internally and externally hard-pressed South Vietnam regime of the aloof President Diem and his domineering sister-in-law, Madam Nhu.

Politically and militarily, in and around the Capital, in the Highlands and the Mekong Delta, and in the Central Lowlands, the South was opposed by the increasingly worrying Viet Cong, supported by surrogate North Vietnam, and home grown military and religious dissidents. Who can forget the images of self-immolating Buddhist monks.

I first visited South Vietnam in 1963 as the Gunnery Officer of HMAS QUIBERON, then exercising this form of ‘gunboat diplomacy’. It was two years after the Bay of Pigs and Cuba, when the Cold War perhaps was at its most threatening. Memories of the Malayan Emergency and the Korean War were still vivid, confrontation with Indonesia over newly formed Malaysia was under way and the ‘Domino Effect’ of successively falling democratic governments in Asia and South East Asia was the all pervading fear of the free world lead by the United States of America. Australian membership of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation, or SEATO, and the Australia New Zealand and United States, or ANZUS, Treaty both had implications and obligations for our nation. A vigorous stand would soon be taken by the United States and some of her allies in South Vietnam.

But back in 1963, I recall a good will port call at Nha Trang, the riviera of Indo-China, and a flurry of official social and ceremonial activity in once Saigon. All seemed relatively calm and business-like in the South’s capital, but there were disconcerting signs for the keen eyed visitor that not all was well – such as the transit of the scenic Saigon River with overhead escorting aircraft, the requirement to travel in armed convoys up-country and the militarisation of, and midnight curfew in, the city. I was 23 at the time and unaware that I would return to this troubled land eight years hence in far less pacific circumstances as the Gunnery Officer of HMAS BRISBANE. Within three years, the Diem regime had been toppled from within and Australia would soon find itself engaged in active hostilities alongside the United States.

As mentioned earlier, Australian Army advisers were sent to South Vietnam as early as 1962 and an RAAF transport flight, No 35 Squadron, was established at Vung Tau in Phuoc Tuy Province in 1964.

But it was not until 1965 that the RAN was in the front line, so to speak, when the former aircraft carrier HMAS SYDNEY, as a fast troop transport, made the first of her 22 trips to South Vietnam to off-load initially an Australian infantry battalion and supporting infrastructure at Vung Tau. Australian military assistance to the Republic of Vietnam was substantially increased from mid-1966 and it is fitting that I pay tribute to the important logistic role played by the RAN in delivering and returning Australian troops, equipment, ammunition and supplies to and from the war until December 1972.

From June 1966, HMAS SYDNEY was supported in this role by the Australian National Line coastal cargo ship MV JEPARIT, commissioned into the RAN in 1969, and by another ANL vessel, MV BOONAROO, being the first ship commissioned under the new RAN White Ensign in March 1967 for her second voyage to Vietnam. Escorts for this seaborne logistic lift effort to and from Vietnam over the course of the war were HMA Ships ANZAC, DERWENT, DUCHESS, MELBOURNE, PARRAMATTA, STUART, SWAN, TORRENS, VAMPIRE, VENDETTA and YARRA.

Although the logistic ships and escorts had been ferrying Australian troops and supplies to Vietnam from May 1965, the RAN did not enter the war in a combat role until February 1967 when a six man clearance diving team arrived in country to carry out harbour defence, salvage, explosive ordnance disposal and a variety of special operations. This unit, Clearance Diving Team 3, was formed specially for service in Vietnam and eight contingents of the team were to be deployed in-country until May 1971.

In March 1967, the new US built guided missile destroyer or DDG, HMAS HOBART, was deployed for service in Vietnamese waters to join the US Seventh Fleet in operations entailing coastal surveillance and interdiction, shore bombardment of North Vietnamese military targets and similar naval gunfire support of ground operations in the four military regions of South Vietnam. Sister ships HMAS PERTH and HMAS BRISBANE followed in rotation for a total of eight typical deployments of seven months each until this commitment was withdrawn in October 1971. The Australian built Daring Class destroyer, HMAS VENDETTA, complemented this effort with one such deployment.

During these operations, HOBART and PERTH came under fire on numerous occasions. PERTH was hit once during her first deployment and HOBART was struck inadvertently in the dark of one night by missiles fired from a US Air Force aircraft. BRISBANE, during her first deployment, suffered a gunmount crippling inbore detonation of a faulty high explosive shell in the forward 5-inch gun barrel.

When not on typically month-long Gunline operations, the RAN destroyers were employed on escort duties with United States Navy aircraft carriers in the Tonkin Gulf or receiving ammunition, stores, food, spare parts and mail by underway replenishment from USN fleet train supply ships in the South China Sea. Periodic detachments were scheduled for routine one-week-long ship maintenance periods and ‘R & R’ in ports such as Subic Bay in the Philippines and Hong Kong and Singapore. In their five years’ service in the Vietnam War, the four Australian destroyers steamed over 397,000 nautical miles and fired 102,546 rounds of 5-inch and 4.5-inch ammunition amounting to some 2,800 tonnes of high explosive.

The RAN Fleet Air Arm, as a separate entity, was also actively and uniquely engaged in the war from late 1967 when the first contingent of the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam was integrated fully with the US Army’s 135^th Aviation Company. Four contingents of the Flight served in Vietnam until June 1971, flying mainly in the Mekong Delta in support of ground operations, a hazardous business at the best of times.

There were other, smaller, but no less important RAN contributions to the war effort in South Vietnam, such as Fleet Air Arm helicopter pilots serving with 9 Squadron RAAF at Vung Tau, detached medical officers in Australian and US military hospitals and liaison personnel in Saigon. Several sea transport officers were seconded from the Department of Shipping and Transport and commissioned into the Naval Reserve. Back home, a number of dedicated staff in Navy Office and Fleet Headquarters, and in the operational and training establishments, looked to the professional, military intelligence, logistic support and welfare needs of those personnel, ships and aircraft deployed to the war.

The return of HMAS BRISBANE to Sydney from her second deployment on 15 October 1971 marked the end of the RAN’s combat role in the Vietnam War. All told, some 2,800 naval personnel, all male and volunteers, saw active service in Vietnam. Of these, eight were killed while 15 received serious injuries. Eighty naval personnel were honoured with decorations and awards, the majority ‘mentioned-in-despatches’.

Today, Vietnam is united and at peace, but there was a time when we were adversaries of those who sought and gained that unification by a spectrum of ideological and military means. It was a complex and costly war, and the longest to that point fought by the United States and Australia.

To put it into one context, nine million men served in the US military during the Vietnam War, one third of whom went to the Vietnam theatre, and there has been little latter-day recognition of how brutal the war was for those who fought it on the ground. Those who believe the war was fought incompletely on a tactical level should consider Hanoi’s recent admission that 1.4 million of its soldiers died on the battlefield, compared to 266,000 Army of the Republic of Vietnam deaths and 58,000 total U.S. dead. Those who believe that it was a ‘dirty little war’, where the bombs did all the work, might contemplate that it was the most costly war the U.S. Marine Corps has ever fought; five times as many dead as in World War I, three times as many dead as in Korea, and more total killed and wounded than in World War 2.

Significantly, those sacrifices were made at a time when the United States, and to a lesser extent Australia, were deeply divided politically and societally at home over our military involvement in Vietnam, particularly after the Tet Offensive in 1968. Ask any surviving veteran who returned from that war. He will tell you all about that!

Occasional Paper 74: World War 2 Arrived on the Australian Mainland

March 30, 2020

March 2020

By Dennis J Weatherall JP TM AFAITT(L) LSM – Volunteer Researcher

Dennis Weatherall attended the recent 78th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin, also known as the “Battle of Darwin”, by Japanese Imperial Forces on Thursday 19th February 1942. The air raid siren sounded at exactly 09:58 – war had arrived in Australia. He asks why more Australians don’t know about the continuous attacks that started on that day and continued until 12th November 1943 – some 21 months. In this paper Dennis provides and overview of the attacks and naval losses in more detail.

Darwin, has changed much since my last visit some 38 years ago and it is dramatically different to the Darwin of 1942 which bore the brunt of the first ever attack by a foreign power on Australian soil. Why didn’t we know they were coming? Was our intelligence so bad or were we too complacent in 1942?

The Government of the day had anticipated the Japanese would push south but “when” was the big question. Evacuations of civilians had already started by February 1942.

On the morning of the fateful day there were many ships, both Naval and Merchant men, in the Port of Darwin along with a QANTAS flying boat “Camilla” and three Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats of the USN, when 188 Japanese aircraft of various types, 36 Zero fighters, 71 dive bombers and 81 medium attack bombers commenced their first raid. These aircraft were launched from four Japanese Imperial Navy Aircraft Carriers namely Akagi, Kaga, Soryuand and Hiryu from 400 kms northwest of Darwin. In all there would be 64 such raids on the Top End.

For further details on the Japanese air raids across northern Australia, that stretched as far east as Townsville QLD, south in the NT to Katherine and to Exmouth on the WA coast, view the following hyperlink; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raids_on_Australia,_1942%E2%80%9343 There were another 62 raids, some doubling up with two targets on the same raid, with special interest on the airstrips in and around Darwin and ‘down the track’.

Father John McGrath of the Sacred Heart Mission on Bathurst Island was the first to raise the alarm at 0937 that many aircraft in formation had flown over the Island and six had strafed the Mission. Father McGrath was also an Australian Coast Watcher, he sent the message by pedal radio to the Amalgamated Wireless Station in Darwin. The message was relayed to the Duty RAAF Operations Officer at 0937 but no general alarm was made until 1000 after the sirens sounded. Duty staff had determined that the formation was probably USAAF P-40’s (Kittyhawks) returning to Darwin from patrol. Unfortunately, the message did not get the urgent attention it required and at 09:58 air raid siren sounded as the first of the Japanese bombs dropped on Darwin.

Once the air raid siren sounded, Darwin was never to be quite the place it once was. The Post Office took a direct hit and 12 female workers were killed outright. By the midnight on 19 February, 243 citizens and military personnel were dead and some 300 were injured or missing so the official records state.

Later on the same morning (19 February) at 11:58, 54 land-based medium bombers made the second attack of the day. The flight consisted of 27 Mitsubishi G3M and 27 G4M aircraft. Why weren’t we prepared for the onslaught?

Vessels alongside Stokes Hill Wharf or adjacent to it

The following vessels were in the Port of Darwin either alongside Stokes Hill Wharf or adjacent to it during the initial Japanese attack. A summary of the employment of these vessels prior to the attack and their subsequent history is provided in the Annex to this paper.

SS Barossa after being bombed in Darwin on the 19 February 1942

Name	Role	Result of Bombing Raid, 19 February 1942
HMAS Kuru	Auxiliary Patrol Boat	Undamaged
Lighter of unknown origin
SS Barossa	General cargo	Damaged by bomb
MV NEPTUNA	Cargo motor vessel	Sunk alongside Stokes Hill Wharf. She had been unloading war supplies and ammunition including depth charges

Vessels Laying at Anchor

The following vessels were laying at anchor in the roads at time of the first and second air raids. A summary of the employment of these vessels prior to the attack and their subsequent history is provided in the Annex to this paper.

Name	Role	Result of Bombing Raid, 19 February 1942
HMAS Warrego II	Grimsby Class Sloop	Undamaged
HMAS Swan II	Grimsby Class Sloop	Slightly damaged in the first day raids
HMAS Deloraine	Bathurst Class Minesweeper	Undamaged
HMAS Platypus I	Base Depot Vessel	Damage to engine room the result of near misses which sunk Mavie which was alongside at the time.
Mavie	Channel Patrol Boat	Sunk by shock from near mises. The crew of 4 escaped without injury.
HMAS Katoomba	Bathurst Class Minesweeper	Undamaged
SS Zealandia	Troop transport and resupply ship	Sunk by bombs
USS Peary	Clemson Class Destroyer	Sunk with the loss of 91 lives.
Supply Hulk Kelat	Coal Hulkj	Sank slowly after a near miss on 19 Feb 42 and machine gun strafing several days after the initial attack.
USS William B Preston	Clemson Class Destroyer	Suffered damage and lost three PBY aircraft.
SS Admiral Halstead	US flagged support ship carrying aviation fuel.	Damaged but did not catch fire.
SS Portmar	US flagged cargo vessel	Heavily damaged and run aground to save her from sinking.
HMAHS Manunda	Hospital Ship	Minor damage
SS Mauna Loa	US supply ship	Sunk
USAT Meigs	US supply ship	Sunk
MV Tulagi	Cargo vessel	Undamaged but was beached to save her from further attacks and possibility of sinking. Refloated on 20 February 1942.
MV British Motorist	RN Oil Tanker	Sunk by 2 direct bomb hits whilst refuelling USS Perry.
HMAS Kookaburra	Boom defence and and examination Vessel	Undamaged

HMAS Deloraine – J232 Bathurst Class Corvette-Minesweeper, RAN image

USAT Meigs, United States Transport Ship

Other vessels in the Vicinity of Darwin on 19 February 1942

Official records show there was a significant number of Royal Australia Navy minor war vessels (commissioned and non-commissioned in or around the Port of Darwin on 19 February 1942. These are listed in the following table.

Minesweepers	Patrol Boats	Luggers	Boom Defence Vessels
HMAS Warrnabool	HMAS Winbah	HMAS Ibis	HMAS Kangaroo
HMAS Townsville	HMAS Nereus	HMAS Medic	HMAS Krangi
HMAS Tolga	HMAS Coongoola	HMAS Red Bill	HMAS Koala
HMAS Terka	HMAS Kiara	HMAS St Francis	HMAS Kompartoo
Examination Vessels	HMAS Mako	HMAS Moruya	HMAS Kara Kara
HMAS Larrakia	HMAS Vigilant	HMAS Griffioen	Coasters
HMAS Southern Cross	HMAS Mako	HMAS Arthur Rose	HMAS Gunbar
Ketch	Tugs	HMAS Malanda	Lighters
HMAS Sulituan	HMAS Wato	Mars	HMAS Kalaroo
HMAS Chinampa		Plover	Yampi Lass
Floating Docks
AD1001

War Time Sites in and Around Darwin

An objective of our tour was to visit all the war time sites in and around Darwin. We started in Darwin City visiting the following; the Oil Fuel Tunnels, Stokes Hill Wharf, the Military Museum at East Point and the 9.2” gun emplacements. We then travelled south to the “Charles Darwin National Park” where one can walk through the WWII ammunition bunkers which were the responsibility of the RAAF. Further south towards Batchelor and Adelaide River there are many relics to be seen. These include an anti-aircraft site at what was known as the “Quarantine Battery” with 3.7” guns, a placement of four and the most complete site, 36 miles south. Then came 16 mile camp, the first such named camp using the mileage ex Darwin. This site was used by both the United States and Australian troops. It has been refurbished with a 2.5 km walking track across quite a steep ridge, where you can still view their scraps and trenches in the bush, 17.5 mile camp site is just down the road. Next comes the myriad of war time airstrips, Sattler, Strauss at 27 mile the last surviving and almost intact pursuit fighter base in the Territory, Coomalie Creek, Batchelor, Gould (adjacent Batchelor) and Pell at 65 mile south.

Adelaide River is the site of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery where there are 434 military burials. I found 16 sailors’ plaques, two of which were killed in action (KIA) on the 19 February 1942 during the Japanese raids. Coincidentally, they both had the surname MOORE and both served on Darwin’s Boom Defence vessels in Darwin on the first day of the raids.

One was Petty Officer Seaman Frank MOORE RAN (pre-war), official number 9684, aged 42, born 22^nd November 1899 in Croydon England, joined the Royal Navy 27^th January 1920 at 20 years of age. Served on HMA Ships Tasmania, Melbourne, Cerberus, Platypus, Adelaide, Penguin, Australia, Vampire, Stuart, Brisbane, Sydney, then a second posting to Adelaide, Penguin then onto Melville and finally Kara Kara (Boom Defence Vessel – Darwin) where he served from 13^th July 1941 until KIA on the 19 February 1942. It is noted on his Service Certificate he actually passed away on HMAHS Manunda in the Port of Darwin on 19 February 1942.

Note Cook Moore’s plaque reads RAN but service certificate shows he was RANR)

The second sailor was Cook Norman Richard MOORE, official number S3584, born 3 February 1911. He joined the RANR as a war time enlistment on 6 September 1939 (a very early volunteer), his postings were to Penguin, Cerberus, Penguin for a second time, Melville and HMAS Kangaroo (Boom Defence Vessel – Darwin) between 24 December 1940 to 19 February 1942 when killed in action. His mother was paid 24 shillings per fortnight as a war pension commencing 20 February 1942. He was originally buried in Berrimah Grave C.1 reference 446/201/692 on 2 September 1942 until reburied at Adelaide River CWGC Cemetery.

Rest in Peace my fellow sailors.

References:

navy.gov.au/history ships details and photographs of same
CWGC Adelaide River Cemetery plaques and information – credit author
USS Peary gun Memorial photo credit – author
Japanese submarine 1-124 by Tom Lewis author of “I-124”
Military Museum East Point Darwin reference material from displays
NT Parliament Library Bombing of Darwin – Battle of Darwin display

Annex

Details of Vessels in the Port of Darwin 19 February 1942

HMAS Kuru

HMAS Kuru was an auxiliary patrol boat Pennant number 83 – built at Balmain Sydney by J Beattie & Sons in 1938 for the NT’s Administration for Customs & Police duties. Her name in local indigenous language is “The Eye”. The RAN requisitioned her on 8th December 1941 as a tender to HMAS Platypus. Displaced 55 tons and wooden built. Speed 13 knots, armament 2 x 20mm Oerlikons, 1 x Vickers Machine Gun, 1 x Lewis Machine Gun, 2 x depth charge chutes. In May 1943 Kuru was under the command of Lieutenant Joe Joel RANR inaugurated the naval supply run between Darwin & Betano in Timor (Operation Hamburger) delivering men and supplies to Sparrow Force. “Kuru” was the transport for “Z Force” men and supplies (Operation Lizard), she also evacuated many civilians and servicemen off Timor on multi occasions. On the 01st December ‘42 in company with HMAS Armidale she went again into Timor to evacuate troops but got separated from Armidale. They were attacked by a large number of Japanese aircraft (official number states 44). “Kuru” was damaged by shrapnel and lost a boat being towed with a direct hit. She arrived back in Darwin 3rd December 1942, but Armidale was lost in the attack 27th January 1943 “Kuru” proceeded to Wessel Islands and collected the survivors from the sinking and strafing of HMAS Patricia Cam. Decommissioned 22nd October 1943 and spent the war on local patrol and Boom Defence duties. A warrior to the last!

SS Barossa

A 4,265 GRT cargo vessel owned by the Adelaide Steamship Co. and built in Dundee Scotland in 1938 – she was damaged in the raid. Post WWII she was renamed “Cronulla” and was damaged in a typhoon out of Hong Kong and was scrapped in Hong Kong in 1969.

MV Neptuna

MV Neptuna was a 5,952 GRT Cargo vessel motor vessel, originally launched as MV Rio Panuco in 1924, renamed Neptun in 1931 and then to Neptuna in 1935. Built by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft of Keil Germany and operated by Flensburger Dampfer & Company between 1924-1931. Renamed Neptuna also in 1931 and operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd Line between New Guinea and Hong Kong. Purchased in 1935 by Burns Philp & Company until sunk alongside Stokes Hill wharf on the 19th February 1942 Port Darwin whilst unloading war supplies and ammunition including depth charges.

HMAS Warrego II

HMAS Warrego II a Grimsby Class Sloop U 73 built at Cockatoo Dockyard Sydney, laid down 15^th May 1939, launched 10^th February 1940 by Mrs Pattie Menzies, wife of the Prime Minister. Commissioned 22^nd August 40, decommissioned 15^th August 1963. First CO Cmdr R V Wheatley RAN, displacement 1,575 tons fully loaded, speed 16.5 – 17 knots, crew 135, armament 4 x 4” open gun mounts, 4 x QF 3 pounders, 2 x depth charge throwers, 7 x 20mm Oerlikons, 2 x twin tube 21” torpedoes. She was sold on 2^nd June 1965 to Metal Traders Australia Pty Ltd and broken up in 1966 in Sydney – undamaged in the raid.

HMAS Swan II

HMAS Swan II was a Grimsby Class Sloop U 74, built Cockatoo Dockyard Sydney, laid down 01st May 1935, launched 28th March 36, commissioned 21st January 1937, decommissioned 20th September 62. First CO Cmdr Roy R Dowling RAN, displacement, speed, complement, armament similar to HMAS Warrego II her sister ship – slightly damaged in the first day raids.

HMAS Deloraine

HMAS Deloraine was a Bathurst Class (Corvette) – Minesweeper J 232 built at Morts Dock & Engineering Co Ltd Sydney, laid down 10th March 1941, launched 26th July 1941 by Dame Mary Hughes, the wife of the then Minister of the Navy. Commissioned 22 November 1941, decommissioned 30th June 1948, displacement 650 tons, speed 15 knots, armament 1 x 4” Mk XIX gun, 2 x 20mm Oerlikons, 1 x 40mm Bofor plus Machine Guns for the use of!, complement 85. She came through the first bombing raid undamaged. “Deloraine” was also one of four ships (USS Edsall, HMAS Lithgow, Katoomba) which were credited with sinking the Japanese Submarine I-124 on or around 20th January 1942 off Bathurst Island, north of Darwin.

HMAS Platypus I

HMAS Platypus I had no pennant number allocated at its commissioning. It was originally a Submarine Depot Ship for our six J Class in the late 20’s. Built by John Brown & Co Ltd Clydebank Scotland, laid down 14th October 1914, launched 28th October 1916 by Mrs Fisher, the wife of the Australian High Commissioner to the UK. Displacement 3,476 tons, commissioned 25th March 1919, speed 15.5 knots, armament 1 x 4” low angle and 1 x 4” high angle gun, . In 1929 when ships were being paid off, “Platypus” became a Depot ship at Garden Island but also acting as Depot ship for the J Class submarines that were still operating (x 4 as 2 had been returned to the RN). She was paid off on the 15th August 1929 and recommissioned the next day as HMAS Penguin, and continued to serve as a Depot Vessel until 26th February 1941, when recommissioned back to her original name of “Platypus”. In May 1941 she proceeded to Darwin and on the 19th February 1942 took three near misses, whilst the “Lugger Mavie” that was alongside was sunk. “Platypus” took damage to her engine room and was inoperative for some time until repaired. She remained Base Depot ship until 01st January 1943 when she sailed for Cairns where she resumed Base Depot ship duties until May 1944. Platypus was decommissioned on 13th May 1946.

Mavie

Mavie was a Channel Patrol Boat, 19 tons auxiliary of wooden Lugger structure, built in 1903 in Fremantle. As she was owned by a Japanese national, a Mr Jiro Muramats, it was requisitioned in December 1941. “Mavie” took a near miss whilst alongside Platypus, the crew of 4 escaped without injury. In 1959-60 along with the MV Neptuna was salvaged by Fujita Salvage Company. Yes by the Japanese who actually sunk both vessels…….such is life !

HMAS Katoomba

HMAS Katoomba was a Bathurst Class (Corvette) – Minesweeper J 204 built by Poole & Steel Ltd at Balmain Sydney, laid down 9th September 1940, launched 16th April 1941 by a Mrs Lloyd Deputy Mayoress of Katoomba NSW. Commissioned 17th December 1941, decommissioned 2nd August 1941. Her other specifications are similar to HMAS Deloraine, she came through day one’s air raid undamaged.

MV Zeelanda

MV Zeelanda was owned and operated by Huddart Parker Line Melbourne, built by John Brown & Co Clydebank Scotland, launched 20th November 1909, completed May 1910, nicknamed “Zed” or plain “Z”, 6,683 Gross tons, speed 15 knots, could carry 800 troops and 1,800 in war supplies. She served as a troop transport in both wars and carried the Australian 8th Division at one deployment early in WWII. Her crew were the last to see HMAS Sydney before she was lost in the engagement with the raider Kormoran HSK – 8 with all hands. Zeelanda was sunk.

USS Peary

USS Peary DD 226 was a Clemson Class Destroyer USN, named after Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Perry USN (6th May 1856 – 20th February 1920) an American explorer of the Arctic, he’s best known for claiming to have reached the geographic North Pole on 6th April 1909. USS Perry was built by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia, laid down 9th September 1919, launched 6th April 1920, commissioned 22nd October 1920, of 1,190 tons, speed 35 knots, complement 101 Officers and men, armament 4 x 4” guns, 1 x 3” gun, 12 x 21” torpedo tubes. The USS Peary was in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked, she was also attacked by Japanese aircraft on the 10th December 1941 in Philippine waters whilst alongside and took a direct hit forward in the superstructure that killed 8 crew. “Peary” was towed out of her berth and the fires caused by the hit extinguished by the USS Pillsbury (DD 227) as sister ship and AM-35 Whippoorwill. The CO Cmdr H H Keith was wounded by an exploding torpedo and relieved by Cmdr J M Berringham. “Peary” eventually made it to the safety of Port Darwin only to be sunk in the Japanese raid of Thursday 19th February 1942. There are 91 names on the Roll of Honour attached to a salvaged 3” gun from this “Four Funnelled Flipper’ as they were referred to by those that served on similar lend lease ships in Royal Naval service during WWII.

Supply Hulk Kelat

Supply Hulk Kelat was an 1849 tons, iron hulled, fully rigged three masted sailing ship, built in Stockton-on-Tees England in 1881, builder Richardson Duck & Company, launched 31 March 1881, completed May 1881, requisitioned into RAN service in 1941. Originally she sailed the London-Australia route until damaged in a severe storm and was condemned in Melbourne on the 9th July 1914. Sold to Mcllwrath McEachern Property Ltd who converted her into a coal hulk. Sometime after, she was renamed her original given name “Kelat”. In February 1942 she was towed from Fremantle to Darwin fully loaded with coal. Sunk on the 19th February 1942, she went down slowly after a near miss and machine gun bullets from strafing Japanese aircraft a few days post the initial attack.

USS William B Preston

USS William B Preston DD 344/AVP-20/AVD-7 was of the same Class as USS Perry a Clemson Class Destroyer and named after the then Secretary of the Navy and Senator, William B Preston. She was known by her crew as the “William B”. Built at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, laid down 18th November 1918, launched 9th August 1919, commissioned 23rd August 1920, decommissioned 6th August 1945. Displacement 1,308 tons, speed 35 knots, complement 221 Officers & men. Armament 4 x 4” guns, 1 x 3” gun, 12 x 21” torpedo tubes, The “William B” received the same punishment as the “Perry” days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was designated and being used as a Seaplane Tender, and lost two PBY’s (Catalinas) at anchor in one attack. The remaining PBY’s were sent ahead and the “William B” made for Darwin. On the morning of the 19th the CO Lt. Cmdr Etheridge Grant USN was ashore visiting the US Consul when the Japanese struck, he made it back to his ship but she suffered damage. Also two PBY’s were lost and a third at anchor outside the port at East Point.

SS Admiral Halstead

There’s little information on SS Admiral Halstead in open source other than she was built in 1921 and was a merchant US flagged ship carrying 14,000 drums of aviation fuel. US Army volunteers were able to unload its cargo and although damaged in the raid miraculously didn’t catch fire – someone was looking after her crew and volunteer unloaders.

SS Portmar

SS Portmar: A United States flagged merchantman originally named “Centaurus”, built by North West Steel in 1919, changed name to “Portmar” in 1930, launched 17th November 1919, completed in December 1919, GRT 5,551, DWT 8,800. She was chartered by the US Department of War to carry supplies to the Philippines but found herself retained in Australia when the Japanese invaded the Philippines and used to carry reinforcements from Darwin to Timor. The vessel was attacked by Japanese aircraft enroute to Timor on the 18th February 1942 and turned back to Darwin, so found herself at anchor in Darwin on the morning of the 19th. The “Portmar” was heavily damaged and run aground to save her from sinking. After the attack the ship was refloated 6th April 1942 and towed to Sydney for extensive repairs. The US Army then purchased her and placed it back in service as an Army transport. In June 1943 she sailed in Convoy GP 55 and was torpedoed off Smoky Cape along with another convoy vessel LST-469 by the Japanese submarine I-174. Because of her highly explosive cargo she was abandoned and sunk quickly (within ten minutes of the hit), the Portmar was the last ship lost to any Japanese submarine action (they say) in Australian waters during WWII.

HMAHS Manunda

Hospital Ship – HMAHS Manunda: Originally named TSMV Manunda (TS-twin screw) owned by the Adelaide Steamship Company (ASS) Melbourne, built by William Beardmore & Co. Dalmuir Scotland. Launched 27th November 1928, completed 16th April 1929, GRT 9,115 tons, speed 15 knots, could carry 312 passengers and designated a passenger-cargo ship. When war was declared “Manunda” was fitted out as a DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship), she was converted to a Hospital Ship and entered service in that role on the 22nd July 1940 under the command of Merchant Captain James Gordon the pre-war Commodore of the ASS fleet. She received some damage in the initial raids on Darwin. Post WWII she was sold to a Japanese Co. “Okadagumi Line” and scrapped in 1957 in Osaka Japan.

SS Mauna Loa

SS Mauna Loa was originally named “West Conob” when laid down in 1919 for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) part of the West series of ships, steel hulled cargo ship built on the West Coast USA for the WWI effort. She was the 14th such ship built by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. at San Pedro California, GRT 5,899 tons. She was owned by a number of companies, Pacific Mail Steamship Co, and circumnavigated the world twice by 1921, then to South America for Swayne & Hoyt Lines in 1925. In 1934 Swayne & Hoyt was absorbed into Oceanic & Oriental Navigation Co. And was name changed to the “Golden Eagle”. Eventually this Company was also absorbed by Matson Navigation Company and operated between the West Coast USA and Hawaii and then came another name change to “Mauna Loa” to give her a Hawaiian-sounding title. Before the US entered WWII the US Department of War chartered the vessel to carry supplies into the Philippines, the vessel was part of the convoy en-route to Timor that turned back to Darwin on the 18th February 1942 and found herself in Port Darwin on the 19th – unfortunately she was sunk.

USAT Meigs

USAT Meigs was originally named “West Lewark” (1921-22), laid down 30th July 1920, launched 24th February 1921, acquired by the US Army in 1922 and renamed “Meigs”. Like the Mauna Loa she was built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) at GRT 7,358 tons and was one of the few merchant ships retained between the war years. Before WWII she was designated number AK-34 but never sailed under that pennant number due to the US governments change of mind? This vessel was part of the “Pensacola Convoy” to reinforce the Philippines but was held in Fiji when it was clear the Japanese were already invading the Philippines. Despite the US military endeavouring to re-route the convoy back to the US, the President made the decision to send it on to Australia and to try and resupply the Philippines ex Australia. “Meigs” was escorted to Darwin by the USS Houston (later to be sunk in company with HMAS Perth). She was also used to try and resupply Timor, but was sunk on the 19th February 1942. Much of her cargo lies in Port Darwin, munitions, railway tracks (rails), Bren Gun Carriers, trucks of various varieties – all intended for “Sparrow Force” on Timor.

MV Tulagi

MV Tulagi was owned by Burns Philp and registered in Hong Kong, launched 30th March 1939, completed July 1939, she was a basic cargo vessel, built by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dockyard of Hong Kong, displacement 2,550 DWT. She survived the Darwin bombing on the 19th February but was beached to save her from any further attacks and the possibility of sinking, refloated on Friday 20th February 1942. “Tulagi” was also part of the turned back convoy on the 18th February. Unfortunately, her luck ran out on 28th March 1944 at 00:10 when torpedoed by the German submarine U-532 under the command of Kapitan Ottoheinrich Junker whilst enroute between Sydney and Colombo under the command of Captain Leonard (Dusty) Millar. She was carrying 1,800 tons of flour and 380 bags of mail. Her total crew was made up of 15 Officers, 26 Indian Seamen, 7 Malay and 5 RANR gunners = 54 in total, only 15 out of her crew survived the sinking. They were 11 Australians, 3 Malays and 1 Indian.

MV British Motorist

MV British Motorist was a tanker of 6,891 Long tons, built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Newcastle upon Tyne UK, for the British Tanker Company. Launched 14th August 1924, crew 61, on the morning of the raid (19th Feb 42) she was on charter to the Royal Navy. She was hit by two direct aerial bombs whilst refuelling USS Perry. Her master Captain C Bates and 2nd Radio Officer were killed in the blast. In 1959-60 the Fujita Salvage Co, raised the fore and aft sections leaving the engine room below as it was too heavy to lift, they then welded both sections together and towed them back to Japan where they were broken up for scrap. The engine room lies at co-ordinates 12 degrees 28 minutes 96 seconds South and 130 degrees 50 minutes 33 seconds East.

HMAS Kookaburra

HMAS Kookaburra: Modified Net Class Boom Defence vessel A 331 built at Cockatoo Dockyard Sydney, laid down on 4th April 1938. Launched 29th October 1938, commissioned 28th February 1939, decommissioned 3rd December 1958, 533 tons, speed 9.5 knots, complement 32, armament 1 x 3” HA/LA gun, 2 x .303” Maxim machine guns. On the 9th April 1940 proceeded to Darwin and assumed the dual role of both a Boom Defence Vessel and Examination Vessel. Other than for a refit in Brisbane between September 1942 and February 1943 she served out the entire war in Darwin and was declared for disposal on 24th June 1965. As a Naval League Cadet, the author served onboard her at TS Australia which was then Boom Defence Waverton, commissioned as HMAS Waterhen on the 5th December 1962 with the arrival of the six Ton Class Minesweepers joining the Royal Australian Navy.

Occasional Paper 68: Bristol Sycamore HR50/51

December 21, 2019

This paper, first published by the Sea Power Centre – Australia provides an overview of the service history of the Bristol Sycamore rescue and training helicopter operated by the RAN Fleet Air Arm between 1953 and 1965.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Fleet Air Arm was formed in 1948 and the first aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney commissioned in February 1949. A second carrier HMAS Vengeance was loaned to the RAN in March 1953 and served until March 1956; she was replaced by HMAS Melbourne when she arrived in Australia. The air sea rescue aircraft operated by the RAN in 1949 was a seaplane, the Sea Otter, which was less than suitable for use with the new aircraft carriers and a decision was made to obtain helicopters for the air-sea rescue task.

Following a lengthy review of suitable types, the RAN placed its first order for three Bristol Sycamores (HR.50 Model) from the United Kingdom in late 1951. These helicopters arrived in Australia, on board the aircraft carrier Vengeance, on 11 March 1953. They were then flown off to the Naval Air Station (HMAS Albatross) at Nowra and taken on charge by 723 Squadron; formed on 7 April 1952. Except for a short period during October 1956 – February 1957 when the Sycamores were part of 724 Squadron they were operated exclusively by 723 Squadron.

A total of 13 Sycamore helicopters (ten being the HR.51 Model) were acquired by the RAN, with two embarked in Melbourne during her delivery voyage to Australia, while the remainder were delivered to Australia as sea freight. Sycamores were to be deployed regularly on board the carriers Sydney, Vengeance and Melbourne, for air-sea rescue duties and general personnel and stores carrying tasks. During their service in the carriers the Sycamore helicopters operated throughout Australian waters, Southeast Asia and the western Pacific region. Routine maintenance was conducted at Nowra, or on board the carriers, while major overhaul and upgrades was contracted to Bristol Aviation Services at Bankstown Airport, Sydney.

In the early 1960’s planning began to find a replacement for the Sycamore and in 1964 new Bell Iroquois helicopters, from the United States, were acquired. Of the 13 RAN Sycamores six crashed during service; this included two lost from HMAS Melbourne in 1957 and one from HMS Hermes in 1961. The three others were destroyed in crashes at Maitland (1956), Grafton (1958) and Nowra in 1962. The remaining RAN Sycamores were retired from service in June 1965 and sold to museums.

Left: A Sycamore helicopter about to land on HMAS Melbourne

Right: A Sycamore helicopter, in the later blue and white paint scheme, flies over the NSW south coast.

A Sycamore helicopter at the Naval Air Station at Nowra, NSW (HMAS Albatross) in the late 1950’s.

Further Reading:

The full details of the career of each RAN Sycamore is available here http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a91.htm

Source:Sea Power Centre Australia: available at, http://www.navy.gov.au/aircraft/bristol-sycamore-hr5051

Occasional Paper 69: The Naval Garden on Garden Island, Sydney

December 17, 2019

December 2019

By Colin Randall

Colin is a volunteer researcher with the Naval Historical Society of Australia and a tour guide for its heritage tours of the Hill. He lived in Residence ‘C’ on Garden Island while attending high school and university, and has an intimate knowledge of the Naval Garden, as it was essentially his playground and backyard from 1961 until 1970. His father was ex Royal Navy, ex Royal Australian Navy and worked for the Department of the Navy in planning ship refits. Colin’s grandfather was on the Australia Station on HMS Pegasus and HMS Powerful based at Garden Island from 1908 until 1910.

This story was first published by the Australian Garden History Society in the Australian Garden History Journal, October 2019.

The historic naval base at Garden Island Naval Precinct in Sydney Harbour was listed on the Commonwealth Heritage List and NSW State Heritage Register in 2004. The naval garden on Garden Island has been shaped by the development of Australia’s major naval base, the activities of the Royal Navy on the Australia Station, the opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia and the creation and activities of the Royal Australian Navy.

Garden Island and nearby Potts Point are high points above sea level of the drowned river valley that now forms Sydney Harbour, which was itself formed between 10,000 and 6500 years ago as sea levels rose following the last glaciation. In 1788 the sandstone island was vegetated with low coastal heath and woodland. The island had hummocks at its north (24 metres high) and south (20 m) ends, with a lower flat area between them.

An Early Garden

Garden Island was the site of one of the first gardens planted by the First Fleet in 1788 and provided onions and corn for the crew of HMS Sirius. The area chosen for the garden was the flat land between the island’s northern and southern hills.

For nearly 20 years it was the site for ships’ gardens, supplying a series of Royal Navy ships. The lack of a permanent water supply was always a limiting factor in the success of the gardens. The northern end of the island had a battery established in 1796 to protect Sydney from potential attack by French warships. Governor Macquarie in 1806 brought Garden Island into his Domain and the island was used as a place for raising of chickens for the Governor’s table.

Alexander Harris, a visitor to Sydney in the 1840s, described Pinchgut Island and neighbouring Garden Island to the southeast as ‘two small scrub clad piles of hoary stones, each standing solitary amidst the whistling winds of the Stream’.

Uncertain Water

Throughout the early and mid-1800s Garden Island became a popular picnic site for Sydney siders. The lack of water and facilities, however, limited its appeal, with everything having to be brought with the picnickers.

With the decision in the 1865 to create a naval base for Royal
Navy ships on the Australian Station (the Australian region’s seat of command for the British Navy), the island was taken back from the control of NSW and ship’s boat repair facilities were constructed.

The lack of a permanent water supply to the Island remained an issue, with water supply coming from rainwater capture and delivery by barge. However there was sufficient water for a lawn tennis court to be laid down in 1880 in part of the area originally used by the ship’s garden. The sport of tennis was first introduced to Australia around 1875 and Royal Navy and Marine officers were keen exponents.

Occupation

The major transformation of Garden Island followed the levelling of the southern hill and included the erection of barracks for Royal Marines and sailors. Cottages built in 1885 for the supervisors of the construction were then turned over for use by naval staff. With the construction of the new barracks on the site of the original tennis court, a new tennis court was constructed on the northern hill

The tennis courts were built adjacent to rock carving with the initials of a survey party and the date 1788. Until the building of this new tennis court in 1885 the Hill was representative of the native vegetation on what were the sandstone outcrops.

The water supply problem for the island was solved in 1889 when NSW Harbours and Rivers Department laid a water main under the harbour from Potts Point to the southern end of the island. Water was then reticulated around the island through a 15 inch main.

Additional works on the Hill for pathways and levelling in the late 1880s discovered the two cannons that had been installed in 1796 and abandoned. A 6 pounder and 4 pounder, reportedly from HMS Sirius, were refurbished and placed on their appropriate gun carriages and reinstalled looking towards Fort Denison.

Garden Island (lower) and Pinchgut Island in Sydney Harbour, ca 1818, by Edward Charles Close (formerly attributed to Sophia Campbell). National Library of Australia.

By 1896 the Hill not only had paths leading to the tennis court from the residences but a ‘rustic summer house’ adjacent to the flagstaff on the peak of the Hill. Paths also led to the harbour swimming pool at the north end of the island.

Royal Visit Plantings

On 9 May 1901 the Duke of Cornwall opened the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia in Melbourne. Later that month he travelled with the Duchess of Cornwall to Sydney. On 30 May 1901 in Sydney Harbour he undertook a formal inspection of ships of the Australia Station as well as the naval depot on Garden Island. The Duke and Governor-General Lord Hopetoun (Australia’s inaugural Governor-General) travelled from Admiralty House at Kirribilli by steam launch, and inspected a guard of honour in front of the Garden Island barracks.

The Port Jackson fig planted by the Duke of Cornwall (crowned King George V in June 1911), ca 1910

To mark the occasion of their visit the Duke of
Cornwall and the Governor-General (on behalf of
the Duchess of Cornwall) ceremonially planted
trees at a site on the western side of Garden
Island’s Hill. Joseph Maiden (who was Director of the Botanic Gardens 1896–1924) had selected two trees for their longevity, and supervised the planting. The Duke of Cornwall planted a Port Jackson fig (Ficus rubiginosa) and Lord Hopetoun a hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii). These are amongst the 15 trees on Garden Island identified on the City of Sydney Register of Significant Trees.

The royal visit of the Duke of Cornwall to Garden Island would have initiated a tidying up and defining of the paths leading to the site of the tree planting adjacent to the tennis court. White painted rocks were no doubt the order of the day. Photographs taken in about 1910 shows a path on the eastern side of the Hill leading from the residences towards the swimming pool.

Looking to the north from the residences, ca 1910

Interesting Objects

Slit drum in the Garden Island gardens in 2019. NHSA Image

The inclusion of ‘interesting objects’ in the naval garden appears to become part of the tradition. One example is the slit drum from the Solomon Island collected on Mallo Kollo [Malakula] by Commander AHCC Home RN HMS Pegasus 1910 and installed in the garden. The drum was collected during punitive raids by Royal Navy bluejackets following attacks on missionaries.

With the changeover from the Royal Navy to the Royal Australian Navy in 1913, Garden Island came under new management. The six residences housed naval officers and civilians essential for the running of the naval base including general manager, master attendant and chief stores officer.

In September 1914 the Royal Australian Navy took control of Rabaul from the Germans. A trophy of that attack was a chain fence, which was brought back to Garden Island and erected in the garden. The construction of an oil tank in 1917 necessitated a bridge to provide continued access to the garden on the western side.

Garden Island’s figureheads, 1930s. nd Emden Gun Defence image

In the 1920s the island’s general manager erected a naval gun from the German cruiser SMS Emden and two ship’s figureheads as embellishments to the gardens. White painted rocks and boiler bricks were in evidence.

On 15 April 1936 Governor-General Lord Gowrie inspected the Garden Island naval depot and HMAS Moresby andPenguin (ex Platypus), the depot ship. To mark the occasion (commemorated by a brass plaque) he planted an outeniqua yellowwood (Afrocarpus falcatus), a southern African conifer, on the Hill.

In 1941 underground tunnels were excavated with a fan shaft sited adjacent to the tennis court pavilion. The excavation was for the emergency diesel electricity generator. By 1943 the Emden’s gun had gone but the figureheads remained. The use of pipe and wire fencing were utilitarian features of the garden.

page4image63548800 page4image52975616

Fuel tank construction in August 1917, just south of the trees planted by Duke of Cornwall and Lord Hopetoun. Defence image

The apprentices of 1985, assembled in front of new stone work and terracing.

Over the next 40 years there were more additions and variations to the stonewalls and garden beds. In particular, in 1985 an expansive stone platform looking out to Fort Denison and the harbour was constructed. This provided a convenient place for photographs with visiting dignitries as well as the annual apprentices photograph. Wooden objects felt the passage of time with the gun carriages needing to be replaced while the slit drum was reduced in height through repairs.

The most striking change in the last 20 years is the growth ofmany self-seeded trees including outeniqua yellowwood (Afrocarpus falcatus)and the reduction in the direct views of the harbour from The Hill. However, the newly installed walkway to the top of the old signal station now provides the best 360 degree view of Sydney and the harbour.

The recent addition of a new individual memorial garden underlines the strong continuing connection many in the Royal Australian Navy still have with the garden on The Hill.

Heritage tours of the Hill at Garden Island

Volunteer guides from the Naval Historical Society of Australia conduct a heritage walking tour of the Hill on one Sunday each month. Some guides are ex-Navy, others – such as Colin – have worked or lived on the island for many years. As well as learning about the island’s fascinating history, there is one of the best 360 degree views of Sydney Harbour from the top of the signal station.

Access to Garden Island is by ferry from Circular Quay, leaving at 9.50 am. The Sunday tour starts at 10.15 am at the Garden Island ferry wharf.

For further information or to book a tour, see https://www.navyhistory.org.au/productcategory/tours/. Tours are limited to 30 people. page5image53150080 page5image53150464

Aerial View of garden Island Circa 1990s_Defence image

Occasional Paper 65: Sailors, Soldiers and Two Wars. From HMCS protector to South Africa

October 30, 2019

October 2019

The following story was written by Dr Anthony Stimson BA Hons B Ed PhD, who has extensively researched the history of the Boer War including the South Australian men that volunteered. He is a frequent visitor to Australian battlefields in South Africa and President of the South Australian Boer War Association, an association for descendants of men who served and anyone interested in the war in South Africa.

Dr Stimson was a co-founder and principal of Eynesbury Senior College, Institutes of Business and Technology and international English language academies in Adelaide until stepping down in 2007. He then consulted to schools and chaired the academic boards of tertiary education providers, but is now preoccupied with two books on South Australia’s involvement in the Anglo-Boer War.

This paper was first published in “The SA Boer War Association” Journal – “Dispatches” Issue 14 in June 2018.

For a short time in 1900 South Australians were involved in wars on different sides of the globe. Remarkably, six men served in both wars and both services, navy and army. Five seamen enlisted in the 5th South Australian Imperial Bushmen (5SAIB) for service in South Africa two days after they returned from duty on the China Station on the gunboat HMCS Her Majesty’s Colonial Ship Protector. The sixth enlisted a few weeks later in 6SAIB.

When the anti-European protest known as the Boxer Rebellion erupted in Beijing the South Australian Government promptly offered the gunboat for service. A heavily armed vessel of 920 tons, she had been ordered after the Russian war scare of 1882 and had served uneventfully in South Australian waters since 1884. Her shallow draught persuaded the Admiralty that she might be useful for operations in coastal waters and the offer was gratefully accepted.

There were two sticking points. The Admiralty wanted the gunboat to be commanded and crewed by Royal Navy personnel as she was to be commissioned as a ship of the RN for the term of her deployment. The Holder Government conceded on command; Capt. James Clare stepped down and Capt. James Creswell RN took command. But Holder would not bend on crewing. When Protector sailed on 6 August 1900 she was crewed by South Australian Naval Reservists.

Her service was uneventful and she returned to Port Adelaide on 6 January 1901. Among the reservists on board were Harry Beare, Jacob Davis, Louis Deers, Charles De Longville, George Luckett and Thomas Malloney. We will never know why each man immediately put his hand up to serve in South Africa but it probably came down to adventure and the frustration of not having seen real action on the Protector’s deployment.

Harry Beare was the youngest of the six. A keen member of the Naval Reserve’s fife and drum band, and the son of a senior constable, he sailed as Boy 1st Class, presumably after badgering his parents for permission. He returned home an Able Bodied Seaman. While the others enlisted in 5SAIB two days after docking at Port Adelaide he did not. Most likely it took him a few weeks to persuade his parents to let him enlist. At any rate, he was proudly wearing his naval uniform when he enlisted in 6SAIB in March. He came from a family of crack shots.

If his parents had forebodings they were well placed. As far as we know, Harry Beare is the youngest South Australian to die in South Africa. He was 16 when he died of enteric fever in Kroonstad in April 1902, only weeks before the end of the war. He is buried somewhere in the sprawling ruins of the Kroonstad cemetery.

Jacob Davis, 24, a baker, had the unusual distinction of being profiled in The Jewish Herald, London, as the only Australian Jew serving in the Royal Navy. The shortest man in 5SAIB at 5’3”, he had two main claims to fame in South Africa: he had a lucky escape when accidentally shot in the thumb by one of his mates (the bullet went on to kill Tpr. Bruce May); and he stole Col. De Lisle’s horse, dying its coat overnight with coffee and Condy’s crystals, and docking its tail. To no avail – De Lisle’s servant recognized the horse. It was an open secret that Davis was responsible but there was no evidence to contradict his claim that the horse had strayed into the Australian lines. He was let off. ‘Give an Australian half an hour with a horse and tails are changed, manes are hogged and brands disappear as if by magic,’ a Tasmanian said wryly.

Baker, horsebreaker and amateur boxer, Davis lived life on the wild side. ‘He is the most reckless man God ever put breath into,’ a witness told a coronial inquest into the death of a mutual friend in 1899. The coroner was taken aback. After the war there were convictions for breaching the peace and – in 1927 – brandishing a revolver in Grote Street and threatening to kill one Frank White. Davis claimed the gun was simply a souvenir he had brought back from South Africa. He said he carried it for protection against rival West End pushes or gangs. It is not inconceivable. Born in Grote Street, he lived his life in the West End and when he died in 1939, bankrupt, was living on West Terrace. It was a tough area.

To the end, Jacob Davis was proud of his naval and military service, and served briefly on the committee of the South African War Veterans Association. Two years before his death he could still fit comfortably into both wartime uniforms. He had thrown nothing out – bandolier, bayonet, medicine kit, brush were still there. There was even a pigtail from China. Asked how he came by it, Davis was unusually coy: ‘I usually get what I want.’

Louis Deers enlisted in 5SAIB with Davis and if anything his background was even tougher. He was six years old when in 1882 his widowed mother surrendered him to the care of the Destitute Board. He was admitted to the Industrial School at Magill and became a labourer. But his life took a turn for the better, perhaps because of his time in the Naval Reserve. When Capt. Clare, Naval Commandant, farewelled Deers, Luckett, Malloney and De Longville on the eve of their departure for South Africa, he said they had been ‘the flower of the crew of the Protector on her visit to China.’

Deers met a tragic end but not from a Boer bullet or fever. A certificated diver employed by the Fremantle Harbors Authority, he was diving to retrieve an anchor in March 1910 when he suffocated. An inquest found that his diving gear was operating perfectly and that no blame attached to anyone. The most likely explanation was that he had stumbled over a rock, his feet ending above his head. Deers left a wife and three children.

Charles De Longville was lucky to survive South Africa. The 22 year old carpenter from Port MacDonnell served as an Able Bodied Seaman on the Protector but on 11 October 1901, in close fighting outside Harrismith, took two bullets in the leg and one in the arm. Invalided home, he was hailed as a hero and presented with an inscribed medal by friends ‘as a token of their admiration of his pluck.’ The family still has the medal. He was granted a lifetime pension of 1/6 per day.

At 30, George Luckett was the oldest of the six men. Birmingham born and a mariner, he had been awarded the Bronze Medal of the Royal Humane Society for saving his captain’s life when the steamer You Yangs was wrecked off Cape Willoughby in 1890. Luckett served as an Able Bodied Seaman on the Protector and bizarrely found himself a sergeant in 5SAIB only days after the gunboat docked at the Port in January. He was promoted to sergeant-major in South Africa. In 1914, 43 years old, he went off to another war.

Thomas Malloney, 28, had served in the Naval Reserve for 12 years when he volunteered for the 3rd South Australian Bushmen in January 1900. He claimed to be a good horseman and a good shot but did not make the final cut. In August he sailed for China as a petty officer but did make it to South Africa with 5SAIB on return. His service there seems to have been uneventful.

Further Reading:

Australia and the Boer War, 1899–1902, AWM, available at https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/boer/

A.N. Other

March 2020

Details of Vessels in the Port of Darwin 19 February 1942

October 2019

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