On This Day
1960-1975 > Vietnam era
On This Day - 1960-1975
- November 9, 1960
HMAS DIAMANTINA, (oceanographic survey ship), was present at the unveiling of a memorial to the HMAS SYDNEY- German raider EMDEN action at Cocos Island.
- October 29, 1960
HMAS TOBRUK was paid off for disposal in Sydney. Tobruk was sold for scrap on 15 February 1972 to the Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan. On 10 April 1972 the Japanese ocean going tug Sumi Maru 38 sailed from Sydney for Moji, Japan, with Tobruk and another former Australian ship, HMAS Quiberon, under tow.
- October 28, 1960
HMAS Wagga paid off. She was the last of the Bathurst Class in seagoing commission in the Royal Australian Navy. Wagga was declared for disposal on 31 May 1961 and sold out of service in March 1962, when she was purchased by the South Australian Carrying Co
- October 11, 1960
HMAS WOOMERA, (ammunition ship), was lost when dumping obsolete ammunition at sea, off Sydney Heads. A violent explosion, followed by a fierce fire, caused WOOMERA to sink in a few minutes. Two of the crew were killed in the explosion, but the other 25 were picked up by HMAS QUICKMATCH, (frigate). While in the sea the survivors were attacked by albatrosses.
- September 14, 1960
A shell fired by HMAS ANZAC in gunnery exercises off Jervis Bay hit the hull of HMAS TOBRUK.
- September 9, 1960
HMA Ships QUIBERON and VAMPIRE represented Australia at the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of North Borneo
- July 30, 1960
The state of emergency in Malaya is formally lifted after 12 years in force.
- July 18, 1960
The first Junior Recruits, (boys aged between 15 and 17), commenced training at HMAS LEEUWIN, at Fremantle WA. The scheme was designed to provide boys with a year of academic and basic naval training, before they were sent to other bases for specialist training. The scheme continued until 1984, and over 12,000 Junior Recruits graduated from LEEUWIN during that 24-year period. Many went on to lengthy careers in the RAN, with a large number reaching commissioned rank. In many ways the Junior Recruit concept and training was modeled on the boys training ship HMAS TINGIRA, (1912-27), which had trained boys between the ages of 14 and 16 for service in the RAN.
- June 18, 1960
HMA Ships WARREGO, (sloop), and KIMBLA, (trials vessel), with Clearance Diving Teams, recovered bodies and wreckage from a Fokker Friendship airliner which crashed with the loss of 29 lives in the sea off Mackay, QLD.
- May 25, 1960
HMAS BASS, (general purpose vessel), was commissioned.