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HMAS Moresby I

HMAS Moresby, Survey Ship

HMS SILVIO was one of four World War I Royal Navy Minesweepers converted to Survey Ships in 1922-25. Sister ships were Iroquois, Ormonde and Herald.

In 1925 Silvio was lent to the Australian Commonwealth Government to assist in the survey of the Cumberland Channel inside the Great Barrier Reef off the Queensland coast. Before leaving England for Australia in June 1925, she commissioned in the Royal Australian Navy and was renamed Moresby in honour of Admiral John Moresby who had discovered Port Moresby (New Guinea) in HMS Basilisk on 21st February, 1873. Admiral Moresby died in July 1922, at the age of 92.

HMAS Moresby reached Australia in September 1925, under the command of Captain J.A. Edgell RN, who later as Vice- Admiral Sir John Edgell, KBE, became Hydrographer to the Admiralty. She was engaged on the Barrier Reef survey, assisted until 1927, by HMAS Geranium, until December 1929, when, for reasons of economy she was paid off at Sydney on 21st December.

On 27th April 1933 Moresby was recommissioned for urgent strategic survey work in Australian northern waters. Excepting for four months (December 1934 – April 1935) when she was placed in Reserve, she was engaged on this task continually up to the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

For the first year of the war Moresby served as an Anti-Submarine training vessel. In January 1941, she resumed her former duty as a Survey Vessel and until the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, was engaged in surveying Australian and New Guinea waters.

In January 1942, Moresby was assigned to duty as an Escort and Anti-Submarine vessel in Australian waters and until the end of 1943 was almost constantly at sea escorting convoys moving along the Australian east coast. This was the period when Japanese submarines were active in Australian coastal waters, and three attacks were made on ships under escort by Moresby.

In December 1942, off Gabo Island, a submarine fired a torpedo at the SS Kooyong but it passed harmlessly under her keel. A second attack took place in April 1943, and resulted in the sinking of the Yugoslav vessel Recina with the loss of 32 lives. A month later off the New South Wales coast the Ormiston was torpedoed but made port under her own steam. In all during the period Moresby was serving as an Escort Vessel nineteen ships were sunk off the Australian coast by Japanese submarines with the loss of 568 lives.

In November 1943, Moresby ceased operating as an Escort Vessel and at Sydney prepared to resume duty as a Survey Vessel. From December 1943 until the end of the war she was engaged on surveys mainly in the Darwin and Bathurst Island areas. In September – October, 1945 she took part in the re-occupation of Timor and was present at the surrender ceremony on 11th September 1945. In November 1945, she carried out a survey of Yampi Sound (West Australia) before returning to Sydney, where she arrived on 13th December 1945. She paid off on 14th March 1946, and was sold for breaking up to Broken Hill Co. Ltd., on 3rd February 1947.

Family Saga -The Westons & The Johnstons – 1764 Onwards

FROM TIME TO TIME the Naval Historical Review has featured the biography of some officer, living or dead, who had reached high rank and was noted for his service in the Royal Australian Navy.

And it is noteworthy but not remarkable, in view of the comparatively short existence of our navy, that so many of these men came from families having no naval background; from all walks of life they entered naval college where they were inducted into and quickly assimilated the traditions and service demeanour of the British Navy.

However, in one instance at least this has not applied and this refers to the related families of Johnston and Weston whose connection, firstly with the Royal Navy in foreign and Australian waters and then with the RAN, could well establish a record.

And it all stems from one man, George Johnston, born on 18th March 1764 at Annandale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, son of Captain George Johnston, aide-de-camp to Lord Percy, Duke of Northumberland. Under the patronage of the Duke,young Johnston’s family was able to purchase for him, at the age of twelve, a commission as Second Lieutenant in the 45th company of Marines, dated 16th March 1776, and for the next two years the child officer served with this company in Nova Scotia and New York State during the war against the American Revolutionaries, and was credited with recovering the colours from a wounded ensign at the battle of Bunker Hill, an action in which his father was killed.

After service in America he was promoted to Lieutenant and spent the next two years on recruiting duties in England until being returned to sea duties, and spent the next four years afloat warring against the French until seriously wounded in 1785. Invalided home to England and after a six month convalescence he was appointed to the detachment of Marines sent with the First Fleet in 1788 with convicts to form a settlement at Botany Bay on the east coast of Australia.

On establishment of the settlement finally at Sydney Cove, Governor Phillip appointed Johnston as his aide and when in 1790 the Marines were relieved and returned to England he, now a Captain Lieutenant, was chosen by Phillip as being the most suitable officer to raise a Company composed of Marines who wished to stay in the colony and to be merged with the three incoming companies of the NSW Corps.

In conjunction with his military duties Captain Johnston took up and farmed a grant of several hundred acres in what is now the Sydney suburb of Annandale where in 1800 he built ‘Annandale House’; he was assigned the largest team of convict servants held by any individual in Sydney Town. Promoted Major in that year he fell foul of his commanding officer, Colonel Paterson, who charged him with ‘illegally paying a Sergeant with rum as part of his pay’. He protested against being court-martialled in Sydney and this was upheld by Governor Hunter, who sent him in HMS Buffalo to face trial in England. Because of lack of witnesses or evidence the trial was cancelled and Johnston returned to Sydney and rejoined his regiment.

He became a popular hero in 1804 when he led a detachment of soldiers which confronted a much larger body of mutineering convicts in the Hills district west of Sydney. Mainly Irishmen, they had broken out of their stockades, raided settlers’ homes for food and arms and intended to march on Sydney and there seize ships in which to sail off to Asia.

A volley from the small party of trained troops killed fifteen mutineers while return fire killed two of Johnston’s men. He, in best naval tradition, left several of the convict leaders dancing on air before the day ended, others were similarly hoisted or else flogged some days later.

As a reward the Governor, Captain Gidley King, RN, gave Major Johnston a grant of 2,000 acres at Prospect near Parramatta which he named ‘King’s Gift’.

Later in 1804 he was made Commandant of the NSW Regiment, known as the Rum Corps from its officers’ monopoly in the trafficking and usage of rum as a medium of exchange and purchase. The next Governor, Captain Bligh, RN, became most unpopular with the citizens and the military for his clampdown on land grants and the rum trade, and in 1808 Johnston acted on the urgings of his officers and some of the leading civilians, arrested Bligh and assumed the reins of Government and the title of Lieutenant-Governor.

Corvette Maryborough 1941-1946

HMAS MARYBOROUGH was built by Walker’s Ltd at Maryborough, Queensland and commissioned by Lieutenant Commander G. L. Cant, RAN on 15th June, 1941. Known as the Bathurst class of mine-sweepers, she was the sixth of the sixty corvettes to be built in Australia and one of the twenty manned by Australian crews, although built to Admiralty account.

With a complement of 5 officers and 85 ratings her shake-down cruise was south to Hobart, where she swept the channel ahead of the troopship Queen Mary, then repeating various exercises in Port Phillip Bay, Jervis Bay and on to Sydney, arriving 20th September. Several weeks of additions, alterations, adjustments, exercising with a submarine, an East Indies specialist joins as navigator and off we go for Brisbane, fell in with the tail end of a cyclone off Cape Byron, a 60ft swell rolled us 55° and surfed us along until reaching the welcome calm of Moreton Bay.

Our first job was to escort a floating dock at 4 knots inside the Barrier Reef to Cairns, then detached for Thursday Island and Darwin for top up. North westwards through Lombok Strait and Java Sea to the RN Base tucked away at the Johore end of Singapore Island 20th November where we joined sister ships Bendigo, Burnie and Goulburn to form the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla, Commander G. L. Cant SO in Maryborough as flotilla leader.

During four days settling in, a very necessary AA gun, single barrel pom-pom, was fitted on the after deck, so fortified we escort and patrol around a cable ship working off the Lingga Islands, a comfortable assignment lasting three days.

On the 28th we escorted a merchant ship to Port Swettenham, stayed overnight and joined other corvettes in the satisfying task of sweeping the Straits of Malacca ahead of Prince Of Wales, Repulse and four destroyers southward to Singapore. Did much the same for a convoy of large troop ships inward board from Colombo several days later.

Japan entered the war at midnight 7th/8th December with an air raid on Singapore, which we view from a patrol area off the Horsborough Light at the eastern end of the Strait. At 0030 the following night the watch-keepers on deck saw the Prince Of Wales, Repulse, and destroyers, Electra, Express, Tenedos and Vampire pass on passage to the Gulf of Siam; this was a fighting move but the news that came back was appalling.

Our relief arrived and with a supply of paint already in store we anchored in a secluded bay to completely repaint the ship in a camouflage pattern of two shades of green in 12 hours; we were learning fast. Back at the Base great efforts were made to increase air defences, temporary repairs were rushed to clear the destroyer Isis from the floating dock, and the destroyers had returned with survivors from POW & Repulse, many of these being de-oiled inside and out, fed, clothed and bedded down by ratings at the nearby Naval Barracks.

The 15th December saw us back on anti-submarine patrol off Horsborough Light where we made the first capture of the Pacific war, a Japanese fishing sampan did not know it was on, our boarding party filled them in with an escort to Singapore.

The pattern was now set, patrol, escort, sweep somewhere close about the Island, Christmas Day at sea, likewise New Year 1942, with particular attention to the deep channel approach to and the Singapore Strait swept channel, also the Berhala and Durian Straits to the south. While patrolling the swept channel east on the 16th January a Dutch merchant ship stopped close by for some reason, drifted off the channel into the minefield and blew up, all gone in two minutes, we picked up 37 survivors and took them ashore.

On the 18th January welcome supporters join the flotilla, the AMSs Ballarat, Toowoomba and Woollongong, sister ships from Australia. Some days later with Woollongong in company we did a searching sweep in the Strait of Durian, this had just been completed and gear stowed when up form astern came six Jap. bombers, made a pass at ‘Gong’ then headed over us. ‘Hard-a-port’, ordered Commander Cant and six bombs rocked us to starboard, shrapnel cutting one of the four wires in the main aerial and chipping paint off the funnel and whaler. Ashore at the dockyard that night we were lit up by some blazing oil tanks nearby, but celebrated at the canteen, where beer and soft drinks only were available, all other amenities having been blown far and wide. A large three funnelled troopship was in the graving dock unharmed, the Japs must want it.

Seletar, the Air Base and Changi had also ‘copped it’, the Strait of Johore was now untenable and we were to use Keppel Harbour in future. This anchorage soon became congested and anything looking like a troopship was mercilessly bombed and strafed unopposed, as Allied aircraft were non-existent.

By 2nd February the pall of smoke over Singapore Island had thickened ominously as we sailed escorting a minelayer and two sweepers, some passengers were aboard, the depth charge hold and tiller flat were stowed with hastily packed cases, cartons and parcels of books, documents, records etc. Followed an eventful trip, 550 miles of zig-zags and other diversions south-eastwards through Durian, Lingga and Banka Straits to Tanjong Priok, the port for Batavia, arriving 5th February to find this harbour filling with ships of all descriptions and the docks and fuelling areas jammed tight.

Five days later we ‘won’ a boiler clean at a vital time and in a floating dock made from a gutted out merchant hull, the Javanese dockyard mateys took shelter in old boilers on the wharf alongside during air raids; one particular daylight raid was torn apart by Hobart, which had just arrived.

Ashore the road for several miles to Batavia was lined with Hurricane fighters parked under every tree, a mere few days too late to help the hard pressed defences. Batavia city was still in good shape, the Dutch influence very obvious.

We rejoined the outer harbour patrol line which was extended each day as more and more ships arrived, until 17th February, when Commodore J. A. Collins formed the Sunda Strait Auxiliary Patrol of Maryborough SO, Ballarat, Bendigo, Burnie and three Dutch sloops, their task being to prevent infiltration landings on Java. Our base was at Merak several miles south of St. Nicholas Pt. from where we patrolled the turbulent Sunda Strait by night, closed up at action stations and laid up by day at the base. Japanese aircraft were becoming more prevalent with frequent attacks during daylight hours and by 27th the general situation had become very ominous. On 28th Merak was no longer tenable, Commander Cant ordered the pier blown up and took the flotilla south to Third Point from where ships low in fuel went on to Tjilatjap, we resumed patrol in Sunda Strait with Ballarat, Goulburn and Toowoomba.

During the night a message broadcast by the Dutch destroyer Evertsen reported an attack by Japanese cruisers in the Strait and was beaching on Sebuke Island; now aware of superior enemy forces close by Commander Cant reversed course and shortly after midnight on the 2nd March closed the Jumna – Yarra convoy where Yarra relayed by light a message broadcast by Naval HQ the previous day ordering all British warships to make for Tjilaljap. Some indecision about the state of the swept channel was resolved by shortages of fuel and all four ships entered the port where fuel and water were available in the bomb damaged waterside area.

At 8 p.m. 2nd March the Maryborough, now with passengers aboard, departed Tjilaljap escorting the Dutch merchant ship General Verspijck, which had to be worked by her passengers, naval officers and ratings, the Consul General for Batavia and civilians. Leaving the channel both ships were near missed by a torpedo which ran between them, we set an evading course westwards for several hours then altered southwards. All next day the tension was high, the lookout at their best (we did not have Radar at this stage) as we pressed on in clear weather at 8 knots, this being the best speed of the coal burning General Verspijck. (Alarms, bombing and submarine reports were received from all directions, an enemy bomber circled for an hour during the forenoon on the 4th, but kept a safe distance from our guns, then disappeared northwards. Miraculously there was no follow-up, we had passed unharmed through a Japanese force of cruisers and destroyers intent on wiping out Yarra’s bigger convoy away to the north-east.

By the 6th General Verspijck was firing her boilers with all wooden fixtures and fittings while the convoy speed dropped to 4 knots, but now the welcome aroma of Aussie-land was in the air and next day, 10th March we arrived alongside at Fremantle to hear that all ships of the flotilla were safely home.

From March to May, we fell in with the regular pattern of anti-submarine patrol, sweep and occasionally an escort job south towards Cape Leeuwin. Fremantle was now a strategic base, RN ships were frequent visitors, the US Navy had established a submarine base for whom we towed their disabled Searaven from the Geraldton area back to Gage Roads. In June we shifted to the Albany area, did a searching sweep in St. George’s Sound and patrolled off shore for several weeks, much to the discomfort of the whales. Early July we were ordered east to enter a dockyard at Birkenhead, SA for a refit and much needed long leave to all hands.

We re-commissioned in mid August with many new faces, a ship repainted back to navy grey and special applause for a single Oerlikon fitted on each wing of the lower bridge. Westward the course to be based again at Fremantle, which had caught the midget sub. disease, many alarms, bumps, and thumps but no periscopes for souvenirs, only dead fish a welcome change from ‘red lead’.

Again something new, our first practice run refuelling from a tanker underway off Rottnest, rigging that crazy, unpredictable fuel line was the only difficulty.

By late October the signs were clear, several extra hands joined, topping up was completed, came 3rd November we sailed as ocean escort to the tanker Erling Brovig which was bound for the Gulf, ourselves to join the Eastern Fleet at Colombo.

Within hours of leaving we received a message warning us, and others, that two Japanese armed merchant cruisers had sailed from Tjilatjap, and sure enough on the 7th messages intercepted indicated that a ‘dust up’ was going on somewhere in our vicinity. Meeting at Diego Garcia we accompanied HMIS Bengal to Colombo, where on the 20th all RN Ships in harbour manned the rigging to welcome the Indian corvette for her part in the setting on fire and consequent scuttling of a Japanese AMC by gunfire from their ship and tanker Ondina, a magnificent victory in any Navy’s history, with the loss of 2 officers and 3 ratings and minimal damage to both ships.

Our next appearance was as escort to a single ship to Bombay, two clear days there and return to base shackled to our buoy in eight days. The good news is that Maryborough is to be fitted with Air Warning Radar, the boilers are shut down, early next morning we are towed to, then warped into the graving dock, here was the bad news. The mixture of oil and ullage aftermath of the air raids in April smothered the floor and walls of the dock and soon this foul mess was carpeting every deck in the ship.

The dockside cooking and ablutions shacks were inferior to the normally low standard of such facilities and amongst all this we existed for four days.
Undocked 20th December, raised steam to one hour’s notice and next morning embarked an army orchestra for passage to Addu Atoll, where the garrison really deserved some entertainment, we returned immediately enjoying an excellent Xmas dinner on the way.

Into 1943 we settled down to the usual routine, but spiced with interesting possibilities such as investigating sighting reports and other mysterious events amongst the maze of Maldive and Laccadive Islands. A short trip around the corner to Trincomalee and return in 3 days, then another to Cochin where we had to wait several days in this foul spot until the convoy was ready. One convoy to Bombay carried on claiming us as far as Aden, surely the ‘bottom’ of the world. Bombay was to become a second home port, a good one too, Eros waved and staff at theatres and canteens knew us.

There was no escaping Persian Gulf time where SNOPG (Snop-gee) was our boss in an AMC off Banda Abbas. We did four convoys from and to Bombay or Karachi with waiting time at a base at Kor Kuwai in the Strait of Hormuz, rowing whalers in 108°F for recreation! During these four months we had met or worked with most of the other twelve Australian Corvettes on the station and many of the RIN ships.

Early May and one way of beating the approaching monsoon season was to leave the Indian Ocean, eight Aussie corvettes did just that, being ordered to the Mediterranean; Maryborough sailed independently, had a spare day at Ismalia where the lucky lads took train for a day in Cairo. Arrived Port Said 15th May and berthed stern to the hard, down a short gangway and 30 yards away was the canteen, other Naval facilities were close by. A single Oerlikon on either side of the quarterdeck and a ‘scrounged’ .5” Breda abaft the funnel were added, to the great satisfaction of everyone.

Commander Cant returned to Australia, Lieutenant J. C. P. Boyle replaced him as CO which meant loss of flotilla leadership; the eight ships were reformed into two flotillas as follows:

  • 21st MSF, Gawler SO, Ipswich, Lismore & Maryborough;
  • 22nd MSF, Geraldton SO, Cairns, Cessnock & Wollongong

and were attached to existing Allied Escort Groups in the Palestine, Lebanon and Cyprus areas.

On 4th June we joined another group from Alexandria westwards with a fast convoy, but were detached to take a disabled tanker into Tobruk in darkness, stayed overnight and next day wandered about amongst the rubble. Back in Alex. we are handed a ‘special’, a stealthy search in the Derna area for a submarine landing or recovering enemy agents, our gunnery boys rig extra guns but not a ‘bird’ in sight, unfortunately.

Departed Port Said 14th, Malta bound we had difficulty with some stragglers, then a submarine alarm which kept three ships busy, but from then on nothing dangerous. Off Malta we and two other escorts were detached to take two supply ships to Tripoli (Libya) where the harbour was nearly filled-in with sunken ships and wrecked installations, but the city and suburban areas appeared to be in fairly good shape. A boiler clean was allowed and some shore leave in restricted areas, plus a strong ‘buzz’ of something big brewing.

By 5th July the ‘brew’ was hot as we steamed eastwards across the Gulf of Sirte next day, met Gawler, Ipswich and Lismore off Benghazi that night to join supply convoy MWS 36 for ‘Operation Husky’, the invasion of Sicily.

On the 7th we cruised among the convoy delivering a bag of secret documents to each ship, then settled in our position on the starboard wing, the monitor Erebus was well screened in the middle of the centre column. 9th July a fast convoy of troop and landing ships escorted by cruisers thundered past, their engine and propeller noises could be heard and felt miles ahead.

A norwesterly and lumpy sea moderated during the night, floating mines drifted by, the initial landing was timed for 0245-10th on the eastern side of Cape Passers, our convoy eta was 0600-10th.

The landing looked to be going well as all corvettes and some destroyers formed a continuous circular patrol, shooting at anything nasty, until 0100-11th when we joined a convoy of empty ships for Alexandria.

Departed Alex. 18th with convoy MWS 38 arriving off Syracuse late afternoon 24th, the enemy made a prolonged air attack over the harbour during the night from which we copped plenty of side effects offshore. The Focke Wulf night fighter-bombers were tough customers and shook us up with a near miss astern.

Return to Alex. with various ships and to a mooring alongside the KGV, the frogmen scare was still on but the big ships’ answer to this was to have one propeller turning at dead slow day and night.

Conditions in this historic city were fairly good considering that it was nearly swamped with Allied authorities and armed forces, but we were able to wander so far as the east side beach resort and at night found there was much going on under the blackout.

Early in August we joined another Escort Group comprising the RN sloop Shoreham SO, corvettes Hythe, Rye, Romney, Whitehaven and our 21st MSF Gawler, Ipswich, Lismore and Maryborough, departed Port Said with convoy MKS 21 of 28 ships bound for Gibraltar 1,900 miles to the westward. There were joiners and leavers on passage, the only calls being at Bizerta for fuel and Oran to unload a batch of prisoners.

Friday, 13th August just after sunset near Alboran Island, 37 Heinkel 111’s and 8 JU 88’s torpedo bombers came in low from the north receiving a devastating reception from every gun in the convoy and escort, another wave of aircraft crossed ahead attacking the port side, Maryborough being in the thick of it and hard pressed managed to get one shot from her 4” and a burst from each of the port Oerlikons into a low level attacker which would have wiped us out otherwise.

This plane crashed and we were credited with the kill. It was all over in 7 minutes the only evidence being a trail of smashed German aircraft, and in an area where ‘no Allied fighter protection was thought necessary’!

Enemy losses were 9 shot down, others severely damaged, convoy 8 men wounded, 2 ships torpedoed but towed to Gibraltar, escorts one man wounded and minor damage.

The following night ashore at Gibraltar was unforgettable. A W/T message was received as follows: ‘Shoreham (R) FOC Gibraltar, Admiralty from C-in-C Med. Fleet. I congratulate you, the escort force and convoy MKS 21 on your sterling defence of convoy against torpedo bomber attack. The enemy got a sore head he is likely to remember.’

The group sailed from Gibraltar 16th, westwards through the Strait, surprising but not for long, 120 miles out we took over a laden convoy and proceeded on the long haul back to Port Said. The usual warnings of enemy torpedo boats and planes now working out of Sardinia were received but no alarms, the most interesting event was singling up the 65 ship convoy to pass another convoy on opposite course in the swept channel off Cape Bon, not one incident or mishap, the Allies were well versed in this business. This trip had been nonstop arriving Port Said at daylight 27th August, proving the accepted figures for the course of 11 days at 7½ knots.

For the next convoy we were appointed ‘SO Escorts’ to a convoy to Sicily. On to Sicily, past Catania where the convoy entered, we carried on independently almost up to the Strait of Messina where many Italian ships were surrendering, the announcement having been broadcast at 6.30 p.m. the previous day, 8th September. We were ordered south at best speed to escort two enemy submarines to Malta where we went alongside at Sliema.

The Grand Harbour was once again crammed with shipping, Valetta devastated, but deep underground was for living, the conducting of Naval affairs and a signal office.

From late September we were on jobbing work in the Levant area, one particular run to Castellorizo Island had to be quick and sharp, arrive after dark and leaving before daylight to evade the Germans, who were very savage in and about Rhodes. On the way back we picked up an Italian survivor from an open boat south of Crete. Cyprus had to be maintained and several convoys were taken via Haifa or Beirut to Famagusta during October and last one early in November.

The other seven ships had already returned to the Eastern Fleet; Maryborough, having done six months service, was the last to leave and on 15th November sailed for Bombay arriving on the 27th. We soon had a convoy to the Persian Gulf and the return was with a large passenger ship crammed with refugees to Karachi. Sailed for Durban 12th December, called at Port Victoria in the Seychelles group, then westward to Mombasa, Kenya, known as Kilindini Base.

There we joined Gawler to escort the SS Burma carrying 1,000 POWs, the trooper rammed the boom gate then promptly ran onto a reef 3 miles south of the harbour, our two ships assisted with ferrying the ‘castaways’ back to base, then pressed on southwards, Gawler to Port Elizabeth, ourselves to Durban for an overdue refit, 30th December. The ship was put in dockyard hands and long leave was taken in places as far inland as Johannesburg, Randfontein and Krugersdorp, amongst very hospitable people.

Rejuvenated we departed Durban 1st April 1944 as escort to a Dutch passenger ship bound for Colombo, the only alarm was a suspected submarine contact investigated without result and resumed course in miserable SW monsoon weather. The following seven months became monotonous with coastal convoys to Bombay or Vizagapatam, a port about halfway between Madras and Calcutta, interspersed with special trips to Addu Atoll and investigating suspicious events amongst the scattered Maldive islands.

The RN had requested that all corvettes be made available north of Australia for defence of the bases of the British Pacific fleet. The last four ships Maryborough, Toowoomba, Burnie and Lismore departed Colombo in mid November, arrived Fremantle 2nd December 1944 and sailed immediately for the eastern States.

Off Cape Nelson, south western Victoria, we were ordered to search for a submarine which had attacked the Greek ship Ilissos, but 30 hours later no hostile sight nor sound having been made, we resumed course arriving Melbourne late 11th. Next day with Lieutenant Commander M. W. Lancaster aboard as CO, found us with all gear streamed, sweeping between Cape Otway and Wilson Promontory for four days without result, then sailed for Sydney arriving on 18th December. The contentment of being at Sydney during Christmas and New Year was profound, particularly for men who had been in foreign waters for two and a half years.

Early in January 1945 we picked up a ‘cushy’ job for several weeks of night patrols off Sydney Heads, lying up by day at Watson’s Bay, what could be better!

Come February and off we go with a mixed convoy, leavers and joiners to Milne Bay, Madang, Hollandia and terminating at Manus (and its ‘ice-cream boat’!). Returned much the same way, poking about north and east of New Guinea, on to Sydney and Birkenhead SA for a refit arriving the 4th April.

We re-commissioned in May with many new faces amongst the crew, a new 4’’ HA/LA gun on the fo’csle and a Bofors in place of the pom-pom. From Sydney we were attached to a convoy for Manus where escort work with the Fleet Train continued for some months. Shortly after peace was declared we moved to Hong Kong for three weeks sweeping channels and minefields, then transferred to Amoy to assist in clearing that harbour.

Notably, our first CO Commander G. L. Cant was the Senior Naval Officer present aboard HMAS Moresby with Brigadier Dyke who accepted the surrender of all Japanese forces in Timor, at Koepang at noon on the 11th September, 1945.

Maryborough with Toowoomba were detached and sent to Swatow to clear the harbour and approaches, then three weeks later returned to Amoy for further sweeping, where, unfortunately two men were wounded when a mine exploded close astern.

In mid November we headed for home via Morotai where 28 AIF passengers came aboard, Thursday Island, Townsville arriving Maryborough, Queensland, on Thursday, 6th December, 1945, 4 years after commissioning. The mayor and councillors, Walker’s shipyard people and the citizens gave her a great welcome and made the crew their guests for the next four days.

On 11th December 1945 we sailed for Brisbane where HMAS Maryborough was eventually paid off on 12th August 1946, her log recorded 173,495 miles.

First of the Line – HMAS Albatross, first aircraft carrier

WHEN THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER1 emerged from the 1914-18 war as a major weapon of war, it was inevitable that the Royal Australian Navy – with the largest island continent in the world to protect – would seek to acquire such a ship for service in Australasian waters.

The RAN first initiated plans for a naval air service in 1913 and, as early as 1917, a move was made to obtain Australia’s first aircraft carrier. With the incursion into the Pacific of the German raiders SMS Wolf – with her Friedrichshafen FF33E seaplane Wolfchen (or Wolf Cub) – and Seeadler, the Australian Naval Board requested the loan of a similar carrier to HMS Riviera. The Admiralty replied, however, that this ‘was not possible in the circumstances‘. In fact, carriers were in such demand at the time that the Royal Navy had taken over an Australian mail steamer, SS Nairana, which was being built in the United Kingdom for the Bass Strait run between Melbourne and Launceston, and converted it into a light aircraft carrier which was commissioned as HMS Nairana in September 1917.

During the same year aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service began operating aboard Australian warships serving with the RN. HMAS Brisbane first embarked a Sopwith Baby seaplane in mid-1917 and, in December, Sopwith Pups were launched from HMA Ships Sydney and Australia. During 1918 Australia was equipped with a Sopwith 1½ Strutter and a Camel – or, sometimes, two Camels – and Sydney and Melbourne each carried a Camel. When the war ended on November 11 1918, plans for a Royal Australian Naval Air Service were still in abeyance, and the Australian warships returned their aircraft to the Royal Air Force in 1919, before sailing for home waters.

The post-war period brought a cut in defence spending, and it appeared that many years would pass before Australia could afford to purchase an aircraft carrier. As an interim move, HMAS Australia embarked an Avro 504L seaplane, HL3034, in July 1920, for two months, and a second 504L seaplane, H3042, joined HMAS Melbourne on September 29 for a Pacific cruise to New Guinea and Rabaul. These experiments were not a success however, and the two aircraft were returned to the Australian Air Corps, and were renumbered A3-47 and 48 in 1921.

Plans for a naval air service received a further setback in September 1920, when the Federal Government decided to establish an autonomous air force which would, inter alia, provide support for the army and navy. In the event, approval was given for a squadron of ‘ship’s aeroplanes’ and, in 1921, six Fairey HID seaplanes were ordered for co-operation with the RAN. They were initially allocated Australian Naval Aircraft serial numbers, ANA-1 to 6, but were renumbered A10-1 to 6 after the Royal Australian Air Force was formed in 1921.

In May 1923, the RAN instituted a special branch of observers, whereby selected navigators underwent a three months course at RAAF Point Cook flying in Avro 504K trainers and Fairey HID seaplanes. The latter aircraft also participated in fleet exercises, but worked mainly with the sloop HMAS Geranium surveying the Great Barrier Reef. One HID accompanied Geranium in 1924, and two IIIDs operated from shore bases with the sloop for the 1925 season. As the latter year began, it seemed likely that naval aviation would remain in the doldrums for some time to come, but within six months the situation changed dramatically.

In the first instance, three RAN lieutenants started a four year pilot training course at RAAF Point Cook. Six months later the formation of the RAN Fleet Air Arm was promulgated by the Navy Order 137-16, June 1925. Then, on June 10, came the surprise defence announcement of the year. While opening Federal Parliament the Governor-General, Lord Stonehaven, revealed that the Government had decided to purchase ‘a seaplane carrier,’ and added that provision had been made for ‘the aeroplanes and necessary amphibians to equip the seaplane carrier.’

Proof that this untoward announcement came as a shock – particularly in defence quarters – is contained in the forthcoming autobiography of Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams (this important work is being published by the Australian War Memorial, and Sir Richard and the AWM kindly granted permission to quote selected extracts), ‘In 1926 . . . I read in the Press one morning that on the previous day the Government had placed a contract with a dockyard in Sydney for the construction of a seaplane carrier to be known as HMAS Albatross,’ recalls Sir Richard. ‘I had heard nothing of this from the Navy so I sought confirmation of it from the Minister, and when I asked him who was to supply the aircraft he said ‘You will’. He had not mentioned the matter to me previously. This was an extraordinary position.‘

The Government’s announcement also caused embarrassment to the RAN because, apparently, an aircraft carrier specification had not been prepared. This confused situation resulted in a cryptic cable being received by the Admiralty Director of Naval Construction which stated, in effect, that it was politically desirable to built a ‘seaplane carrier’ in Australia. The cable then provided the two only known specifications – a speed of 21 knots and a cost of one million pounds! The Naval Constructor in charge of the Admiralty’s Aircraft Section is on record as retorting – ‘a more unsatisfactory way of producing an aircraft carrier I do not know, and I cannot imagine.’

What then brought about this political decision that, to all intents and purposes, ignored the two services involved – the RAAF and the RAN? It all began in February 1924 when the British Government informed the Dominions that, for the time being, no further expenditure would be incurred on the Singapore Naval Base. This decision particularly affected the political defence planning of Australia and, as a result, a naval expansion program was immediately initiated.

On June 27 1924, the Prime Minister, Mr. Bruce, announced plans to purchase two 10,000 ton cruisers, and two ocean-going submarines. The Labor Opposition argued that the cruisers should be built in Australia to assist the local shipbuilding industry, as Cockatoo Island Dockyard was about to close down through lack of work. The construction of the cruisers excited a nation-wide controversy and, after prolonged investigations, the Government ordered the two warships from Great Britain, thereby saving more than one million pounds. This money was then used to keep Cockatoo Island Dockyard employed, thus appeasing the Opposition and the public and relieving the shipbuilding depression. So it came about that one million pounds was allotted for the local construction of an aircraft carrier which, the politicians argued, was required to offset the carriers being introduced into the Pacific area by Japan.

Australia’s so-called ‘seaplane carrier’ necessitated much original thought as the design of such a ship had never before been planned from the drawing board stage. The early seaplane carriers of the RN had been improvised versions of ships laid down for other purposes. ‘You can say that the hull was designed around three holds, three cranes, and 21 knots,’ wrote the designer of Albatross, Constructor Stephen Payne, some years later.

Payne had the assistance of a young naval architect, Mr. Woolnough, who was attached to Australia House, London. Woolnough attended the weekly meetings at the Admiralty and, presumably, obtained the necessary information, piecemeal, from Australia as the design progressed. He, at least, ascertained that Albatross would be required to carry a maximum of nine aircraft, although it is not certain what type of aircraft was nominated. It would appear that the designer assumed that the Fairey IIIDs in Australia were the ‘seaplane carried’. At any rate, the dimensions of the aircraft deck hatch and hangars provided sufficient space to operate the IIIDs with their wings folded. The cranes also had the capacity to cope with the all-up-weight of the IIIDs. In fact, Janes Fighting Ships, from 1929 to 1934, annually reported that ‘at present 6 Fairey machines are carried’ aboard Albatross – despite the fact that the last Fairey IIID had been phased out of RAAF service in 1929.

Another error has been perpetrated over the years by the assumption that Supermarine Seagull III amphibians were specially acquired for Albatross. Although six of these aircraft were ordered in 1925, they were purchased to replace the Fairey IIIDs in the Seaplane Training Flight, and for survey work in northern waters. This is borne out in Sir Richard Williams’ memoirs, and substantiated in a statement made by the Minister for Defence, Sir Neville Howse, on July 1 1926: ‘. . .as amphibians were urgently required for training personnel for the seaplane carrier now under construction, and for use this season on the Barrier Reef survey, Seagulls, being the best amphibian types available, were ordered. This number, however, six, was limited to those which would definitely be used up in training, it being anticipated that improved types would be available when the time arrives to order aircraft for the seaplane carrier.‘

To accommodate nine of these unknown ‘improved types,’ Albatross was designed with a high freeboard, which contained three holds, or hangars. Each hold contained space to store three aircraft, of similar measurements to the IIID. Three cranes were positioned on the aircraft deck, above the holds, for hoisting aircraft up from the aft hangar, lowering them over the side for take-off, retrieving them after landing alongside, and returning them to the hangars below deck. Provision was also made in the bow for the installation , at a later date, of a catapult for launching aircraft that were strengthened for this purpose. Of necessity, the ship’s bridge, machinery, crew quarters, and boats were placed aft. Plates and sections were despatched from England to Australia, and the keel of Albatross was laid down at Cockatoo Island Dockyard on April 16 1926.

During the same month the six Seagull III amphibians, A9-1 to 6, arrived by ship in Australia and were erected and tested at RAAF Point Cook. On July 1 the Seagulls were allotted to the newly formed No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight and, a few months later, the flight moved to RAAF Richmond under the command of Flight Lieutenant A. E. Hempel. The Fairey IIIDs still in service remained at Point Cook as seaplane trainers.

While Albatross was under construction from 1926 to 1928, No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight moved to Bowen, Queensland, where a coastal base was established for the Seagull IIIs to work with the survey ship, HMAS Moresby, on the Great Barrier Reef project until late 1928. Meanwhile, three ex-RAAF Seagull IIIs were acquired in 1927, and renumbered A9-7 to 9. Reporting their arrival at Point Cook in January, Aircraft added that ‘. . . it is still a little early to talk about equipment for the aircraft carrier which is now being built at Cockatoo Dock, NSW.‘ With the extra Seagulls in service, the RAAF extended survey flying to New Guinea in late 1927.

On Thursday, February 23 1928 – the day after H. J. L. (Bert) Hinkler, completed the first solo flight from England to Australia in Avro 58 IE Avian, G-EBOV – Australia’s first aircraft carrier was launched at Cockatoo Island Dockyard by the Governor-General’s wife. ‘I name this ship Albatross,’ declared Lady Stonehaven. ‘I am proud that she is the result of Australian workmanship, and I congratulate those who have so faithfully and skilfully constructed her. May she prove a valuable addition to the Royal Australian Navy.’ The Sydney Mail reported that ‘Albatross glided down the ways in stately fashion to the accompaniment of cheers by the large crowd of spectators, and the strains of Advance Australia Fair played by the Naval Band.‘ During the speeches, the Chairman of the Commonwealth Shipping Board, Mr. Larkin, observed that ‘one and all hoped that the seaplane carrier would have a peaceful life, and would never have to be used in warfare‘ – a hope, unfortunately, that did not eventuate.

The previous month, January 1928, Cabinet decided not to approve authority for the continuation of the RAN FAA, thus negating the decision made in 1925. It was decided, instead, that the RAAF would provide the aircraft, pilots, and maintenance personnel for the new carrier, and the RAN the observers and telegraphists. Naval officers, however, could train as pilots for RAAF service if circumstances permitted – although this was also discontinued in the 1930s. In the event the Navy was given operational control of embarked RAAF aircraft, a system that remained in force until 1944.

Albatross, the twelfth ship of the name, was completed in December 1928. On her trials, during the same month, she exceeded the required speed of 21 knots, and 22.5 knots was attained with 12,910 h.p. The ship’s machinery comprised Parsons geared turbines with two shafts, the designed horsepower being 12,000, and four Yarrow boilers were installed. Dimensions included a length of 443¾ ft., a beam of 60 ft., and a draught of 16¼ ft. Standard displacement was 4,800 tons. Armament comprised four 4.7 inch anti-aircraft guns, and two 2 pdr pom-pom guns. The ship’s complement numbered 450, including six officers and 24 other ranks from the RAAF.

HMAS Albatross commissioned at Sydney on January 23 1929 under the command of Captain D. M. T. Bedford, R.N. A month later the carrier positioned at Port Phillip where aircraft stores, and personnel, of No. 101 (Fleet co-operation) Flight embarked on February 21. On the 25th, six Seagull IIIs were hoisted aboard at Geelong – and, more than one RAAF officer heaved a sigh of relief to see the folded-wing aircraft lowered through the 41ft. x 20ft. hatch and into the hangars, albeit the fit was close! By coincidence, the Fairey IIID (span 46 ft. 11¼ in, length 37 ft., height 11 ft. 4 in.), and the Seagull III (span 46 ft., length 37 ft., height 12 ft.) possessed almost the same dimensions, particularly when their wings were folded.

No sooner had Albatross joined the Fleet than she was called upon to assist in the search for Kingsford Smith’s Southern Cross, G-AUSU, lost near Wyndham on March 31 1929. As the days slipped by with no trace being found of the Fokker F.VIIb-3m, the Minister for Defence, Sir William Glasgow, ordered HMAS Albatross, and her Seagulls, to proceed from Sydney with all possible speed to Wyndham. The entire crew of the carrier was recalled from leave, and Albatross sailed on April 11 for her dash to the west. Shortly after her departure, however, Captain L. H. Holden in the DH61 Canberra, G-AUHW, located the Southern Cross on April 12, and Albatross was ordered back to Sydney.

Working up exercises for HMAS Albatross were carried out in Australian waters where the carrier, and her aircraft, operated as a reconnaissance element for the new 10,000 ton cruisers HMA Ships Australia and Canberra, which at that time did not carry aircraft. In June 1929, combined manoeuvres took place with the Royal New Zealand cruisers Dunedin and Diomede. Rear-Admiral E. Evans (later Admiral Lord Mountevans), commanding Australian Squadron, was most impressed with the performance of Albatross and her aircraft. So much so, that during the concluding sports regatta at Hervey Bay, north of Brisbane, he gave permission for a special race for the Seagulls. The event was decided on a time basis, and the amphibians roared around the course at low level in full view of the RAN and RNZN ships anchored in the bay. As Lieutenant-Commander G. W. R. Nicholl, RN, remarked in his book The Supermarine Walrus, ‘. . . it is difficult to imagine Their Lordships of the time approving a similar contest in the Royal Navy!‘

In July and August Albatross made a vice-regal tour of the New Guinea area with Lord and Lady Stonehaven. In addition to her Seagulls, Albatross embarked the Wackett Widgeon II for tropic trials. Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Commodore R. Williams, had already initiated action to replace the wooden-hulled Seagull IIIs in Albatross. ‘I obtained the dimensions of the hangar and the capacity of the crane – anything which affected the handling of aircraft in and out of the ship,’ recalls Sir Richard in his memoirs. ‘. . . with the assistance of my Director of Technical Services, then Wing Commander H. C. Harrison, we drew up a specification of the aircraft we would need.‘ The resultant specification – an air-cooled metal construction, strengthened for catapulting, fitted with folding wings, with provision for a crew of three, and of such dimensions as to operate from Albatross – was submitted in 1929. This aircraft eventually materialised as the RAAF’s Supermarine Type 236 Seagull V of 1933 and, later, the RAF’s and FAA’s Walrus I of 1935, and wooden-hulled Walrus II of 1941.

Meanwhile, in November 1929, Albatross took part in combined exercises with the RAN and RAAF in Port Phillip Bay. The Seagull III crews opened the mock war with an early morning attack on their erstwhile friends at Point Cook and Laverton. They then maintained patrols over the RAAF bases to alert the fleet of retaliation raids.

In December, Squadron Leader V. R. Scriven, an RAF exchange officer, took over from Squadron Leader Hempel as No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight’s Commanding Officer, and Senior Air Officer aboard Albatross. The flight comprised one squadron leader, one flight lieutenant and three flying officers, all of the General Duties branch. These five pilots – Albatross carried a maximum of Six Seagull IIIs, one of which was a reserve aircraft – were allotted five naval officers as observers. The RAAF also provided a Stores and Accounting branch flying officer, and 24 non-commissioned officers and airmen of eight trade musterings. In addition, six RAN telegraphist air-gunners were attached to the flight.

No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight re-embarked in Albatross during May 1930, after spending a month at RAAF Richmond. The carrier then departed on a second extensive cruise to New Guinea and the Mandated Territories. In August, Captain H. J. Feakes, RAN, assumed command of Albatross from Captain Bedford. Late in 1930 the carrier visited Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Port Pirie and Wallaroo for the first time. The close of the year also brought the first effects of the Depression, and the RAN sea-going squadron was reduced to Australia, Canberra, Albatross, and one ‘S’ class destroyer.
For the next two years, Albatross continued to operate along much the same lines as she had done during 1929-30; winter cruises to the New Guinea area, spring cruises to southern states, training exercises, and combined operations. In February 1931, Squadron Leader J. E. Hewitt took over command of No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight and Captain C. J. Pope, RAN, replaced Captain Feakes aboard Albatross in August 1931.

The full impact of the Depression had reached Australia by 1933 and, on April 23, HMAS Albatross was paid off into the Reserve Fleet. For the next five years the aircraft carrier was either swinging at anchor in Sydney Harbor, or berthed at Garden Island. Ironically, the prototype Supermarine Seagull V – the amphibian specially designed for Albatross to Air Commodore Williams’ specification – took to the air for the first time on June 21 1933, two months after Albatross was laid up.

Early in 1936 an E III H catapult was fitted to Albatross at Garden Island, in anticipation of the carrier being recommissioned by the time the first of the 24 Seagull Vs had arrived in Australia. But it was not to be. Apparently, catapult trials were carried out with a Seagull V in August 1936, although the author has yet to locate photographs of this historic event. Albatross remained in reserve until April 19 1938, when she was accepted by the Admiralty as part payment for the new cruiser, HMAS Hobart; as from 1936 all the RAN cruisers – Australia, Canberra, Sydney, Hobart and Perth were equipped with their own Seagull V amphibian, thus negating the requirement for Albatross. Flying her paying-off pennant, HMAS Albatross sailed from Sydney under the command of Captain H. G. D. Acland, RN, on July 11 1938. As she proceeded down the harbor, the carrier was farewelled by a formation of Seagull V amphibians of the No. 5 (Fleet Co-operation) Squadron, commanded by Squadron Leader C. B. Wincott, RAF, from RAAF Richmond – this squadron was formed from the No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight on April 21 1936, and it was subsequently renumbered No. 9 (Fleet Co-operation) Squadron on January 1 1939.

Although Albatross severed connections with the RAN in 1938, her subsequent history is full of interest. On October 6 1938, the carrier was commissioned in the RN as HMS Albatross for trials at Devonport, and was then placed in reserve on November 30 1938. HMS Albatross recommissioned on August 25 1939 – due to shortages she had no catapult installed – and embarked No. 710 Squadron, FAA, comprising six Supermarine Walrus 1 amphibians. She then sailed for war service in the South Atlantic, West Africa, and Madagascar areas. In 1940 a catapult was reinstalled, and in 1941-2 Albatross underwent a refit in America. In 1943 the carrier returned to England, was paid off, and the catapult was again removed. In 1944 HMS Albatross joined the Home Fleet as a repair ship, and took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy. On August 11 Albatross was hit by a torpedo off Courseulles and casualties exceeded 100, including 50 killed. The ship also destroyed a Junkers Ju 88, and two shore batteries. HMS Albatross joined the Reserve Fleet in January 1945 at Portsmouth, and later Falmouth.

In 1946 Albatross was sold to a British company which planned to convert her into a passenger luxury cruiser. When conversion costs became too high, it was decided to use Albatross as an offshore floating cabaret at Torquay on the Devonshire coast. The ship was saved this fate when it was bought by the Greek-British Yannoulatos Group of shipowners on the day Prince Charles was born and in whose honour she was renamed Hellenic Prince. She was then converted to a passenger vessel and in 1949 was chartered by the International Refugee Organisation. Carrying 1,000 displaced persons, the ship returned to Sydney on December 5 1949, where she had first taken the water some 21 years previously in 1928. Hellenic Prince was finally scrapped at Hong Kong on August 12 1954.

Although the genesis of naval air power in Australia is closely associated with the RAN’s first aircraft carrier, the warship was almost forgotten by the nation she served. That is until August 31 1948, when the Naval Air Station at Nowra, NSW, was commissioned as HMAS Albatross. RANAS Nowra is the shore support base for the RAN FAA, and it is most appropriate that the station perpetuates the name HMAS Albatross – the first of the line.

Footnote:

  1. The term aircraft carrier is a controversial one and covers many types of ships -ships that carried landplanes which could be launched only; ships with flight decks for takeoff only; ships with fully operational flight decks; ships with catapults; and ships that acted as seaplane carriers, or tenders. Albatross was often referred to as a seaplane carrier, although she carried boat-amphibians rather than seaplanes. Thus, the author has chosen the generic term aircraft carrier to describe HMAS Albatross, precursor of post-WW II carriers HMA Ships Sydney,Vengeance and Melbourne.

The RAN in Antarctic Waters

PRIOR TO 1911, AUSTRALIAN INVOLVEMENT in Antarctic exploration was limited to providing a jumping-off point for many of the expeditions. The first truly Australian venture was led by Douglas Mawson who first sailed south in that year. Although several semi-private Australian expeditions were mounted over the years, the government did not show any major financial interest until they purchased the auxiliary schooner Wyatt Earp in 1939.

Built in Norway in 1919 as the Fanefjord, she spent many years fishing and sealing in North Atlantic and Arctic waters before being bought by Lincoln Ellsworth in 1933. Renaming her for the famous sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona, the American explorer voyaged to the Antarctic during 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1938 before selling her to the Australian Government for 4,400 pounds.

Lying in Adelaide at the outbreak of war, the veteran polar ship was commissioned in the RAN as HMAS Wongala. Employed as a patrol vessel for the duration of hostilities, Wongala was principally engaged as the examination vessel for Whyalla, but her duties also included cable-laying at Darwin. About August 1945, the 403 ton schooner reverted to her former name and became a Sea Scouts’ training ship until 1947.

In July 1947, the Commonwealth Government established the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions – ANARE. Earlier in the same year, a planning committee was formed to advise the Government on Antarctic policy. The Navy’s representative, to advise on hydrographical work and victualling, was the Director of Plans at Navy Office, Melbourne.

Group Captain S.A.C. Campbell, RAAF, was appointed by the Committee as Executive Officer to organise and lead a three pronged Australian expedition to the Antarctic. Stuart Campbell was eminently qualified for the task; in the 1929-30 Antarctic expedition he had been a pilot of Sir Douglas Mawson’s Moth aircraft and returned again the following year. He served in HMAS Albatross, carrying out aerial surveying along the Great Barrier Reef and as a civilian, had undertaken aerial survey jobs in Western Australia and Victoria.

HMAS Wyatt Earp – Port Melbourne 1947, alongside HMAS Gascoyne

HMAS Wyatt Earp, after being chosen as the expedition vessel, was refitted in Adelaide to enable her to carry out surveying of the King George V Land coastline for the purpose of establishing a permanent continental station in the Antarctic. If possible, the expedition’s geophysicist was to reoccupy the magnetic station at Sir Douglas Mawson’s old base at Commonwealth Bay. The expedition also provided for the establishment of meteorological and geophysical bases at Heard Island and Macquarie Island.

Manned by an RAN crew under the command of Commander Karl E. Oom, RAN,1 Wyatt Earp sailed from Melbourne in late 1947. When south of Macquarie Island the ship encountered heavy seas and developed a leak forcing her to return for repairs. Finally, on 8th February 1948, Wyatt Earp sailed for the Antarctic continent with Group Captain Campbell going in her.

Owing to the extremely heavy pack ice which prevailed during the summer of 1947-48, the twenty nine year old vessel was prevented from reaching the King George V Land coastline despite two separate attempts. Thus, neither the survey was conducted nor the geophysicist landed at Commonwealth Bay. Instead, she headed east to survey the Balleny Islands, which lie close to the eastern limit of the Australian Antarctic Territory and are among the most inhospitable islands in the world.

The first recorded landing on the Ballenys was of several minutes’ duration in 1839; the second was also a brief landing, by Group Captain Campbell, Dr. P. Law and Able Seaman Wallace on 29th February 1948. The weather was too rough for a landing using Wyatt Earp’s motor cutter; even so, the heavy pounding surf forced the immediate retreat of the more sturdy whaler.

The small, slow and under-powered Wyatt Earp proved unsuitable for the requirements of ANARE and the 1948 voyage was her last to Antarctic waters. She was honourably retired and, under private ownership, engaged in the Australian coastal trade as Wongala, and later, Natone. In January 1959 the veteran polar ship was lost off the Queensland coast.

The second RAN vessel to be actively engaged in Antarctic exploration work was HMAS LST 3501. Built by Canadian Vickers in 1943, the Landing Ship Tank was not commissioned into the RAN until after the war. The least conventional of all polar ships, the 2,300 ton vessel served in the founding of the Heard and Macquarie Island stations in 1948 and thereafter in relief operations.

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