The Royal Australian Navy 1939 - 1945 We infantrymen would never admit it to a sailor but quite often we have to say "thank God for the Navy" From the outbreak of the Second World War until the cessation of in August 1945 the men, women and ships of the Royal Australian Navy served in every theatre of operations, from the tropical Pacific to the frigid Russian convoys. They took part in almost every major naval battle from the hunting of the BISMARCK, the landings on D-Day through to savage Kamikaze attacks in the Philippines and Okinawa. When World War Two begun in early September 1939, The Royal Australian Navy's strength was: two heavy cruisers (Australia and Canberra), four light cruisers (Sydney, Hobart, Perth and Adelaide), five destroyers (Stuart, Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager), two sloops (Swan and Yarra) and a survey ship (Moresby). The personnel strength was just 5,440 in the permanent force and 4,819 in the Reserve. At the commencement of the war the majority of the Australian Navy strength was serving at home in Australian waters. But that was to change quickly. Within four months of the outbreak of war Australian ships were scattered all over the world. During the first few months of the war in 1939, the British Admiralty requested the ships of the Royal Australian Navy be despatched for war service in the European and Mediterranean waters. On November 7 1939, all Australian vessels were placed at the Admiralty's disposal on the condition that ships were not removed from Australian waters without the agreement of the Australian Government. Sub category index The first deployment of Australian Naval Ships occurred in October 1939 when the Royal Australian Naval Flotilla left Sydney for the Mediterranean to join a British naval force. Three months later, in January 1940, HMAS Hobart assisted in escorting the first convoy carrying the Australian Army to the Middle East. When Italy entered the war in June 1940, HMAS Sydney and five Australian destroyers were serving with the British Mediterranean fleet from bases at Alexandria. They soon saw action against the Italian Navy, when on 28 June 1940, HMAS Sydney, as part of the 7th Cruiser Squadron intercepted three Italian destroyers guarding a convoy bound for Libya. In the ensuing battle, HMAS Sydney sunk the destroyer Espero. HMAS Voyager had the honour on 13 June 1940 of being the first Australian ship to sink an enemy submarine when she scored a kill with gunfire and depth charges. On July 9 1940, four Australian ships ( Sydney, Sturt, Vampire and Voyager) participated in the Battle of Calabria, and although no ships were sunk, it gave the Allied Navy a major moral victory over the Italians that was never lost. On 19 July 1940 HMAS Sydney was involved in the best known action of the Mediterranean campaign when off the coast of Crete, she came to the rescue of a British destroyer division on anti-submarine patrol that was being engaged by two Italian Cruisers. After a running battle that lasted about an hour, HMAS Sydney sunk the Bartolomeo Colleoni and damaged the other ship, the Giovanni Della Bande Nere. In the Indian Ocean in March 1941, HMAS Canberra intercepted the German supply ship Coburg and oiler Ketty Brovig and both ships were scuttled by their crews. The Australian Navy suffered the worse loss in its history in November 1941 when HMAS Sydney was lost with all hands off the Western Australian Coast. HMAS Sydney had engaged and sunk the German Raider Kormoran but was severely damaged and was last sighted sailing off towards the horizon. Following Japan's entry into the war on 7 December 1941 the Royal Australian Navy quickly went into action in the Pacific. On 10 December Japanese aircraft sank the British battleships Repulse and Prince of Wales. HMAS Vampire had formed part of the destroyer escort for these battleships and along with the British destroyer Electra was able to rescue 796 people. HMAS Vampire was also the first Australian vessel to engage the Japanese navy when on the night of 26-27 January 1942 she, along with HMS Thanet attacked Japanese naval units off Endau, Malaya.. The Yarra was also busy during this time. Following an air raid where the Empress of Asia was sunk, the Yarra, along with the Australian corvettes Bendigo and Wollongong were able to rescue many of the people aboard. The Royal Australian Navy's first victory against the Japanese occurred on 21 January off Darwin when the submarine I124 was destroyed by depth charges dropped by the Bathurst Class corvettes Katoomba, Lithgow and Deloraine and the United States destroyer Edsall. On 19 February 1942 Japanese aircraft operating from four aircraft carriers attacked Darwin. During the attack two Royal Australian Naval vessels, Kelat and Mavie, were sunk. The ship HMAS Swan and the hospital ship Manundra were among the other ships that were severely damaged. The battle of the Java Sea begun on 27 February 1942 when a combined American-British-Dutch-Australian naval force of eight cruisers and sixteen destroyers assembled for the defence of Java. Australian ships in this battle force consisted of HMAS Perth and Hobart. During the battle HMAS Perth was sunk and Hobart was damaged before proceeding to Ceylon. HMAS Yarra was given the responsibility of escorting a small convoy to Australia, but on 4 March was intercepted by a force of three Japanese cruisers and two destroyers. Yarra's captain dispersed the merchants and moved to delay the attacking force by engaging them with light guns and smoke screens. In what must be the bravest and most futile display of courage by a vessel of the Royal Australian Navy the Yarra was sunk and 138 men, including the Captain died. When World War Two begun in early September 1939, The Royal Australian Navy's strength was: two heavy cruisers (Australia and Canberra), four light cruisers (Sydney, Hobart, Perth and Adelaide), five destroyers (Stuart, Vampire, Vendetta and Voyager), two sloops (Swan and Yarra) and a survey ship (Moresby). On the 30 June 1945 the main combat strength of the RAN consisted of: Heavy Cruiser 1 Australia Light Cruisers 3 Hobart, Adelaide, Shropshire Destroyers 11 Arunta, Warramunga, Bataan, Vendetta, Napier, Nizam, Norman, Nepal Frigates 6 Sloops 2 Swan, Warrego Corvettes 53 Bathurst, Warrnambool, Geraldton, Shepparton, Castlemaine, Colac, Bendigo, Gladstone, Whyalla Fairmile Motor Launches 33 Harbour Defence Motor Launches 28 Landing Ship Infantry 3 Anti-submarine Auxiliaries 3 Auxiliary Minesweepers 6 Minelayer 1
