Petty Officer Telegraphist. [85] Both ships' measures were too late to avoid a collision; Melbourne hit Voyager at 8:56pm. [19] At Melbourne's commissioning, the standard air group consisted of eight Sea Venoms and two squadrons of eight Gannets, with two Bristol Sycamore search-and-rescue helicopters added shortly after the carrier entered service. [16] Melbourne's two propellers were driven by two Parsons single-reduction geared turbine sets providing 40,000shp, which were powered by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers. Melbourne received a warm and colourful reception in Western Australia and there was great media interest in her arrival. [10] Despite an increase to approximately one acre (4,000square metres, 4,800square yards) in area, the deck was still significantly smaller than other Cold War era carriers; S-2 Trackers, with their 22.12-metre (72ft 7in) wingspan, had less than a metre's clearance for their starboard wingtip when landing, and pilots from other navies often refused to attempt landing. Melbourne undergoing trials at Barrow-in-Furness, England 1956. The deployment was further marred when, just a week later while the ship was en route to Japan, a sailor was injured on the flight deck. [77][78] It was the first time a flagship of the RAN had entered Indian waters. [164] At this time, few western experts expected that the Chinese government would attempt to develop aircraft carriers in the future. [151] A 2012 article in Jane's Navy International stated that the large quantity of equipment recovered from Melbourne "undoubtedly helped" Admiral Liu Huaqing secure the Chinese government's support for his proposal to initiate an aircraft carrier development programme.[164]. [7], The Majestic experienced delays in its construction due to labour difficulties, late delivery of equipment, additional requirements for Australian operations and the prioritisation of the construction of merchant ships. The PLAN subsequently arranged for the ship's flight deck and all the equipment associated with flying operations to be removed so that they could be studied in depth. [117] The escorts were again warned about the dangers of operating near the carrier and informed of Stevenson's expectations, while the minimum distance between carrier and escorts was increased from 2,000 to 3,000 yards (1,800 to 2,700m). On 3 June 1969, the two ships were participating in SEATO exercise Sea Spirit in the South China Sea.Around 3:00 am, when ordered to a new escort station, Evans sailed under Melbourne ' s bow . On 26 October 2019, Melbourne was decommissioned from the RAN, subsequently being transferred to Chile. [1] At the conclusion of this exercise, Melbourne proceeded to Japan on a diplomatic visit, then sailed to the Philippines to exercise with SEATO ships. The text of the telex message has been altered for readability. Salvaged by USS YLLC-5 ( United States Navy) and floating crane YD-220 and refloated the next day. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions.[1]. Melbourne was back in dock from November 1972 until August 1973, with further work done to her catapult. In the act of taking a new station 1,000 yards astern of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21), the two ships were soon on a collision course. [82] The Daring-class destroyer HMASVoyager was also present, undergoing her own trials following refit, under the command of Captain Duncan Stevens. These larger and more dynamic jet aircraft led to commensurate advancements in the designs of the carriers from which they operated, most significantly the introduction of angled flight decks, mirror deck landing systems and steam powered catapults. Ask us a question about records in our collection. [4] Construction resumed in 1946, and major modifications to the design were incorporated. She visited her namesake city in September ahead of her departure on 11 October for Hawaii to participate in the inaugural RIMPAC exercise. [147] During this cruise two Skyhawks were lost: on 2 and 21 October. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, age, color, sex (including pregnancy . Pls b advised that HMAS Melbourne arrived at Port Huangpu, intact n safely afloat, proud n majestic. [84] Instead, Voyager first turned to starboard, away from Melbourne, then turned to port without warning. [75] The year began with exercises en route to Adelaide, followed by a visit to the Royal Hobart Regatta. [148] The carrier's deployments for the second half of the year consisted of two exercises, Sea Hawk and Kangaroo 81. [113] Melbourne re-entered service at the conclusion of the refit on 14 February 1969. Melbourne's first major refit started in December 1967 and continued until February 1969, during which she was upgraded to operate S-2 Tracker and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft. [70] In November, the carrier took part in disaster relief exercises. [145], During February and March 1980, Melbourne participated in RIMPAC 80, as the flagship of Battle Group Two. These incidents, along with several minor collisions, shipboard accidents and aircraft losses, led to the belief that Melbourne was jinxed. Note: This video is hosted on YouTube and has no audio. The three carriers astern of her are, from forward to rear, HMS Bulwark, HMAS Melbourne and HMS Victorious. [93] Several of the Southeast Asian deployments were related to the IndonesiaMalaysia confrontation, and involved participation in show of force exercises off the coast of Malaysia. Surgeon Commander Brian Treloar helps Lieutenant Barry Tuke, RN, down the gangway. On 3 June 1947 the Commonwealth Government approved the acquisition of two aircraft carriers for the RAN. [36] The three 277Q radars were replaced with updated American and Dutch designs: a LW-02 air search set and a SPN-35 landing aid radar. She has been innocent, never once bowed to the natural or human force, in spite of the heavy storm and the talked about jinx. Once this was completed, Melbourne was removed while the new bow was put in place in the drydock. You can also find information on crew members to the rank of Petty Officer by checking punishment returns for 1912 to 1959, series A7111. [38] Both options were turned down, and it was instead proposed to operate Melbourne as a helicopter carrier. [65] Melbourne spent from September to November in Southeast Asian waters, during which she participated in Exercise Albatross and received an official visit by Philippines president Ramon Magsaysay. [110] Both options were made more prohibitive by the need to supply at least two escorts for the carrier at a time when the RAN was having difficulty meeting deployment commitments with the available destroyers and destroyer escorts. [4] Following the end of World War II, the Admiralty ordered the suspension of many British shipbuilding projects, including the fitting out of Majestic and her five sister ships. [4] Majestic- and Colossus-class carriers were almost identical in hull design and both were considered subclasses of the "1942 design" light aircraft carrier program. [120] After having narrowly passed in front of Melbourne, the turns quickly placed Evans back in the carrier's path. A shore party took part in an internal security exercise at RNAS Sembawang in August before the ships departed for home later that month. [87] The destroyer's forward section sank quickly, under the weight of the two 4.5-inch (110mm) gun turrets. ", before instructing the destroyer's Quartermaster to announce that a collision was imminent. [1] Melbourne had been designed to operate in North Atlantic and Arctic climates, and the original ventilation systems were inappropriate for her primary operating climate, the tropics. That night Melbourne was engaged in night flying exercises off the New South Wales coast. The fleet was divided into two with Melbourne's group operating out of Manila, the second group operating out of Bangkok. However, a subsequent RAN court martial cleared him of any responsibility. The Melbourne-Evans collision was a collision between the light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans of the United States Navy (USN). With 24 ships and submarines from five nations participating, OCEAN LINK was the largest SEATO exercise yet. [8][9] Incorporation of new systems and enhancements caused the cost of the RAN carrier acquisition program to increase to AU8.3million. She was laid down on 21 April 1944, and commissioned into the United States Navy on 3 February 1945. A crew member of the search and rescue helicopter entered the water but could not find him, and tragically, subsequent search and rescue efforts found no trace of him. [129] Despite the findings, Stevenson's next posting was as a minor flag officer's chief of staff, seen by him as a demotion in all but name. [13], As the lead ship of the Majestic-class of light aircraft carriers, Melbourne was conceived as a modified version of the Colossus-class carrier, incorporating improvements in flight deck design and habitability. [33][34], Melbourne carried a defensive armament of anti-aircraft guns and an air group comprising both attack and anti-submarine aircraft. Honour Roll OFFICERS AND MEN LOST IN HMAS SYDNEY (II) Name. Right: The survivors were disembarked from Melbourne when the carrier arrived back in Sydney on 12 February. HMAS Melbourne off the east coast of Australia on 6 May 1956, astern of HMAS Sydney, following her delivery voyage from Britain. [17], Following the recommencement of construction, modifications were made to the ship, based on wartime experience and Britain's post-war carrier warfare technology and innovations. 644 mi - Melbourne, FL. She departed Singapore on 3 July and arrived back in Sydney, after disembarking her aircraft at Jervis Bay, on 15 July. [164] Reports have circulated that either a replica of the flight deck, or the deck itself, was used for clandestine training of PLANAF pilots in carrier flight operations. On 28 April during flying operations in the Sulu Sea, one of Melbournes Sea Venoms crashed over the side when an arrestor wire failed on landing, and the aircraft did not regain enough airspeed to once again get airborne. This is reflected in the title for each volume, for example, 'HMAS Rushcutter, quarter ended 30/6/1941'. [143] On return in July, the carrier entered a major refit, which continued until 3 August 1979. The pilot, Lieutenant John da Costa, RAN, one of the FAAs most experienced pilots, ejected before the aircraft hit the water and was later rescued by a search and rescue helicopter. In 1964, Melbourne was involved in a collision with the Australian destroyer HMAS Voyager, sinking the smaller ship and killing 82 of her crew. HMAS Voyager sank on the night of 10 February 1964 off Jervis Bay, southern NSW, following a collision with the Melbourne during exercises off Jervis Bay, southern NSW. The three person crew suffered only minor injuries. HMAS Melbourne was originally one of six Majestic Class light fleet aircraft carriers ordered for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. [1][27] The flight deck was again reinforced and strengthened, and attempts were made to increase the effectiveness of the air conditioning system installed in 1969. HMAS Melbourne undergoing temporary repairs in Singapore. [23][note 3] She was sold again in February 1985 to the China United Shipbuilding Company for A$1.4million, with the intention that she be towed to China and broken up for scrap. 1959 began positively for Melbourne, with the news that she had been awarded the Duke of Gloucesters Cup for 1958 as the RAN unit displaying the highest level of overall proficiency for the year. A BritIsh Avro Vulcan flies over HMAS Melbourne during exercises in SE Asia. [71] At the start of 1959, Melbourne spent four days in her namesake city, where she was used for the filming of On The Beach, based on Nevil Shute's post-apocalyptic novel of the same name. possessed 63 Ships, 22 of these were requisitioned. [150] In the late 1960s, the British made a similar offer, following a 1966 review indicating that HMSHermes was a superfluous naval unit. This event not only revived memories of the Voyager tragedy five years earlier, but also pre-empted another tragedy to come. At around 3:35am on 31 May, USS Everett F Larson was ordered to take up a planeguard position astern of Melbourne from off her starboard bow. [132] The carrier's engineers often resorted to making replacements from scratch. Temporary repairs were affected at sea before Melbourne proceeded to Singapore that afternoon. The Australians got one up on their American counterparts, however, when Sub Lieutenant Charlie Morris, RAN, was piped up to the flight deck with hammer. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. She participated in Exercise JUC 76 in February before departing Sydney on 9 March for Asian waters. [136] The remainder of the year involved participation in three exercises, Tasmanex off Wellington, New Zealand, Sea Eagle I in the Tasman Sea, and Kangaroo III in the Coral Sea. He would later finish fourth at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. 99,290 miles. [100] The second commission found that Stevens was medically unfit for command and that some of the findings of the first Royal Commission were therefore based on incorrect assumptions. [124] After Evans' stern was evacuated, it was cast off, while the carrier moved away to avoid damage. Work progressed slowly thereafter and many lessons learnt during the war regarding carrier design and operations were incorporated into the ship's modernisation programme. [51][54] Arriving back in Sydney on 5 April, the carrier was sent on a five-month deployment to the United Kingdom on 28 April, accompanied by HMASBrisbane and HMNZSCanterbury. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions. $32,998. Delays in construction and integrating the enhancements meant that the carrier was not commissioned until 1955. She arrived in Jervis Bay on 20 July. ABERNETHY, Roderic Bell. The passage proved a difficult one as cyclonic conditions caused a number of accidents and injuries throughout the fleet, including a shipwright aboard Melbourne who injured his hand in a circular saw and required surgery. We will commemorate crew members from HMAS Voyager (II) (pictured) who paid the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country, and the persons who answered the call for assistance including HMA Ships Melbourne, Stuart, Hawk, Ibis, Curlew, Snipe and Teal and search and rescue (SAR) vessels from HMAS Creswell (Air Sprite and Air Nymph), air [17] Following this, she travelled to New Zealand, where she participated in exercises with HMNZS Royalist and visited several New Zealand ports. Behind him from left to right are Chaplain Alan Batt, Chaplain Louis Breslan, the Minister for the Navy, the Hon Charles 'Bert' Kelly, MP, and Melbourne's Commanding Officer, Captain John Stevenson, RAN. 74 American personnel died, and a joint USNRAN Board of Inquiry was held. [140] A Tracker from Melbourne located the disabled Dutch vessel Impala Princess in the Gulf of Aden on 25 May and directed a French destroyer to assist. RIMPAC activities occupied the ship for most of September before she went on to visit Yokosuka, Japan, in early October, and Manila where she participated in the SEATO exercise SEA SCORPION. Early in her career, Melbourne underwent a series of short annual refits, commencing in September and ending in January or February of the next year. She took part in the ANZUK exercise GROUNDWORK en route to Singapore in late October and early November, before arriving back in Sydney on 27 November where she began refit preparations. [84] The procedure to accomplish this required Voyager to turn away from Melbourne in a large circle, cross behind the carrier, then take position off Melbourne's port side. [115][116] Additionally, during the lead up to the exercise, Admiral Crabb had strongly warned that all repositioning manoeuvres performed by the escorts had to commence with a turn away from Melbourne. [42] A separate proposal to order 10 A-4G Skyhawks, a variant of the Skyhawk designed specifically for the RAN and optimised for air defence, was approved in 1965. The deployment was also notable as the only occasion on which both RAN aircraft carriers, Melbourne and Sydney, deployed overseas together. Her voyage to Australia was by way of the Mediterranean Sea and included visits to Gibraltar, Naples and Malta before transiting through the Suez Canal. [155], Plans to replace Melbourne changed in July 1981; the British 1981 Defence White Paper had marked the recently commissioned HMSInvincible as surplus to requirements, and she was offered to the RAN for the 'bargain' price of GB175million (A$285million). For more information, you can ask us a question. The National Archives holds these in Canberra in the record series A4624. [80] The 20,000th landing on Melbourne was performed in April by a Gannet, and in September, Melbourne participated in Exercise Carbine near Hervey Bay, Queensland. Left: HMAS Melbourne (II) in company with HMA Ships Vendetta (II) and Voyager (II). [1] In August, Melbourne sailed for Hawaii to participate in RIMPAC 72. She participated in the inaugural ANZUK naval exercise GENESIS at the end of March and departed Singapore for Australia on 3 April. [150] The only cost to the RAN would have been the modifications required to make the carrier operationally compatible with the RAN's primarily British-designed fleet. Thousands of people turned out to watch her arrive in the harbour and three days later she replaced HMAS Sydney (III) as the flagship of the RAN when Rear Admiral HM Burrell broke his flag in her. [114] Evans was positioned on Melbourne's port bow, but began the manoeuvre by turning starboard, towards the carrier. Melbourne commenced her South East Asian deployment shortly after her visit to Hobart, departing Sydney on 7 March. [46][47][48][49] The carrier was sent to the United States in 1977 to transport back 16 S-2G Tracker aircraft as replacements. [155] The Australian carrier was prepared for disposal, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 30 June 1982. of 2 Download Low Res Image Order a copy Download Low Res Image Order a copy Description Crew members aboard HMAS Vampire. Robertson, D. D. Taylor, R. D. Beames, L. A. She returned to sea on 11 May 1964 and commenced work-up exercises off the coast of New South Wales. [30] In June, the carrier took part in Exercise Kangaroo in the Coral Sea, before returning to Sydney in July. References to many ledgers appear at item level on RecordSearch. [44][45] The aircraft did not fly from Melbourne until the conclusion of her refit in 1969. [98][99] This is the only time in Australian history two Royal Commissions have been held for a single incident. State. USS Frank E. Evans in 1963. [1] In mid-1971, the Australian military's Joint Planning Committee considered using Melbourne as a transport to help complete the withdrawal of the Australian Task Force from Vietnam before the end of 1971. [114] During Sea Spirit, Melbourne was assigned five escorts: US Ships Everett F. Larson, Frank E. Evans, and James E. Kyes, HMNZS Blackpool, and HMSCleopatra. Two days prior to that, one of Melbourne's Gannet aircraft developed an engine fault on take off and ditched into the sea ahead of the ship. [134] While the Army supported this proposal, the Navy successfully argued against its implementation, claiming that transporting troops and cargo would be misusing Australia's only active aircraft carrier, and would prevent Melbourne from participating in several major multi-national exercises. [50][51], Over the course of her career, over thirty aircraft were either lost or heavily damaged while operating from Melbourne. Melbourne returned to sea on 3 February 1969 for sea trials and workup exercises, and a rededication ceremony was conducted on board on 14 February. Voyagers role was that of plane guard, involving the rescue, if necessary, of aircrew personnel from the sea. On 10 April she visited Colombo before crossing the Indian Ocean and arriving in her first Australian port, Fremantle, on 23 April 1956. . She performed sea trials in Jervis Bay from 17 February until 5 May, then sailed for Subic Bay, Philippines, to participate in SEATO Exercise Sea Spirit. The search was abandoned the following day. She departed Sydney to pick up the RANs new Skyhawks and Trackers in the USA on 20 September 1967. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] the aircraft did not fly from Melbourne until conclusion! 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