She visited Hong Kong before proceeding to Subic Bay in the Philippines for the SEATO exercise SEA DEVIL. Left: The band played a concert featuring a guest conductor. Right: Melbourne's damaged bow following her tragic collision with Voyager. [30], Following Navy Help Darwin, Melbourne participated in RIMPAC 75, then returned to Sydney for a fourteen-month refit, which was delayed by industrial action at the dockyard. [75] The year began with exercises en route to Adelaide, followed by a visit to the Royal Hobart Regatta. [26][114], Melbourne's commanding officer during the SEATO exercise was Captain John Phillip Stevenson. While Melbourne was undergoing temporary repairs in Singapore, the ship's band spend time at the Singapore School for the Blind. [17][69], From February until July 1958, Melbourne was deployed on a 25,000-nautical-mile (46,000km; 29,000mi) flag-showing cruise. In 1964, Melbourne was involved in a collision with the Australian destroyer HMAS Voyager, sinking the smaller ship and killing 82 of her crew. [35], During the 19671969 refit, thirteen Bofors were removed, leaving four twin and four single mountings. 808 Squadron in 1955 posing before a Sea Venom onboard Melbourne. [2], Melbourne's initial armament included 25 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns: six twin and thirteen single mountings. [105] Despite the carrier being the centrepiece of several plans to involve Australian forces in the Vietnam War, the escort runs were the extent of Melbourne's participation in the conflict, and the carrier remained outside the Market Time area while Sydney and her other escorts proceeded to Vng Tu. [40][41], The RAN planned to acquire 14 Grumman S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft, and modernise Melbourne to operate the aircraft. [87] Voyager's forward boiler exploded, briefly setting fire to the bow of the carrier before it was extinguished by seawater. [147] During this cruise two Skyhawks were lost: on 2 and 21 October. The Australian War Memorial also holds relevant information. [23] In May 1967, it was proposed that while Melbourne was out of service, A-4 Skyhawk pilots and maintenance personnel could be attached to a United States Marine Corps Skyhawk squadron in South Vietnam. These generally involve requisitioned vessels. [60] The majority of Melbourne's commanders later reached flag rank. [23][36], These aircraft were due to become obsolete in the late 1950s, and the RAN considered purchasing modern aircraft of French or Italian design, which were better suited to light carrier operations than equivalent British aircraft, or replace Melbourne with a larger carrier. [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. The aircraft was located some 17 minutes later on a reef off Palali Island, in Kali Bay at the western end of Manus. Rank/Class/Branch. The impact pushed Voyager through the water laterally for a few seconds, and then she broke in two. This gave Australia a capability at that time not possessed by any land based air force operating jet aircraft in the region. She steamed into Singapore on 6 June with flags flying at half mast. [94], A Joint RAN-USN board of inquiry was established to investigate the incident, and was in session over June and July 1969. The missing vessel was located on the morning of 6 July some 60kms offshore, and the three occupants, suffering from exposure but otherwise in good health, were embarked in Melbourne by the carriers rubber Gemini dinghy. [149] In his haste to shut down the carrier, he failed to deactivate the water pumps, and over 180tons of fresh water were pumped in before a maintenance party discovered the flooding the next day. [88] The aft section did not begin sinking until half an hour after the collision, completely submerging just after midnight. [45] Melbourne operated a standard air group of four Skyhawks, six Trackers, and ten Wessex helicopters until 1972, when the Wessexes were replaced with ten Westland Sea King anti-submarine warfare helicopters and the number of Skyhawks doubled. (John Francis collection). Athol Townley MP, announced that fixed wing naval aviation would be disbanded in 1963 when Melbourne became due for a major refit. While in the Philippines Melbourne embarked the Philippine President Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay as well as the three Philippine service chiefs and the Australian ambassador for a flying demonstration. The National Archives holds these in Canberra in the record series A4624. Melbournes 1962 South East Asian deployment began on 28 February when she departed Fremantle for Singapore. Melbourne never fired a shot in anger during her service career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles in relation to the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and the Vietnam War. [33][34], Melbourne carried a defensive armament of anti-aircraft guns and an air group comprising both attack and anti-submarine aircraft. The fleet made its way northwards to the Philippines over the course of the exercise which concluded with a fly-over of aircraft over Manila. [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. [161][162] The Skyhawks remained in service as fleet support aircraft until 30 June 1984, while the Trackers were withdrawn from service on 31 August 1984 after being used as land-based maritime patrol aircraft. [101] Robertson and the other officers of Melbourne were absolved of blame for the incident. She has been innocent, never once bowed to the natural or human force, in spite of the heavy storm and the talked about jinx. Corrective action from both ships was required to avoid a collision. [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. Middle: Some students receiving instruction on the drums from Musician Wright. Pls b advised that HMAS Melbourne arrived at Port Huangpu, intact n safely afloat, proud n majestic. [16] The carrier could achieve a top speed of 24 knots (44km/h; 28mph), and a range of 12,000 nautical miles (22,000km; 14,000mi) at 14 knots (26km/h; 16mph) or 6,200 nautical miles (11,500km; 7,100mi) at 23 knots (43km/h; 26mph). Laid down for the RN as HMS Majestic on 15 April 1943 and launched in 1945, the ship was nearing completion when construction was virtually brought to a halt with the cessation of wartime hostilities. Robertson, D. D. Taylor, R. D. Beames, L. A. This cine film has been placed online as part of the Sea Power Centre - Australias ongoing archival digitisation program. She participated in Exercise FIRST TIME in January 1965, and on 2 February departed Sydney for Hobart and the Royal Hobart Regatta. She participated in Exercise JUC 76 in February before departing Sydney on 9 March for Asian waters. Historic video footage showing a Gannet anti-submarine aircraft taking off and landing from the deck of HMAS Melbourne (II). Finally on 9 May she arrived in Sydney for the first time. The service life of the Sea Venoms and the Gannets, meanwhile, was extended past 1963. Melbourne went on to visit Yokohama and Djakarta before arriving back in Fremantle on 24 June. HMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). [87] The destroyer's forward section sank quickly, under the weight of the two 4.5-inch (110mm) gun turrets. Shift: Monday thru Friday 6:00pm-2:30am. On 10 April she visited Colombo before crossing the Indian Ocean and arriving in her first Australian port, Fremantle, on 23 April 1956. Naval Airman Douglas Wild suffered severe internal injuries when he slipped while trying to unhook an arrestor wire from a Gannet and was partially crushed between the tail of the plane and the ships deck. Once this was completed, Melbourne was removed while the new bow was put in place in the drydock. Many survivors were embarked in Melbourne while others were transported by other search and rescue vessels to HMAS Creswell at Jervis Bay. [142] Melbourne was docked in Garden Island's drydock on arrival, where she remained until January 1978. [135] Melbourne, Brisbane, and eleven other ships were deployed as part of the largest peacetime rescue effort ever organised by the RAN: Operation Navy Help Darwin. She then went on to visit Hong Kong before proceeding to Singapore to participate in the SEATO exercise SEA SERPENT, which in 1963 was being conducted congruently in Manila and Singapore. State. She joined HMAS Sydney (III)s escort force for four days during the troop carriers voyage to Vietnam in early June, and arrived back home in Sydney later in the month. They arrived at Garden Island at 4:13am on 28 April, some 5 hours and 32 minutes ahead of the ship. Vickers Armstrong Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness, England, Lady Anderson, wife of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. [23] She returned to Australia on 12 October, but sailed out ten days later to participate in Exercise Leadline off Malaysia, before reaching Sydney again in December. Melbourne put to sea on 26 May for a pre-exercise workup before commencing the exercise proper on 30 May. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Armand Roland, RAN, was recovered by the helicopter planeguard with minor injuries, while the observer and telegraphist, Lieutenants Anthony Horton, RAN, and Haliburton Findlay, RAN, were recovered unhurt a few minutes later by HMS Cavalier. [14] These carriers were intended as "disposable warships": to be disposed of at the end of World War II or within three years of entering service. She participated in the anti-submarine Exercise WINCHESTER off Jervis Bay in September/October, following which she visited her namesake city. [77] The carrier's annual refit began in Sydney on 1 October. Video footage of HMAS Melbourne (II) arriving in Singapore after her collision with USS Frank E Evans in 1969. References to many ledgers appear at item level on RecordSearch. Melbourne went on to visit Manila where she conducted flight deck and hangar handling trials with a USN Grumman Tracker, a precursor as to what lay in the carriers future. [86], Melbourne struck Voyager just aft of the destroyer's bridge, rolling the destroyer to starboard before cutting her in half. Their actions and behaviour left nothing to be desired. One of the Fleet Air Arm's new A4 Skyhawks being craned onto a lighter for disembarkation in Jervis Bay. [121] Melbourne hit Evans amidships at 3:15am, cutting the destroyer in two. [7] The Colossus-class carrier HMSVengeance was loaned to the RAN from 13 November 1952 until 12 August 1955 to cover Majestic's absence. The helicopters aircrew was recovered uninjured by HMAS Derwent. The Gannets crew, Lieutenant David Farthing, RAN, Lieutenant Graham Bessell-Browne, RAN, and Petty Officer Frederick McCreanor, were quickly recovered by helicopter, somewhat shaken but otherwise unhurt. 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