GREENBANK NAA NEWSLETTER GREY FUNNEL DITS

Disclaimer: The material contained in this publication is in the nature of entertainment for the members. Contributions are acknowledged, with thanks, from service organisations. The editor expressly Disclaims all and any liability to any person, whether an association member or not. Views expressed may not necessary be those held by the Executive or the members.

Editor: Tony Holliday [email protected] 0403026916

Series No. 4 Date: Issue March 2021 No 3. Greenbank Naval Association Sub Section Events for March / April 2021 Tuesday 02 March ……. Normal Meeting 1900-2100 RSL Rooms Wednesday 31 March…..Executive meeting 1000-1030 RSL Rooms

Sunday 04 April…………Normal Meeting 1030-1200 RSL Rooms Sunday 25 April…………Anzac Day Service TBA Wednesday 28 April…….Executive Meeting 1000-10030 RSL Rooms

Jack’s Memorial Commemoration 2021

25 March 1100….RAN Anzac Day Bridging Team

Editors Request: Articles for the newsletter can be handed in at meetings, or by email: articles may be edited to fit the newsletter. The contents of this edition of the newsletter have been obtained from information provided from Len Kingston-Kerr whom I thank greatly, various publication and NAA information emailed in.

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – PERSONALITY CPOGI AWF Cooper: Arthur William Cooper was born on 15 February 1909 in Fremantle, Western Australia. He joined the Royal Australian Navy on 15 February 1927, undertaking his basic training at HMAS Cerberus (Flinders Naval Depot), Victoria.

Rated an ordinary seaman, Cooper served variously in HMA Ships Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide between June 1927 and March 1928 during which time he was promoted Able Seaman.

He again served at Cerberus between 1928 and 1930 successfully passing the RAN Educational Test before returning to sea in the heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra. In Canberra, Cooper qualified as a gun-layer second class and was promoted Acting Leading Seaman. A brief period of shore service followed before he returned to sea serving in the destroyers Vendetta and Waterhen between 1934 and 1935. During that time, he was confirmed in the rank of Leading Seaman.

On promotion to Petty Officer in January 1936, Cooper served in the light cruiser HMAS Brisbane before joining HMAS Australia in which he served until April 1938. This service was briefly punctuated by his attendance at Cerberus to undertake the RAN Petty Officer course in October 1937. Between April 1938 and November 1941 Petty Officer Cooper served in the destroyer HMAS Voyager in the Mediterranean while part of the famous Scrap Iron Flotilla. During that time his ability was consistently reported as superior and Voyager was frequently in action.

In November 1941 Cooper experienced some respite from the war at sea serving ashore at HMAS Cerberus before travelling to the United Kingdom in 1942 to join and commission the heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire. In the same year he was awarded the Greek Medal for Outstanding Acts on behalf of King George of the Hellenes, in recognition of service with the Scrap Iron Flotilla. Arthur Cooper was promoted Temporary Chief Petty Officer in April 1943 and on 6 May 1944 was recommend for temporary warrant rank by his Commanding Officer Captain Harry Showers, RAN.

The Greek Medal for Outstanding Acts which CPO Cooper was awarded for service in HMAS Voyager (l).

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Shropshire saw extensive action in the Pacific during the advance on Japan, notably in waters was during that time that Chief Gunners Mate Arthur Cooper distinguished himself in action during operations in Leyte Gulf and during the Battle of the Surigao Straits when Allied forces engaged and destroyed a number of Japanese battleships. The action proved to be the last great sea battle of World War II.

On 30 March 1945 Chief Petty Officer Cooper received formal advice that he had been awarded a Distinguished Service

Medal in recognition of his service in Shropshire as the Elevation Officer.

Arthur Cooper returned to Australia in June 1945 and served briefly at Cerberus and HMAS Moreton, Brisbane, before re-joining Shropshire in April 1946. He discharged from the RAN on expiration of his engagement on 29 December 1948.

******************************* ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – ADMIRALS VADM T Barrett Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1976 as a Seaman Officer and later specialised in aviation.A dual- qualified officer, Vice Admiral Barrett served in Her Majesty’s Australian (HMA) Ships Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane and HMS Orkney as a Seaman Officer and then as Flight Commander in HMA Ships Stalwart, Adelaide and Canberra. His staff appointments include Deputy Director Air Warfare Development, Director Naval Officer’s Postings and Director General of Defence Force Recruiting.He has served as Commanding Officer 817 Squadron, Commanding Officer HMAS Albatross, Commander Australian Navy Aviation Group, Commander Border Protection Command and most recently as Commander Australian Fleet. Receiving a Conspicuous Service Cross in 2006 for his achievements in naval aviation, Vice Admiral Barrett became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2009 for his service as Director Naval Officers' Postings and Commander Navy Aviation Group. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2014 for his leadership of Border Protection Command and the Australian Fleet.Vice Admiral Barrett holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and History and a Masters of Defence Studies, both from the University of New South Wales. He recently completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.Vice Admiral Barrett assumed command of the Royal Australian Navy on 1 July 2014.

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HAVE A LAUGH

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NAVAL DISASTERS HMAS Canberra (l):

Class County Class Displacement 9,850 tons Type Heavy Cruiser Length 630ft Builder John Brown Scotland Beam 68ft Laid down 9 September 1925 Draught 16-21ft Launched 31 May 1927 Speed 31 ½ knots Commissioned 9 July 1928 Crew 679 Armament 8 x 8in Guns Machinery Brown-Curtis geared 4 x 4in guns Turbines 4 screws 4 x 3 pounder guns Horsepower 80,000

HMAS Canberra was one of two 10,000-ton County Class Heavy Cruisers ordered by the Australian Government as part of a five year naval development program begun in 1924 and completed in 1929. She commissioned at Clydebank on 9 July 1928, two months after her sister ship, HMAS Australia, under the command of Captain George L Massey RN.

She was built to the Kent Class design of County Class Cruisers, her sister ships being HMAS Australia and HM Ships Kent, Berwick, Cornwall, Cumberland and Suffolk. After some five months in British home waters, Canberra sailed from Portsmouth for Australia on 4 December 1928 and arrived at Fremantle on 25 January 1929, having sailed via Gibraltar, Freetown, Lagos, Cape Town, Simonstown and Durban.

HMAS Canberra (I) dressed overall and firing a gun salute in Sydney Harbour, circa 1929

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In Sydney harbour 1930

The new cruiser remained in Australian home waters until September 1931 when she made her first voyage outside of the Australia Station to visit New Caledonia and Fiji.

In the following nine years leading up to the outbreak of the World War II, Canberra remained in commission with several periods as the Flagship of the Australian Squadron. She visited the China Station in 1932 and again in 1937. New Zealand ports saw her on three occasions but for the remainder of the time it was the routine cruising of the peace time navy in home waters. In 1934 she acted as escort to His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester during his visit in HMS Sussex.

At the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939, Canberra began her war time career patrolling and escorting in home waters and the Tasman Sea under the command of Captain Wilfrid R Patterson, CVO, RN, a service which occupied the cruiser for the first nine months of the war.

In June 1940 Captain Harold B Farncomb, MVO, RAN assumed command and the following month Canberra began a period of service in the Indian Ocean on escort duty from Fremantle to Colombo and Cape Town. In July she made an unsuccessful search for the German raider Atlantis, then at large on the shipping routes leading from Africa to India and the Malay States.

In November 1940 she rescued survivors of the SS Port Brisbane and carried out a prolonged but again unsuccessful search for her attacker, the German raider Pinguin, then en route for Antarctica after mining Australian ports. n 1941 Canberra continued her Indian Ocean escort and patrol duties, making further surface raider searches in January and again in February when she took part in the fruitless hunt for the battleship Admiral Scheer. In March 1941, however, the cruiser reaped the reward of the constant patrolling, when in the company of HMNZS Leander she intercepted the German supply ship Coburg and the ex-Norwegian tanker Ketty Brovig, which had been taken in prize the previous month by the raider Atlantis.

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In mid-June 1941 Canberra visited the west Indian Ocean for the last time and departing Zanzibar proceeded for Colombo. After a brief period escorting in Indian waters, she returned to Australia during the last week of July. The second half of 1941 saw Canberra operating in the eastern Indian Ocean escorting convoys from Australia to Singapore and Ceylon and in the Tasman Sea.

When war broke out with Japan on 8 December 1941, Canberra was berthed in Sydney Harbour with more than 175,000 miles of war time operational steaming to her credit.

Following the outbreak of the Pacific War she continued her role of escort cruiser, convoying troops to New Guinea in January 1942 and convoys to the Malayan/Java theatre. On 7 February 1942 she docked in Sydney for extensive refit work that was not completed until mid-May, when she escorted a convoy south to Melbourne. Back in Sydney she lay at anchor not far from the cruiser USS Chicago on the night of the Japanese midget submarine attack on 31 May/1 June 1942.

Captain Frank E Getting RAN assumed command of Canberra in June 1942. During the same month Canberra took part in offensive sweeps in the Coral Sea as part of Task Force 44, which included US Ships Chicago and Salt Lake City.

he stricken HMAS Canberra (I) following the action at Savo Island. After being struck by at least two Japanese torpedoes and numerous enemy salvos, she was deemed unsalvagable and consequently evacuated and sunk off Savo Island on 9 August 1942. This stretch of water is now known as Iron Bottom Sound after 32 Allied ships were sunk there during WWII.

In August 1942 Canberra operated with the naval force supporting the American landings at Guadalcanal and Tulagi, operations which ended with her loss in the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942.

Canberra was struck by two torpedoes on her starboard side and over 20 salvoes of 8-inch shellfire. With power lost and the ship listing, the wounded and survivors were transferred to USS Patterson and USS Blue.

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Rear Admiral RK Turner USN ordered that Canberra be abandoned and sunk if she could not steam by 06:30. Once all the survivors had been evacuated, and acting in accordance with the orders of Rear Admiral Turner and Rear Admiral VAC Crutchley, VC, DSC, RN who was officer in tactical command of the combined force of Australian and American cruisers and destroyers at Guadalcanal, USS Selfridge fired 263 5-inch shells and four torpedoes into Canberra, although she refused to sink. Eventually a torpedo fired by USS Ellet administered the final blow. Canberra sank at about 8:00 am on 9 August 1942.

There were 193 casualties amongst the 819 personnel serving in Canberra on 9 August 1942. Missing believed killed were nine officers (including one Royal Australian Air Force and one United States Navy) and 65 ratings (including three Royal Australian Air Force and two Royal Navy); one officer (Captain Getting) and nine ratings (including one Royal Australian Air Force) died of wounds; and 10 officers (including one Royal Navy), 96 ratings (including two Royal Australian Air Force, one Royal Navy and two United States Navy) and three civilian Canteen Staff were wounded.

HMAS Canberra (I) is commemorated in the Nation's Capital on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, where a service is held each year on the anniversary of her loss.

To honour Canberra, the US Navy commissioned the Baltimore class heavy cruiser, USS Canberra in 1943. The only US Navy ship thus far to be named for a foreign capital. In February 2018, continuing the tradition of honouring HMAS Canberra (I), the President of the United States of America announced that a future Independence class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 30), will be the second US Navy ship to carry the name USS Canberra.

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HAVE A LAUGH

An older gentleman was on the operating table awaiting surgery and he insisted that his son, a renowned surgeon, perform the operation. As he was about to get the anaesthesia, he asked to speak to his son. "Yes, Dad, what is it?" "Don't be nervous, son; do your best, and just remember, if it doesn't go well, if something happens to me, your mother is going to come and live with you and your wife." ****************

Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. This is so true. I love to hear them say: "You don't look that old."

************** I talked to a homeless man this morning and asked him how he ended up this way. He said, “ Up until last week I still had it all, I had plenty to eat, my clothes were washed and pressed, I had a roof over my head, I had HDTV and internet, and I went to the gym, the pool and the library. I was working on my MBA on-line. I had no bills and no debts. I even had full medical coverage “. I felt sorry for him, so I asked, “What happened? Was it drugs, Alcohol, Divorce?” Oh no, nothing like that he said.

No, no I was paroled

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – SHIP HISTORY

HMAS SWAN (ll)

Class Grimsby Class Displacement 1,500 tons Type Sloop Length 266ft Builder Cockatoo Shipyard Sydney Beam 36ft Laid down 1 May 1935 Draught 10ft Launched 28 March 1936 Speed 16 ½ knots Commissioned 21 January 1937 Machinery Parsons geared turbines Armament 3 x 4in guns Horsepower 2,000 shp 4 x 3 pounder guns

HMAS Swan commissioned at Sydney on 21 January 1937 under the command of Commander Roy R Dowling, RAN.

Swan's two years and seven months of service before the outbreak of World War II was spent mainly on the Australia Station. She visited New Zealand in April 1937, the Solomon Islands in September 1937, and in June and July 1939 she cruised to the China Station, visiting Timor, Bali, Batavia and Singapore.

Following the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Swan was fitted out as a minesweeper and on 9 December 1939 became Leader of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, formed that day and comprising initially HMA Ships Swan, Yarra (II), Doomba and Orara. For the next two years, December 1939 to December 1941, Swan operated as a unit of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, sweeping in Australian waters. She was Flotilla Leader until October 1940, when the role was assumed by her sister ship HMAS Warrego (II).

Operations for the first eleven months were negative but in November 1940 the first enemy mines were swept. These had been laid by the German auxiliary minelayer Passat in Bass Strait off Wilson's Promontory. Subsequently in late 1940 and 1941, other mine fields laid in Bass Strait by Passat and by the German auxiliary cruiser PINGUIN off Newcastle, New South Wales; Hobart, Tasmania; and in Spencer Gulf, South Australia, were cleared by the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla. Swan swept ten mines.

In December 1941, following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Swan was engaged in sweeping operations off Port Moresby in New Guinea and as a convoy escort. In January 1942 she proceeded to Amboina in the Moluccas to assist the civilian evacuation.

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There she experienced her first enemy attack when she was targeted by Japanese bombers. She escaped undamaged in spite of several near misses.

In February 1942 Swan was based at Darwin for anti-submarine patrols and on escort duties. On 15 February she departed Darwin as part of the escort of a convoy of four transports carrying troops for the reinforcement of Allied forces in Timor. Some 300 miles west of Darwin, however, the convoy and escorting warships were attacked by a force of forty-five Japanese aircraft and though no serious damage resulted, all ships were ordered to return to Darwin.

On 19 February 1942 Swan was at Darwin when the port was attacked by a large force of aircraft flown from the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, operating in the Timor Sea under the command of Vice Admiral Nagumo. This was the first and most severe air raid on Australian soil. Fortunately, Swan was able to get under way without being hit but she experienced seven attacks and several near misses damaged her, killed three of her complement and wounded nineteen others. The following day she proceeded to Brisbane for repairs and a general refit. Swan returned to seagoing service in May 1942 and for the following eighteen months, until October 1943, she was engaged escorting convoys between the Australian mainland and New Guinea. During this period, she experienced several air raids in New Guinea waters but was not damaged again. In November 1943 a long refit commenced which kept Swan in dockyard hands until the end of March 1944. At this time Swan had steamed nearly 150,000 miles since commissioning. In May 1944 Swan was assigned to New Guinea waters for escort and patrol duties, and as a fire support ship for military operations proceeding ashore. In the latter role, between August 1944 and May 1945, she carried out a series of bombardments of enemy positions in New Britain and New Guinea and supported the operations of the Australian 6th Division at Wewak. During this period Swan also took over the operational control, at Mios Woendi, of the Australian escorts operating westwards of Hollandia engaged in convoying vessels between Biak and Morotai in the Halmaheras.

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In June 1945 Swan returned to Australia to undergo her third refit of the war period. This work was in progress when Japan capitulated on 15 August 1945. In September 1945 Swan proceeded to New Ireland and there on 18 September 1945 embarked General Eather, General Officer Commanding the Australian 11th Division, and his staff. On board on the same day at Namatani, General Eather accepted the surrender of Japanese forces in New Ireland from General Ito, the Japanese Commander-in-Chief.

On 16 October 1945 the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla was reformed with Swan (Captain RV Wheatley RAN) as Flotilla Leader for mine clearance operations in Australian, New Guinea and Solomon Islands waters. This vital post war work kept Swan almost constantly at sea until 16 August 1948, when she arrived in Sydney having steamed 281,256 miles since commissioning. She paid off in the Reserve Fleet on 18 August 1950, without again proceeding to sea.

In October 1954, at Garden Island, Sydney, Swan passed into dockyard hands for conversion to a training frigate. The work was completed in February 1956 and on 10 February 1956, Swan recommissioned under the command of Commander Ronald J Robertson, DSC RAN, for service as a Cadet Training Ship. She was reclassified as a frigate and also fitted to operate as a survey ship.

As a training ship for the Royal Australian Navy's officer cadets and apprentices, and on survey duty, Swan steamed a further 160,000 miles in the period of February 1956 to September 1962.

Swan paid off for disposal on 20 September 1962. On 5 June 1964 Swan was sold to Hurley and Dewhurst, of Sydney, to be broken up. She was delivered to the purchasers on 18 September 1964.

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – NU SHIP

HMAS HOBART (lll)

Class Hobart Class Displacement 7,000 tonnes Type Destroyer Guided Missile DDG Length 146.7 Mtrs. Builder Air Warfare Alliance Beam 18.6 Mtrs Laid Down 6 September 2012 Draught 7.2 Mtrs Launched 23 May 2015 Speed 28 + knots Commissioned 23 September 2017 Crew 180 Missiles Mk41 VL x 48 cells Machinery 2 x GE7LM 2500 SA-ML RIM-66 standard x 2 G38 Gas Turbines RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow 2 x Catapiller Bravo 16v Advanced Harpoon x 2 launchers diesel engines Guns Mk45 5in Torpedoes MU90 Torpedo 2 x 25mm Bushmaster Harpoon 1 x CIWS Helicopter 1 x MH-60R Seahawk Counter measures NURKA Missile decoy HMAS Hobart (III) is the first of three ships of the Hobart Class guided missile destroyers. Her sister ships are HMAS Brisbane (III) and HMAS Sydney (V). The keel of Hobart was laid down on 6 September 2012 and the ship was launched on 23 May 2015. HMAS Hobart (III) commissioned on 23 September 2017.Hobart is based on the Navantia designed F100 frigate and is coupled it with the Aegis Combat System. Hobart was constructed in Australia by the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance. Hobart provides air defence for accompanying ships in addition to land forces and infrastructure in coastal areas, and for self-protection against missiles and aircraft. The Aegis Combat System incorporating the state-of-the-art phased array radar, AN/SPY 1D(V), in combination with the SM-2 missile, provides Navy with an advanced air defence system capable of engaging enemy aircraft and missiles at ranges in excess of 150km.

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Hobart will carry a helicopter for surveillance and response to support key warfare areas. The surface warfare function will include long range anti-ship missiles and a naval gun capable of firing extended range munitions in support of land forces.

Hobart will also conduct undersea warfare and be equipped with modern sonar systems, decoys, surface-launched torpedoes and an array of effective close-in defensive weapons. hese capabilities ensure that the Hobart Class guided missile destroyers have the layered defensive and offensive capability required to counter conventional and asymmetric threats.

HMAS Hobart was commissioned in a ceremony at Fleet Base East on 23 September 2017.

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PICTURE FUNNIES

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NAVAL TERM & TRADITIONS Nicknames:

Nicknames also abound in the RAN, for instance, Rear Admiral Peter Hogarth Doyle was given the nickname ‘Daphne’ by his peers, and this stuck for the rest of his naval career. Rear Admiral Harold Bruce Farncomb acquired the nickname 'Fearless Frank' while commanding HMA ships Perth (I) and Canberra (I) during WWII. More generic nicknames include ‘Blue’ for a RAN member with red hair, or ‘Dutchy’ for a member with a surname beginning with ‘Van’. The following is a list (not comprehensive) of surnames and their associated moniker.

Bell: Dinga Martin: Pincher Bennett: Wiggy Metcalfe: Chops Brown: Bomber Miller: Dusty Clark: Nobby Moore Pony Evans: Dorry Murphy: Spud Fleming: Fluff Neal: Scratcher Gale: : Windy Payne: Whacker Gordon: Flash Parker: Nosey Gray: Dolly Patterson: Banjo Hudson: Rock Rodgers: Buck Hill: Windy Reynolds: Debbie Jones: Spike Smith: Smouch Lane: Shady Taylor: Squizzy

Recognition of Service Badge: Every year on Anzac Day thousands of Australian men and women can be seen marching in the streets of Australia’s major cities and towns or gathered around small country town cenotaphs. On their chests they proudly display their or their family’s record of service and sacrifice to the nation. A day later these same people seem to melt into the crowd and disappear. Yet the signs are still there, though not as obvious as the shining medals and multi- coloured ribbons. Since the First World War the Australian government has been presenting to individuals a variety of badges, for wearing in civilian clothing, reflecting the wearer’s status as having either returned from active service, volunteered for service or being a family member of a person on active service. The following represent the various badges issued to naval personnel or their relatives and merchant seamen by either the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defence since the First World War. British badges which RAN or merchant service personnel would be entitled to are also illustrated. The Female Relative’s Badge was issued to the mother or nearest female, blood, relative of a person who had enlisted in the RAN or a naval member of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which captured German New Guinea. Badges were also issued in respect of members of the RAN Brigade and the Auxiliary Services where these persons had enlisted for general active service at sea and had served in a seagoing warship. Service in training ships did not count.

Eligibility for the badge was also extended to the RAN Brigade Minesweeping Section where they had spent time at sea undertaking actual war minesweeping.

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Female relatives of RAN Bridging Train personnel were required to apply for a badge through the Department of Defence as the Bridging Train was deemed to be part of the AIF. Mothers were entitled to the award of an additional silver bar, suspended below the badge, in recognition of the service of a second son. In the case of where a husband enlisted and then a son a bar would also be awarded.

The Female Relative’s Badge was issued to the mother or nearest female, blood, relative of a person who had enlisted in the RAN or a naval member of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which captured German New Guinea. Badges were also issued in respect of members of the RAN Brigade and the Auxiliary Services where these persons had enlisted for general active service at sea and had served in a seagoing warship. Service in training ships did not count.

Eligibility for the badge was also extended to the RAN Brigade Minesweeping Section where they had spent time at sea undertaking actual war minesweeping.

Female relatives of RAN Bridging Train personnel were required to apply for a badge through the Department of Defence as the Bridging Train was deemed to be part of the AIF.

Mothers were entitled to the award of an additional silver bar, suspended below the badge, in recognition of the service of a second son. In the case of where a husband enlisted and then a son a bar would also be awarded.

Home Service Badge.

In November 1918 the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board decided that a service badge would be issued to members of the RAN Brigade and other members of the Naval Forces who had volunteered for overseas service with either the RAN or AIF but, for service requirements, had not been allowed to deploy overseas and were retained in Australia.

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