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. 3 Date: March 2020 Issue No3.

GREENBANK NAVAL ASSOCIATION Sub Section

Events: March 2020 - April 2020

March: Tuesday 3 March 2020 1900-2100 Normal Meeting RSL Rooms Wednesday 25 March 2020 1000-1030 Executive Meeti8ng RSL Rooms

April: Tuesday 07 April 2020 1900-2100 Normal Meeting RSL Rooms Saturday 25 April 2020 0930 Anzac Day Service Wednesday 29 April 2020 1000-1030 Executive Meeting RSL Rooms

Your Sub Section Executive :

At the Sub Section AGM held on Sunday 9th February the following Executive Positions were filled;

President: Michael Brophy Treasurer: Henk Winkeler Secretary: Tony Holliday Vice President 1 Terry McLean Vice President 2 vacant Social Committee Vacant Council Delegate Vacant

Congratulations on those members who have been re-elected to the Executive

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 publications and NAA information emailed in.

1

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – PERSONALITY

CPO C.S. Choules

A former and World War II veteran, Claude’s life spanned the existence of the Australian Navy, which came into being on 1 March 1901, only two days before his birth.

Born in Pershore, on 3 March 1901, Claude Stanley Choules joined the Royal Navy as a Boy on 10 October 1916, and served in the HMS Impregnable situated at Devonport dockyard. The Impregnable had been a 140 gun square-rigged wooden prior to becoming a training ship. In 1917, Claude joined the battleship HMS Revenge, flagship of the First Battle Squadron. While serving in Revenge, Claude witnessed the surrender of the German at the Firth of Forth, in November 1918, ten days after the Armistice. He also later saw the of the German Fleet, by the Germans, at . In 1919 he saw service in Revenge in the which was a tense period with the still taking place and Turkish Nationalists fighting to gain control of their country after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

A ‘big ships man’, Claude then served in the battleship Valiant with the Mediterranean Fleet between 1920 and 1923. A subsequent posting saw him stand by the construction of the RN’s first purpose built HMS Eagle, which was followed by a two year posting as a Petty Officer on board Eagle, again in the Mediterranean Fleet.

In February 1926, along with eleven other RN senior sailors, Claude came to Australia on loan as an Instructor at Flinders Naval Depot. Taking a liking to the Australian way of life, Claude decided to transfer permanently to the RAN. On 3 December 1926 he married Ethel Sim Wildgoose at the Scotch Church in Caulfield, Victoria and they later had two daughters and a son. After returning England for courses to qualify for Chief and Anti- Instructor, Claude stood by the building of the RAN’s heavy HMA Ships Australia (II) and Canberra. Claude was a commissioning crew member of HMAS Canberra (I) and served in her until 1931.

Claude took his discharge from the RAN in 1931 and the family moved to Western Australia. In 1932 he re-joined the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer Torpedo and Anti-Submarine Instructor at the Naval Training Depot in Fremantle. During World War II, Claude was the Acting Torpedo Officer, Fremantle and also the Chief Demolition Officer for Western Australia. Early in the war Claude was flown to Esperance, on Western Australia’s southern coast, to identify a mine washed ashore nearby. The mine was identified as German and Claude then disposed of the first mine to wash up on Australian soil during WW II.

As the Chief Demolition Officer, Claude had the task of destroying facilities and oil storage tanks in Fremantle harbour thus rendering them useless in the event of a Japanese invasion.

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For a number of weeks during the dark days of 1942, explosive charges were in place to carry out this task. Additionally Claude had depth charges placed in ships that had been unable to sail to Albany, with the intent of sinking them in Fremantle harbour should the Japanese invade. Claude remained in the RAN after the war and transferred to the Naval Dockyard Police (NDP) to allow him to remain in the service until March 1956, as retirement from the RAN for ratings in those days was at 50 years, while personnel could serve in the NDP until the age of 55. Claude was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II coronation medal in 1954 for his long service to the RAN. After retirement from the Naval Dockyard Police, Claude purchased a Cray fishing boat and spent many years fishing off the Western Australia coast. Claude Choules died in Perth, WA on 5 May 2011, aged 110, and was acknowledged as the last veteran, who had seen active service, from World War I. On 13 August 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Minister for Defence Stephen Smith (also Member for Perth) announced that the recently purchased vessel, the Largs Bay would be renamed HMAS Choules. HMAS Choules was commissioned, in Fremantle, on 11 December 2011.

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY -

RADM GLA BAYLISS: Geoffrey James Alexander Bayliss was born in Nyaunghla (Nyaung-U), Central Burma on 14 September 1937 to British parents. He received his primary education in Trinidad, West Indies and at Bathgate Academy in before the family moved to , Queensland. He attended Brisbane Boys College at Toowong and later the University of Queensland, where he commenced a medical degree. Bayliss was a fourth year undergraduate medical student when he joined the Royal Australian Navy, in February 1958, as a probationary Sub Lieutenant. Posted to HMAS Moreton he continued his medical studies in Brisbane and graduated in 1961. During university breaks he undertook training at HMAS Watson including a compressed air diving course. After graduation from Queensland University he completed his residency at Ipswich General Hospital and was promoted to surgeon lieutenant in January 1962. Lieutenant Bayliss joined his first ship, the survey vessel HMAS Diamantina, in February 1963. During his time on board as the ships medical officer, Diamantina escorted the Royal Yacht Britannia into Fremantle, in March, before conducting surveys in Australian and Southeast Asian waters including visits to and two visits to Bali (where the ship disembarked medical supplies to assist the local population). The latter visit, in September, was of concern to the ship's company as the Indonesian Government policy of Confrontation with Malaysia was increasing in intensity and as a precaution the ship was at action stations when in Indonesian waters.

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Surgeon Lieutenant Bayliss was appointed to HMAS Albatross in December 1963, but in June 1964 transferred to HMAS Rushcutter where he worked in the School of Underwater Medicine which was associated closely with the RAN Clearance Diving Branch which was then based at Rushcutter. Bayliss was promoted to Surgeon Lieutenant Commander in January 1967 and in November of that year joined the fast troop transport HMAS as the ships medical officer. During his time on board, Sydney undertook troop transport duties to South Vietnam on seven occasions (December 1967, January 1968, March 1968, May 1968, November 1968, February 1969 and May 1969). Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Bayliss completed his service in Sydney in August 1969 and then proceeded to England on exchange service and was posted to the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire. On return to Australia Geoffrey Bayliss was appointed to HMAS Penguin, in January 1972, for duties at the RAN hospital. He was promoted to Acting Surgeon Commander in 1973 and assumed duties as the Deputy to the Medical Officer in Charge of the hospital. He was confirmed in the rank of Surgeon Commander in December 1973 and joined the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in January 1974 as the Fleet Medical Officer. During his service on board the carrier undertook a deployment to the San Francisco, during February to March, to embark new Chinook helicopters for the RAAF. On completion Melbourne undertook work-ups and took part in Exercise KANGAROO ONE in the Shoalwater Bay area in June and other training in the Eastern Australian Exercise Area during October and November. The carrier was alongside at Garden Island in December 1974 when Cyclone Tracy devastated the city of Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. Melbourne was crash sailed along with most of the Australian Fleet on 26 December, as part of Operation NAVY HELP DARWIN, and arrived in Darwin on New Year’s Day 1975 to assist with the clean-up and rehabilitation of the city. The carriers medical department was heavily involved in providing support to the civilian population as well as maintaining the health of the ship's company who were working long hours ashore on clean up duties in excessive heat. Melbourne departed Darwin on 18 January 1975 and then deployed to Hawaii for Exercise RIMPAC 75 in March. On completion of this exercise she returned to Australia and undertook a refit at Garden Island. In April 1976 Surgeon Commander Bayliss was appointed as the Medical Officer in Charge of the RAN Hospital at HMAS Cerberus. He was promoted to Surgeon in June 1979 and took a year’s sabbatical leave before being appointed as the Medical Officer in Charge of the RAN Hospital at HMAS Penguin in July 1980. This position also carried the additional duties as Command Medical Officer for Naval Support Command. Surgeon Captain Bayliss was appointed as the Honorary Surgeon to the Queen in May 1981 and the following year was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 1982, for his services to RAN medicine. In mid-1985 Geoffrey Bayliss was posted to Navy Office as the Director of Medical Services-Navy. Two years later, on 31 July 1987, he was promoted directly to Rear and appointed as the Director General Naval Health Services.

Rear Admiral Geoffrey Bayliss retired from the Navy in 1989. Since retiring he has been the chief of medical staff at the King Fahad Hospital at Al Baha in Saudi Arabia (1990-1993) and also been a medical consultant to various agencies.

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4

GREAT NAVAL BATTLES

Sinking of the German Battleship BISMARCK

Bismarck was the first of two Bismarck-class built for 's . Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss in in July 1936 and launched in February 1939. Work was completed in August 1940, when she was commissioned into the German fleet. Bismarck and her Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany, and two of the largest built by any European power. In the course of the warship's eight-month career under its sole commanding officer, Captain , Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, lasting 8 days in May 1941, codenamed Rheinübung. The ship, along with the heavy Prinz Eugen, was to break into the and raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, and British naval units were deployed to block their route.

After the disastrous sinking of HMS Hood, the Admiralty were determined to avenge the sinking of the "Pride of the Navy" HMS Hood in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the British committed every possible unit to hunting down Bismarck. The old Revenge-class battleship HMS Ramillies was detached from duty southeast of Greenland and ordered to set a course to intercept Bismarck if she should attempt to raid the sea lanes off North America. Prince of Wales and the cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk were still at sea in the area and tailing the German ships. A British force, the battleship King , the carrier Victorious and their escorts, had set sail from Scapa Flow before the loss of the Hood. The battleship Rodney was detached from escort duties on 24 May.

The last battle of the German battleship Bismarck took place in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 300 nm (350 mi; 560 km) west of Brest, France, on 26–27 May 1941. Although it was a decisive action between capital ships, it has no generally accepted name. On 24 May, before the final action, Bismarck's fuel tanks were damaged and several machinery compartments, including a boiler room, were flooded in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Her captain's intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair. Late in the day Bismarck briefly turned on her pursuers Prince of Wales and the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk) to cover the escape of her companion, the Prinz Eugen to continue further into the Atlantic.

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During the early evening of 24 May, an attack was made by a small group of Swordfish torpedo bombers of 825 Naval Air Squadron under the command of from the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. One hit was scored, but caused only superficial damage to Bismarck's armoured belt.

Early on 25 May the British forces lost contact with Bismarck, which headed ESE towards France while the British searched NE, presuming she was returning to . Later on 25 May Admiral Lütjens, apparently unaware that he had lost his pursuers, broke radio silence to send a coded message to Germany. This allowed the British to triangulate the approximate position of the Bismarck and aircraft were dispatched to hunt for the German battleship. She was rediscovered in the late morning of 26 May by a Catalina from No. 209 Squadron RAF and subsequently shadowed by aircraft from steaming north from . The final action consisted of four main phases. The first phase late on the 26th consisted of air strikes by torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal, which disabled Bismarck's steering gear, jammed her in a turning position and prevented her escape. The second phase was the shadowing and harassment of Bismarck during the night of 26/27 May by British , with no serious damage to any ship. The third phase on the morning of 27 May was an attack by the British battleships King George V and Rodney supported by cruisers. After about 100 minutes of fighting, Bismarck was sunk by the combined effects of shellfire, torpedo hits and deliberate scuttling. On the British side, Rodney was lightly damaged by near-misses and by the blast effects of her own guns. British warships rescued 111 survivors from Bismarck before being obliged to withdraw because of an apparent U-boat sighting, leaving several hundred men to their fate. The following morning, a U-boat and a German weathership rescued five more survivors. In the final phase the withdrawing British ships were attacked on 27 May by aircraft of the , resulting in the loss of the HMS Mashona.

Bismarck's second sea battle was made unavoidable by the decisions of the Fleet Commander (Günther Lütjens), taken well before the encounter with Hood and Prince of Wales. Even before the breakout into the North Atlantic, Lütjens had decided against conducting an underway refuelling in the Greenland Sea with Weissenburg, one of the pre-positioned German tankers, before his ships entered the Denmark Strait. And when, as a result of the battle with Hood and Prince of Wales, Bismarck lost access to several thousand tons of fuel in her forecastle due to a shell hit from Prince of Wales (aft of the forecastle, in her anchor locker), Lütjens had to order his ships to slow down to conserve fuel. The decrease in speed made Force H’s airborne torpedo attacks inevitable, and those attacks led directly to the final encounter with the Home Fleet.

For some time, Bismarck remained under long-distance observation by the British. At about 03:00 on 25 May, she took advantage of her opponents' zig-zagging to double back on her own wake; Bismarck made a nearly 270° turn to starboard, and as a result her pursuers lost sight of the battleship, thus enabling her to head for German naval bases in France unnoticed. Contact was lost for four hours, but the Germans did not know this. For reasons that are still unclear, Admiral Günther Lütjens transmitted a 30-minute radio message to HQ, which was intercepted, thereby giving the British time to work out roughly where he was heading.

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However, a plotting error made on board King George V, now in pursuit of the Germans, incorrectly calculated Bismarck's position and caused the chase to veer too far to the north. Bismarck was therefore able to make good time on 25/26 May in her unhindered passage towards France and protective air cover and destroyer escort. By now, however, fuel was becoming a major concern to both sides.

The British had a stroke of luck on 26 May. In mid-morning a Coastal Command Catalina reconnaissance aircraft from 209 Squadron RAF, which had flown over the Atlantic from its base on Lough Erne in Northern Ireland across the Donegal Corridor, piloted by British Flying Officer Dennis Briggs and co-piloted by US Navy observer Leonard B. Smith, USNR, Smith was at the controls when he spotted Bismarck (via a trailing oil slick from the ship's damaged fuel tank) and reported her position to the Admiralty. From then on, the German ship's position was known to the British, although the enemy would have to be slowed significantly if heavy units hoped to engage outside the range of German land-based aircraft. All British hopes were now pinned on Force H, whose main units were the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, the HMS Renown and the HMS Sheffield. This battle group, commanded by Admiral , had been diverted north from Gibraltar. Night of 26/27 May

At dusk that evening, and in atrocious weather conditions, Swordfish from Ark Royal launched an attack. The first wave mistakenly targeted Sheffield which had been detached from Force H under orders to close and shadow Bismarck. Although precious time was lost by this incident, it proved beneficial to the British in that the magnetic detonators on the torpedoes used against Sheffield were seen to be defective and for the following attack on Bismarck were replaced by those designed to explode on contact. Despite the lateness of the day, it was decided to try again. The attack commenced in near darkness at around 21:00 but once again the Swordfish torpedo bombers found Bismarck with their ASV II . A hit by a single torpedo from a Swordfish, hitting her port side, jammed Bismarck's and steering gear 12° to port. This resulted in her being, initially, able to steam only in a large circle. Repair efforts by the crew to free the rudder failed. Bismarck attempted to steer by alternating the power of her three propeller shafts, which, in the prevailing force 8 wind and sea state, resulted in the ship being forced to sail towards King George V and Rodney, two British battleships that had been pursuing Bismarck from the west. At 23:40 on 26 May, Admiral Lütjens delivered to Group West, the German command base, the signal "Ship now un-manoeuvrable. We will fight to the last shell. Long live the Führer." Throughout that night, Bismarck was the target of intermittent torpedo attacks by the Tribal-class destroyers HMS Cossack, Sikh, Maori and Zulu, and the Polish destroyer ORP Piorun. Neither side scored a hit, but the constant worrying tactics of the British helped wear down the morale of the Germans and deepened the fatigue of an already exhausted crew.

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The sinking of Bismarck

The morning of Tuesday 27 May 1941 brought a heavy grey sky, a rising sea and a tearing wind from the northwest. Because of this north-westerly gale, Admiral Tovey concluded an attack on Bismarck from windward was undesirable.

He decided to approach on a north-westerly bearing. Provided the enemy continued steering northward, he would deploy to the south on an opposite course at a range of approximately 15,000 yds (14,000 m). Bismarck was sighted bearing 118° at a distance of 25,000 yds (23,000 m). Rodney and King George V drew closer to Bismarck in line abreast, their enemy well illuminated by the morning sun in the background. Rodney steered to the east so that her gunfire would work the length of Bismarck, while King George V took the side. They opened fire at 08:47. Bismarck returned fire, but her inability to steer and her list to port severely affected her shooting accuracy. Her low speed of 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) also made her an easy target and she was soon hit several times by the large guns of the British battleships, with the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire adding their firepower later, after Bismarck's heavy guns had all been put out of action. One 16-inch (406 mm) salvo from Rodney destroyed the forward control post, killing most of the senior officers, while other salvoes destroyed all four gun turrets. Within 30 minutes, Bismarck's guns had all been silenced, and the ship was even lower in the water. Rodney now closed to point-blank range (approximately 3 km (1.9 mi)) to fire into the superstructure while King George V fired from further out; so her fire would strike Bismarck from a more vertical angle and be more likely to penetrate the decks. Bismarck continued to fly her ensign. The battleship's upper works were almost completely destroyed and although her engines were still functioning, she was slowly settling by the stern from uncontrolled flooding with a 20-degree list to port She no longer had any functioning guns, so First Officer Hans Oels ordered the men below decks to abandon ship; he instructed the engine-room crews to open the ship's watertight doors and prepare scuttling charges. Gerhard Junack, the chief engineering officer, primed the charges and ordered the crew to abandon the ship. Junack and his comrades heard the demolition charges detonate as they made their way up through the various levels Most of the crew went into the water, but few sailors from the lower engine spaces got out alive. With no sign of surrender, despite the unequal struggle, the British were loath to leave Bismarck. Their fuel and shell supplies were low – a demonstration of how difficult it was for a battleship to sink a similar unit even in an unbalanced engagement. However, when it became obvious that their enemy could not reach port, Rodney, King George V and the destroyers were sent home. Norfolk had used her last torpedoes; therefore, Dorsetshire launched three torpedoes at a comparatively short range, at least one of which impacted on the superstructure as Bismarck was already largely underwater. Bismarck went under the waves at 10:39 that morning. Admiral Tovey orders the Dorsetshire to pick up survivors, finally saying tersely “Well gentlemen, let’s go home”. Dorsetshire and Maori attempted to rescue survivors, but a U-boat alarm caused them to leave the scene after having rescued only 111 Bismarck sailors, abandoning the majority of Bismarck's survivors from the 2,200-man crew (around 800) to the mercy of the water.

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The next morning, U-74, dispatched to try to rescue Bismarck’s logbook (and which heard sinking noises from a distance), picked up three survivors in a raft (Herzog, Höntzsch, and Manthey) and the German weather ship Sachsenwald picked up two survivors in another raft (Lorenzen and Maus) before finding another raft that was empty.

Bismarck

HMS Rodney

Combatants:

AXIS: German Battleship Bismarck

Allied: HMS King George v and HMS Rodney Battleships HMS Ark Royal Aircraft Carrier HMS Norfolk, HMS Dorsetshire Heavy Cruisers HMS Sheffield Light Cruiser HMS Cossack, Sikn, Zulu, Maori, Mashona, Tinder Destroyers Piorun Polish Destroyer

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HAVE A LAUGH

An Irishman's first drink with his son!

While reading an article last night about fathers and sons, memories came flooding back to the time I took me son out for his first pint. Off we went to our local pub only two blocks from the cottage. I got him a Guinness He didn't like it, so I drank it. Then I got him a Kilkenny, he didn't like that either, so I drank it. Finally, I thought he might like some Harp Lager? He didn't. I drank it. I thought maybe he'd like whisky better than beer so we tried a Jameson's; nope! In desperation, I had him try that rare Redbreast Ireland's finest whisky. He wouldn't even smell it. What could I do but drink it! By the time I realized he just didn't like to drink, I was so blind drunk I could hardly push his stroller back home!!!

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Paddy was driving home, drunk as a skunk, suddenly he has to swerve to avoid a tree, then another, then another. A cop car pulls him over as he veers about all over the road. Paddy tells the cop about all the trees in the road.

Cop says "For God's sake Paddy, that's your air freshener swinging about!"

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Finnegan: My wife has a terrible habit of staying up 'til two o'clock in the morning. I can't break her out of it. Keenan: What on earth is she doin' at that time? Finnegan: Waitin' for me to come home.

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A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette were all lost in the desert. They found a lamp and rubbed it. A genie popped out and granted them each one wish. The redhead wished to be back home. Poof! She was back home. The brunette wished to be at home with her family. Poof! She was back home with her family. The blonde said, "Awwww, I wish my friends were here."

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ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY - SHIP HISTORY

HMAS SWAN (ll)

Class Grimsby Class 1,060 tons Type Sloop Length 266ft Builder Cockatoo Dockyard Beam 36ft Laid down 1 Mmay 1935 Draught 10ft Launched 28 March 1936 Machinery Parsons Geared Turbines Commissioned 21 January 1937 Horsepower 2,000 Armament 3 x 4in guns Speed 16.5 knots 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 . 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 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 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, ; Hobart, ; 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. There she experienced her first enemy attack when she was targeted by Japanese bombers. She escaped undamaged in spite of several near misses.

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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 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.

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 . 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.

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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 – NEW SHIPS – 80’s 90’ 2000.

HMAS HUON (ll)

Class Huon Class Displacement 732 tonnes Type Minehunter Length 52.5 Metres Role Mine Warfare Beam 9.9 Metres Builder ADI Newcastle Draught 3 Metres Launched 25 July 1997 Speed 14 knots Commissioned 15 May 1999 Crew 48 Machinery 1 x fincantion GMT diesel Armament 1 x MSI DS 30B 30mm 3 x Isolta Fraschini 1300 dielel Mine disposable vehicle 3 x Electrohydraulic motors 2 x MEL aviation super Riva Calzoni retractable/rotatable APUs barrocode launchers

HMAS Huon is the first of six Huon class minehunters built for the Royal Australian Navy by Australian Defence Industries, Newcastle, NSW.

The ship is the most advanced of its type in the world. Like her sister ships, Huon is made of fibre reinforced plastic and has a unique single skin solid that has no ribs or frames and provides high underwater shock resistance and very low magnetic and noise levels. This hull is designed to flex inwards if an undersea explosion occurs nearby. All machinery/equipment is mounted on cradles or suspended from bulkheads to further enhance resistance to shock damage and protect ship systems.

The Huon class minehunters are all named after Australian rivers. Huon is the second RAN ship to carry the name. The first was a River class destroyer in commissioned service during World War I.

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PICTURE FUNNIES

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NAVAL TRADITIONS Freedom of Entry:

During medieval times, in Continental Europe and the British Isles, fortress walls afforded cities protection from incursions by outlaw bands and attacks by feudal lords. The citizens of those walled cities wisely refused to allow entry to armed groups, including troops, unless they were absolutely sure that those arms would not be used against them. Bitter experience had taught them that armed men were, as often as not, neither respecters of persons or property and that they were liable to take any and every opportunity to plunder both. As cities and towns were invariably situated on main roads and at principal road junctions, denial of entry imposed great hardship on troops ‘on the march’. Food and arms could not be replenished and it became necessary to take long detours over difficult terrain to reach a given destination or objective. Troops soon saw the merit in establishing good relations with the Corporations and citizens of walled cities and by good conduct earned the privilege of entry and passage. This privilege, not readily won and highly prized, was known as Freedom of Entry. Hence the granting of permission to a formed body of armed men to enter a city became the mark of trust and confidence in which that body was held by its citizens. In the case of the Navy, Freedom of the City was more usually conferred in recognition of the defence of sea port cities and towns, however, as many vessels in the contemporary RAN fleet carry the names of land-locked centres, so the honour has been extended to include a number of them. The granting of Freedom of Entry is the highest accolade a town or city can bestow upon a group or individual and it is no less readily won or lightly given today than it was centuries ago. The ceremony of granting Freedom of Entry to an RAN unit is centred on a procession that begins at a suitable staging point within the town or city involved.

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The unit concerned is formed up and marches to the staging point, where it awaits the arrival of the official party and the Lord Mayor.

On arrival of the Lord Mayor the parade is inspected before being addressed by him/her and an ornate scroll authorising the granting of Freedom of Entry read out and presented. On receiving the scroll the commanding officer of the unit involved traditionally delivers a short acceptance address. A scroll party then takes custody of the scroll and the Australian is escorted by a Colour Party into the staging area where it is ceremonially uncased. The unit then exercises its right of Freedom of Entry into the town or city, armed, with swords drawn, bayonets fixed, colours flying, drums beating and band playing.

Freedom of Entry – City of Queanbeyan NSW 1981

Unfoilng the Ensign – prperation to Freedom of Entry City of Newcastle

At a pre-determined position, enroute, the parade is halted and a challenge issued by a senior member of the local constabulary. At this juncture the units’ commanding officer responds and presents for inspection the Scroll granting Freedom of Entry. After inspecting the scroll the challenging officer acknowledges the unit’s right and privilege and permits it to pass. The unit then continues the procession through the city where it passes, if possible, the local war memorial and then the Town Hall where the Mayor takes the salute. On completion the unit returns to the staging point and disperses.

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Freedom of Entry – City of Melbourne 2011

The scroll granting Freedom of Entry is retained by the Unit and normally displayed, with great pride, in a place of prominence in the ship, squadron, establishment or unit.

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