CALL THE HANDS Issue No.23 September 2018 From the President Welcome to this September 2018 edition of Call the Hands and accompanying Occasional Papers. I trust you find them interesting. As regularly happens, many stories published are inspired by feedback from readers or research queries received by the Society. We greatly value this Interaction. Occasional Paper 34 is about the Paddle Steamer Weeroona which was the last of the Port Philip Bay paddle steamers. She was built in 1910 to service the resorts of Port Phillip. Large, spacious and licensed to carry 1900 passengers she suited the needs of the US Navy which acquired her in 1942 for use in the Pacific Ocean. Occasional paper 35 this month incorporates two personal accounts by survivors of the sinking of HMAS Parramatta (II) off Tobruk on 27 November 1941. One is a shipmate’s letter to the mother of Ordinary Seaman Lyall J. Smith who was lost when the ship sank. The second by Able Seaman F.W. Tysoe is an account of his experience following the sinking. I thank the Ipswich and West Moreton sub section of the Naval Association for their report on a visit to Maryborough. Their report highlighted the importance of Walkers Limited located in Maryborough as an internationally recognized, heavy engineering company of great importance in Australian naval history. I also thank the several people who responded to our call for more volunteers to assist the Society in Sydney. Their services will make a huge difference and relieve pressure on existing volunteers. As always, more are still needed. Looking to the future, Society researchers and writers are conscious to focus more closely on recent history and technological developments which will impact navies in the future. One such subject is that of unmanned vessels or ‘autonomous ships’, meaning those with a high level of automation and self-governance in their operation obviating the need for direct human intervention, are now being tried and tested, in commercial and military applications. These vessels are likely to be an attractive option for fleet managers as new technology further reduces manpower and associated costs. Autonomous ships may well herald the next maritime revolution with as great an impact as the move to containerization of cargoes. Naval applications are already evident in the fields of surveillance, hydrographic surveys and mine countermeasures, with potential for a growing number of further initiatives. As it is our intention to explore this subject further and stimulate community interest, possibly through an essay competition we would welcome your initial thoughts on the practical application of autonomous vessels in a naval environment and associated challenges. David Michael President The Boatshed, Building 25, GARDEN ISLAND NSW 2011 The Naval Historical Society Phone: 02 9359 2372 / 2243 (Tuesdays and Thursdays) of Australia Fax: 02 9359 2383 ABN 71 094 118 434 E-Mail [email protected] Patron: Chief of Navy www.navyhistory.org.au In this Edition Page 1 From the President 2 Personal stories bring WW1 100 days of victory back to life 3 By Dawn’s Early Light 5 Nursing Memories of HMAS Penguin 8 2018 Goldrick Seminar 8 Australian Naval History Video Series 3 8 HMAS Ovens; The Canberra Times, Saturday 18 Oct 1969 9 Photo of the Month 10 News in Brief 11 This Month in History 12 Readers Forum 14 Occasional papers 14 Society Matters Personal stories bring WW1 100 days of victory back to life The stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to deliver victory in the closing days of World War 1 are being brought back to life for the centenary. Commonwealth forces lost 120,000 men and women during the ‘100 days to victory’ on land, in the skies and at sea. Historians at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) have picked 120 accounts, stories and biographies – one for every 1,000 dead during the period – to represent the breadth and depth of the sacrifice and suffering during the run up to the Armistice The Royal Navy lost men daily – on the Western Front with the Royal Naval Division of sailor-soldiers and Royal Marines – and its more natural environment at sea; some 32 Naval Service personnel died on the very last day of the war alone, November 11 1918. Most of the dead are remembered in Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries and memorials and for the centenary of the war’s end, the commission wants them to be more than mere names carved in stone – hence its historians have plundered the archives for what it calls the ‘Road to Peace’ initiative. ‘We hope it will help humanise this period of history and inspire people to visit both well-known and off-the- beaten-track commission cemeteries and memorials where these men and women are remembered’ Max Dutton, Commonwealth War Graves Commission historian. Among the lesser-known naval stories to be published by the commission is the fate of Josephine Carr – the first Wren to die as a result of enemy action. She drowned when the liner RMS Leinster was torpedoed off Dublin on 10 October 1918. With Germany negotiating for peace at the time, the sinking drew international condemnation on a par with the loss of the Lusitania. The Road to Peace stories will be shared across the CWGC’s digital channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with one story appearing daily and a more in-depth feature weekly. The initiative ends on 11 November 2018 with accounts featuring 11 people killed on the war’s last day. To read the accounts, follow CWGC at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuyv7WCJv_NYL04eKG3oyVA https://www.facebook.com/commonwealthwargravescommission 2 By Dawn’s Early Light By Commander John van Gelder, RAN (Rtd) It is doubtful if there is anything in the world more complex than the human mind. In our passage through life we are all subjected to experiences which have an impact on our lives, and indeed, may have a profound influence on our future courses of action. I do not think it is unique that certain events which have had a strong impression on our minds can recur in our thoughts at reasonably frequent intervals. Not long ago a nephew of mine, whom I had not seen for some years, said to me quite unexpectedly ‘What were your most exciting moments whilst you were flying in the Navy?’ The question took me aback and I think I mumbled something about it all being exciting. Reflecting on the question later I knew exactly how I should have answered. In the Fleet Air Arm there would not be any pilot who could say that they had not experienced some hairy moments and brief periods of high drama whilst flying. But human nature being what it is these moments are generally relegated to the back of the mind as unpleasant thoughts. Well, hopefully anyway, and my answer to the question is not related to any frightening or dangerous event. I am not sure I have the literary skill to answer the question adequately. However, the event which has had a profound effect on me and the vision of which comes to my mind so frequently occurred many years ago in 1955. At the time I was a pilot of 817 Squadron RAN, equipped with Fairey Firefly aircraft embarked in HMAS Sydney. Fairey Firefly AS Mk 6, 817 Squadron RAN. Probably in February 1955 aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney. The aircraft is taxying to the catapult prior to launch for rocket projectile firing. The aircraft is armed with four rocket projectiles with 60lb concrete heads. (Pilot and photo: John van Gelder) On 12th March 1955 I was programmed for an early take off. Incidentally, a pilot’s Flying Log Book is a wondrous thing. Do you know what you were doing at a precise time nearly fifty years ago? From memory on the morning of the 12th the ship was in a position some twenty or thirty miles east of Twofold Bay off the south coast of New South Wales. Having had an early breakfast followed by the usual pre-flight briefing my observer, Joe Tidey, and I emerged from the island onto the flight deck. The vision that greeted us could not be described as a pretty sight. Although not pitch black it was very dark, with a complete overcast of deep stratus cloud with a cloud base of perhaps 1200 feet. 3 After external pre-flight checks we manned our Firefly, serial No. WB 507, Squadron side No. 202, started the engine, carried out the usual engine and system checks and were directed from the deck park to the catapult. It was from the time of arrival on the catapult that the vision of the scene becomes so vivid in my memory. Once an aircraft arrives on the catapult, various actions both outside and inside the aircraft happen very quickly indeed. A wire strop is attached to two hooks on the fuselage of the aircraft and engaged with the catapult shuttle whilst a tang on the aircraft at the rear of the fuselage below the rudder is attached to the hold back strop and secured with a steel shear ring. Meanwhile inside the cockpit constant checks are made on the aircraft systems, particularly engine temperatures and pressures, propeller pitch setting, trim settings, locking the tailwheel, and lowering the flaps to take off position. All these actions take place in a period of perhaps thirty seconds. It was during this short time period that the visual scene and probably the emotional atmosphere had such a marked impact on my memory. My Log Book records the take off time as 0550.