[79] In September, Melbourne reprised her role as the leader of Exercise Tuckerbox II. [19] The flight deck, hangar deck and aircraft lifts were strengthened, and reinforced arrestor cables were installed. [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. [157] The Australian government began to reconsider the previous contenders for replacement, as well as considering requesting the United Kingdom or United States to build a simple carrier capable of operating F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters, but the issue was suspended at the commencement of the 1983 Australian Federal Election. [61][63] Melbourne sailed east via the Great Australian Bight, meeting sister ship HMASSydney near Kangaroo Island a week later. [85] At 8:55pm, with Voyager approaching, Melbourne's navigator ordered the carrier's engines to half astern speed, with Robertson ordering an increase to full astern a few seconds later. Special thanks to Aeroplane Magazine for their explanation of the mirror-deck landing system (Aeroplane September 2004). [134] The refit concluded in late 1971, with the carrier participating in the first RIMPAC exercise, RIMPAC 71, before the end of the year. The ships visit to Rabaul was marred by the tragic death of Seaman Brendan Lane in a car accident on 25 September. [105][106] As the carrier was optimised for anti-submarine warfare, there was little need for her at the start of the war. 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. Ironically, the following day Melbourne celebrated her 20,000th landing when Lieutenant Ryland Gill, RAN, landed his Gannet on board. [60] The carrier was also called on to perform underway replenishments and command and control functions. 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. Search using the name of the vessel as a keyword, and the series number as A4624. 99,290 miles. References to many ledgers appear at item level on RecordSearch. She participated in Exercises JUC 61 and HOMERUN with USN units off the New South Wales coast in March, before departing Sydney on 24 February for South East Asian waters. [147] During this cruise two Skyhawks were lost: on 2 and 21 October. [2], Melbourne's initial armament included 25 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns: six twin and thirteen single mountings. 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. Please be advised that HMAS Melbourne arrived at Port Huangpu, intact and safely afloat, proud and majestic. The ship was a long-range escort prioritised for area air defence and fully capable of surface and undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction. State. Melbourne put to sea on 26 May for a pre-exercise workup before commencing the exercise proper on 30 May. [121], Following the collision, Melbourne travelled to Singapore for temporary repairs to her bow, arriving on 6 June. [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. After a short visit to Melbourne, the carrier returned to Hobart later in the month for the Royal Hobart Regatta and the royal visit of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Left: The band played a concert featuring a guest conductor. [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. At the end of the Second World War, work on the ship was suspended until she was purchased by the RAN in 1947. [120] It is uncertain which ship began to manoeuvre first, but each ship's bridge crew claimed that they were informed of the other ship's turn after they commenced their own. Memorabilia from Melbourne's voyages with the Fleet Air Arm embarked, and examples of all the types of aircraft deployed on Melbourne, are on permanent static display in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross. [20] The flight deck was angled 5.5 degrees left of the carrier's centreline, to allow for the simultaneous launch and recovery of aircraft. [139] A two-seat Harrier jump jet demonstrator undertook a series of trial takeoffs and landings aboard Melbourne on 30 June: a trial organised as part of the project overseeing the ship's potential replacement. She returned to Singapore in an attempt to clear the contamination before the upcoming SEATO exercise, SEA DEMON. The two-carrier navy originally envisaged by the Naval Board was no longer feasible and HMAS Sydney (III) was successively relegated to a training vessel before being placed into reserve in 1958. The two groups started SEALION independently before rendezvousing in the South China Sea on 11 May. [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. The text of the telex message has been altered for readability. [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. On 10 April she visited Colombo before crossing the Indian Ocean and arriving in her first Australian port, Fremantle, on 23 April 1956. The forward section of Evans sank quickly while her stern section was secured to Melbournes starboard side enabling that part of the ship to be searched for survivors. She arrived in Fremantle, via Jakarta, on 14 April. [89] Messages were immediately sent to the Fleet Headquarters in Sydney, although staff in Sydney initially underestimated the extent of the damage to Voyager. Her embarked aircraft also participated in search and rescue efforts as did HMA Ships Stuart (II), Curlew, Hawk, Ibis, Snipe and Teal. [73] The rest of the year was spent visiting Australian and New Zealand ports. (Courtesy Mike Breakspear). HMAS Melbourne (II) with Gannets and Sea Venoms ranged on deck. [24][25] Air conditioning systems and a liquid oxygen generation plant were also installed. After further visits to Manila and Singapore, she arrived back in Fremantle on 25 May. [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. [42][43] Both aircraft types entered RAN service in 1968, with the Trackers operated by 816 Squadron RAN and 851 Squadron RAN, and the Skyhawks by 805 Squadron RAN and 724 Squadron RAN. Reference staff can help you locate these ledgers and use the database. The disaster resulted in the loss of 82 lives - 14 officers, including the Commanding Officer, Captain Duncan Stevens, himself a former Executive Officer of Melbourne, 67 sailors and one civilian dockyard employee. Ledgers often include individual crew lists for each vessel. [117] Subsequent action narrowly prevented a collision. [18] These included an angled flight deck, steam catapult and a mirror landing aid, making Melbourne the third aircraft carrier (following HMSArk Royal and USSForrestal) to be constructed with these features, instead of having them added later. Crew members aboard HMAS Vampire. HMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The Minister for the Navy, Senator John Gorton, however, argued for Melbournes retention in an anti-submarine capacity and 27 Westland Wessex anti-submarine helicopters were subsequently ordered, the first coming into service in November 1962. [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. When the last ship had passed, tugs were secured and Melbourne berthed at Captain Cook Dock. The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England in 1911, launched in 1912 and commissioned in 1913. 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. While Melbourne was undergoing temporary repairs in Singapore, the ship's band spend time at the Singapore School for the Blind. The second collision occurred in the early morning of 3 June 1969, when Melbourne also rammed the United States Navy (USN) destroyer USSFrank E. Evans in similar circumstances. HMAS Melbourne (III) was one of six Adelaide Class Guided Missile Frigates (FFG) in service with the Royal Australian Navy. The forward section of Evans sank in 3 minutes. Department of Defence users will not be able to view this video on the Defence Protected Network. [23] The number of aircraft gradually increased until 1972, when the air group peaked at 27 aircraft. While the construction of the RAN's first carrier, HMAS Sydney (III), was too advanced to include these modifications, the construction of Melbourne was still at an early enough stage for their inclusion. Melbournes Commanding Officer, Captain Ronald Robertson, DSC, RAN, later reported; The actions required of Melbournes ships company called for individual initiative at all levels, and calm resolve to an extent that is not often required in peace time. We hold several sources of information on RAN ships. Unfortunately Melbourne's involvement in FOTEX was curtailed as water ingress through the oil filler access door of her Gannet aircraft rendered all but one unserviceable. [132] The ship's catapult was replaced with parts from the decommissioned HMCS Bonaventure in 1970. The helicopters aircrew was recovered uninjured by HMAS Derwent. SEALION was the largest SEATO exercise yet involving more than 60 ships from Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK, France, India, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan. [108] Seventh Fleet staff suggested in April 1967 that Melbourne deploy in the anti-submarine role, but nothing came of these talks. [98][99] This is the only time in Australian history two Royal Commissions have been held for a single incident. Work progressed slowly thereafter and many lessons learnt during the war regarding carrier design and operations were incorporated into the ship's modernisation programme. List of shipwrecks: 6 February 1969 Ship Country Description USS ATC-132-1 United States Navy The armoured troop carrier capsized off Vietnam. [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. The exercise came to a temporary halt however, when a grenade accidentally exploded aboard USS Nicholas and seriously injured two sailors. The first collision occurred on the evening of 10 February 1964, in which Melbourne rammed and sank the RAN destroyer HMASVoyager, when the latter altered course across her bow. [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. 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. [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. 1355 (includes 347 Carrier Air Group personnel), Parsons single reduction geared turbines, 2 shafts, Westland Wessex anti-submarine helicopters (later), Sea King anti-submarine helicopters (later). Early in 1957 Melbourne visited Hobart to coincide with the Royal Hobart Regatta in February before crossing the Tasman to participate in exercises with the New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Royalist. 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 first aircraft to land on HMAS Melbourne. They covered around 555 miles (893km) in a little more than two and a half days, and at the end of the month had raised over $6000 with donations still coming in. This cine film has been placed online as part of the Sea Power Centre - Australias ongoing archival digitisation program. Back row, left to right: LEUTs Peter Wyatt and David Hilliard, LCDRs Peter Seed and George Jude, LEUTs Barry Thompson, Alan Cordell, Edward Wilson and Geoffrey Gratwick. [1], Operations in 1972 commenced with a three-month deployment to Southeast Asia. [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 was the only British Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions. Subsequent reports and inquiries noted the exemplary behaviour, absence of panic, and the quiet and calm courage displayed by all involved in the aftermath of the tragedy. [40][41], The RAN planned to acquire 14 Grumman S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft, and modernise Melbourne to operate the aircraft. 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