In her captain's first television and press interviews much was made of the revelation that Melbourne possessed the ability to operate her jet aircraft by night as well as by day. [114] Despite these warnings, a near-miss occurred in the early hours of 31 May when Larson turned towards the carrier after being ordered to the plane guard station. [84] The procedure to accomplish this required Voyager to turn away from Melbourne in a large circle, cross behind the carrier, then take position off Melbourne's port side. [19] At Melbourne's commissioning, the standard air group consisted of eight Sea Venoms and two squadrons of eight Gannets, with two Bristol Sycamore search-and-rescue helicopters added shortly after the carrier entered service. [93] During this deployment, the carrier visited Subic Bay, where the RAN performed flight deck trials with S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft and A-4 Skyhawk attack fighters. ", before instructing the destroyer's Quartermaster to announce that a collision was imminent. [86], Melbourne struck Voyager just aft of the destroyer's bridge, rolling the destroyer to starboard before cutting her in half. They contain the following information for each crew member: The ledgers for each ship have been bound as volumes for each quarter, or three-month period, that the ship was on active service. HMA Ship List 1911-1939. The first aircraft to touch down on Melbourne's flight deck was a Westland Whirlwind helicopter of the Royal Navy on 6 December 1955. HMAS Melbourne undergoing temporary repairs in Singapore. [70] The carrier returned to Australia on 27 November after 101 days at sea, and underwent a seven-month refit. The three person crew suffered only minor injuries. [16] She had a beam of 24.38 metres (80.0ft), and a draught of 7.62 metres (25.0ft). Send resumes to: shawnna.luke@gogpac.com or feel free to call me at 605-705-6055. US Navy Sea King helicopters in flight. Period 1970-1979 I am proud of them. [30][137], On 5 December 1976, a fire deliberately lit at HMASAlbatross by a member of the Fleet Air Arm damaged or destroyed all but one of Australia's S-2 Trackers. On 15 June Melbourne led a column of RAN ships into Sydney Harbour for a ceremonial fleet entry celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the granting of the royal assent to the RAN. In these cases, the remainder of the record will be made available. The aircraft was located some 17 minutes later on a reef off Palali Island, in Kali Bay at the western end of Manus. [1] At the end of January 1959 Melbourne returned to her namesake city for the unique experience of filming scenes for the movie On The Beach. | Australian War Memorial Home Collection Crew members aboard HMAS Vampire. [64] The carrier immediately underwent a two and a half-month refit, allowing for the inspection of machinery and repair of defects detected during the maiden voyage. The passage proved a difficult one as cyclonic conditions caused a number of accidents and injuries throughout the fleet, including a shipwright aboard Melbourne who injured his hand in a circular saw and required surgery. Some records include terms and views that are not appropriate today. 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. [65] Melbourne spent from September to November in Southeast Asian waters, during which she participated in Exercise Albatross and received an official visit by Philippines president Ramon Magsaysay. Melbournes South East Asian deployment began slightly earlier in 1961, as the ship departed from Fremantle on 20 February in order to participate in Exercise JET 61 in the Indian Ocean off Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Search using the name of the vessel as a keyword, and the series number as A4624. [126] However, an industrial dispute amongst the shipyard workers meant that, although the work was completed in early September, the ship remained in the drydock until 11 October. [73] The rest of the year was spent visiting Australian and New Zealand ports. The crew formed the caption 20,000 LANDINGS on the flight deck to be photographed by helicopter. She visited Pearl Harbor and Suva en route, and arrived in Jervis Bay, where the Skyhawks were landed, on 21 November. The text of the telex message has been altered for readability. The Gannet fleet was grounded pending an investigation and was cleared to recommence flying operations on 12 February. [113] Melbourne re-entered service at the conclusion of the refit on 14 February 1969. On 18 March Melbourne deployed for a five month deployment that saw her circumnavigate Australia and return to South East Asian waters where she participated in the international Exercises TRADEWIND and ASTRA. On 5 July Melbourne, along with other RAN and RAAF units, conducted a search and rescue operation for a fishing boat, Fishing News, which had not returned to Sydney after putting to sea the previous morning. She arrived in Pearl Harbor, via Suva, on 25 October. Hourly Rate: Full Time $16.75/hr-$18.00 based on experience. [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. [16] At launch, the carrier was 213.97 metres (702.0ft) long overall, but this was increased by 2.43 metres (8.0ft) during a refit in 1969. Later that year she participated in Fleet Concentration Period off Jervis Bay in October, and visited New Zealand in November. Early in her career, Melbourne underwent a series of short annual refits, commencing in September and ending in January or February of the next year. Melbourne in San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Her embarked aircraft also participated in search and rescue efforts as did HMA Ships Stuart (II), Curlew, Hawk, Ibis, Snipe and Teal. 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. [159] A Sydney-based group proposed in 1984 to purchase Melbourne and operate her as a floating casino moored in international waters off Eden, New South Wales, but nothing came of this. Right: Melbourne's damaged bow following her tragic collision with Voyager. The RAN lost only 2 Vessels during World War 1 and these were both Submarines, AE1 & AE2. The work was completed on 27 April, with the shipyard receiving a commendation. We will commemorate crew members from HMAS Voyager (II) (pictured) who paid the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country, and the persons who answered the call for assistance including HMA Ships Melbourne, Stuart, Hawk, Ibis, Curlew, Snipe and Teal and search and rescue (SAR) vessels from HMAS Creswell (Air Sprite and Air Nymph), air Sources are inconsistent regarding who attempted to purchase. [70] Operations for the year concluded with participation in Exercise Astrolabe off Lord Howe Island, with ships from the RAN, Royal Navy, and Royal New Zealand Navy, before returning to Sydney on 13 December. 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. On 27 March she contributed to Exercise SHOWPIECE off Singapore designed to impress upon the political and military leaders of the region the continued strength and readiness of the British Far East Fleet. [60] Commanding officers were changed on average every fifteen months, with few remaining on board for more than two years. [110], In September 1967, Melbourne travelled to the United States to collect new aircraft: 14 Trackers and 10 Skyhawks. [82] This required Voyager to maintain a position 20 off Melbourne's port quarter at a distance from the carrier of 1,500 to 2,000 yards (1,400 to 1,800m). [57] During her service, the carrier was deployed overseas on 35 occasions, visited over 22 countries, and was seen as the physical and psychological centrepiece of the RAN fleet. The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928 By Andrew Kilsby and Greg Swinden, Longueville Media, Woollahra, NSW, 2013. [59], Following a working-up period in British waters, Melbourne departed Glasgow on 11 March 1956 on her maiden voyage to Australia via the Suez Canal. [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. Melbourne received a warm and colourful reception in Western Australia and there was great media interest in her arrival. While Melbourne was undergoing temporary repairs in Singapore, the ship's band spend time at the Singapore School for the Blind. [66] On return to Australia in mid-November, the carrier visited Melbourne for the 1956 Olympics, where 200 of Melbourne's complement were provided to work as signallers, event marshals, carpenters, and medical workers. The PLAN subsequently arranged for the ship's flight deck and all the equipment associated with flying operations to be removed so that they could be studied in depth. [30][31] The refit was lengthened by industrial action at the dockyard. Later that month she participated in the SEATO exercise SEA IMP in Philippine waters. She arrived in Sydney the following day where the Trackers were landed. [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 28 April during flying operations in the Sulu Sea, one of Melbournes Sea Venoms crashed over the side when an arrestor wire failed on landing, and the aircraft did not regain enough airspeed to once again get airborne. [165] The carrier departed Sydney on 27 April 1985, heading for Guangzhou, under the tow of tug De Ping. [168] Melbourne was the largest warship any of the Chinese experts had seen, and they were surprised by the amount of equipment which was still in place. [107] Utilising the carrier was suggested again by RAN officials in March 1966, when the United States Seventh Fleet was having difficulties maintaining anti-submarine patrols around Yankee Station, but Melbourne could only remain on station for a single, ten-day period, a third of the time that US carriers were operational for on rotating deployments. Post-war technological developments saw a rapid evolution in naval aviation driven primarily by the advent of jet propulsion. [23] During this deployment, a fire ignited inside the ship's main switchboard. [74] All four Sea Venom incidents occurred in March, with three attributed to aircrew error and one to brake failure. Long shot of the Evans cut in two . [45] In 1969, the RAN purchased another ten A-4G Skyhawks, instead of the proposed seventh and eighth Oberon-class submarines. Both men were transferred to Melbourne for medical attention before the more seriously injured of the two was transferred by air back to Singapore. The Navy stopped recording crew information in this way after 1956. [129] In a repeat of the aftermath of the Voyager collision, Melbourne's captain resigned amid accusations of scapegoating. [76] In the lead up to Melbourne's 1961 deployment to the Strategic Reserve, the carrier visited Bombay, Karachi, and Trincomalee. She returned to sea on 11 October to commence workup exercises and shortly thereafter resumed a regular program of exercises, training and maintenance. In the act of taking a new station 1,000 yards astern of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21), the two ships were soon on a collision course. Our sources include the logs and reports of proceedings. SEALION concluded on 13 May at Singapore. [114] Rear Admiral John Crabb, the Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet, was also embarked on the carrier. [36][39] The decision to retire the fixed-wing component of the Fleet Air Arm was rescinded in 1963, and on 10 November 1964, a AU212million increase in defence spending included the purchase of new aircraft for Melbourne. Following her return, the carrier spent six months in Australian waters, before a two-month deployment to Southeast Asia. [154] By February 1981, the Iwo Jima class was the preferred option. HMAS Melbourne (FFG 05) was an Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, which entered service in 1992. 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. possessed 63 Ships, 22 of these were requisitioned. [15], Melbourne had a standard displacement of 15,740 long tons (17,630 short tons), which increased to 20,000 long tons (22,000 short tons) at full load. HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). [116] In preparation for launching a Tracker, Stevenson ordered Evans to the plane guard station, reminded the destroyer of Melbourne's course, and instructed the carrier's navigational lights to be brought to full brilliance. The refit included a communications upgrade and a new radar suite, consisting of both Dutch and American radars. A large proportion of this ships company had only recently joined the ship and some 25% were ordinary seamen, barely accustomed to wearing naval uniform. Many survivors were embarked in Melbourne while others were transported by other search and rescue vessels to HMAS Creswell at Jervis Bay. Following temporary repairs at Singapore, Melbourne returned to sea on 27 June bound for Australia. [83] Following a series of turns intended to reverse the courses of both ships beginning at 8:40pm, Voyager ended up to starboard of Melbourne. She departed for her annual South East Asian deployment on 3 March. A joint USN/RAN Board of Inquiry into the tragedy held Captain Stevenson partly responsible, stating that as Commanding Officer of Melbourne, he could have done more to prevent the collision from occurring. [105][106] As the carrier was optimised for anti-submarine warfare, there was little need for her at the start of the war. Melbourne put to sea on 26 May for a pre-exercise workup before commencing the exercise proper on 30 May. She visited Hong Kong before proceeding to Subic Bay in the Philippines for the SEATO exercise SEA DEVIL. 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