[1] In mid-1971, the Australian military's Joint Planning Committee considered using Melbourne as a transport to help complete the withdrawal of the Australian Task Force from Vietnam before the end of 1971. The Navy stopped recording crew information in this way after 1956. In November and December Melbourne again visited Port Melbourne where she contributed to the staging of the 16th Olympic Games. [67][68] The carrier spent the rest of the year visiting Australian ports for open inspections by the public. [12] Two days later, the ship was renamed Melbourne by Lady White, the wife of Sir Thomas White, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and recommissioned. Left: Lady White unveils Melbourne's ship's badge. At approximately 8:56pm, some twenty miles south east of Jervis Bay, the two ships were in collision. [30][31] The refit was lengthened by industrial action at the dockyard. The aircraft was seen to take off normally but quickly veered to the right and down into the water. [121], Following the collision, Melbourne travelled to Singapore for temporary repairs to her bow, arriving on 6 June. In 1970, Melbourne participated in three major inter-navy exercises: Sea Rover with SEATO forces in the South China Sea, Bersatu Padu with British Commonwealth forces off Malaysia, and Swan Lake with the Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy off Western Australia. [151] A 2012 article in Jane's Navy International stated that the large quantity of equipment recovered from Melbourne "undoubtedly helped" Admiral Liu Huaqing secure the Chinese government's support for his proposal to initiate an aircraft carrier development programme.[164]. A Skyhawk coming over Melbourne's round-down. Skyhawks conduct a low flypast, 2 September 1971. Captain Willis hands over command of the Australian Flagship HMAS Melbourne to Captain McDonald, 24 May 1972. 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. She remained alongside in Sydney until February 1969. Melbourne went on to visit Manila where she conducted flight deck and hangar handling trials with a USN Grumman Tracker, a precursor as to what lay in the carriers future. She sailed from Sydney for her South East Asian deployment on 22 June which took her to New Guinea, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. [1][23] The carrier spent May performing exercises off the New South Wales coast, during which she was called on to rescue three fisherman who had been stranded at sea for the previous two days. [87] Voyager's forward boiler exploded, briefly setting fire to the bow of the carrier before it was extinguished by seawater. Melbourne maintained a regular program of exercises, training and maintenance over the next few years, including annual deployments to the Asia-Pacific region. [134] While the Army supported this proposal, the Navy successfully argued against its implementation, claiming that transporting troops and cargo would be misusing Australia's only active aircraft carrier, and would prevent Melbourne from participating in several major multi-national exercises. A small team of RAN officers developed a detailed plan for the acquisition of two of these vessels along with two Carrier Air Groups (CAGs) and the establishment of a naval air station. She once again visited Hobart in February 1958, before departing from Fremantle for a four month South East Asian and Pacific deployment at the end of March. The search was abandoned the following day. She arrived in Sydney on 9 July. [45] In 1969, the RAN purchased another ten A-4G Skyhawks, instead of the proposed seventh and eighth Oberon-class submarines. [8][9] Incorporation of new systems and enhancements caused the cost of the RAN carrier acquisition program to increase to AU8.3million. [38] Both options were turned down, and it was instead proposed to operate Melbourne as a helicopter carrier. The first aircraft to touch down on Melbourne's flight deck was a Westland Whirlwind helicopter of the Royal Navy on 6 December 1955. Not long afterwards the first fixed wing aircraft, a Hawker De Havilland Sea Venom and a Fairey Gannet, arrived during trials in the English Channel. [123] All of the survivors were located within 12 minutes of the collision and rescued before half an hour had passed, although the search continued for fifteen more hours. She entered refit in November in preparation for embarking the RANs new Skyhawk and Tracker aircraft in 1967, though a longer and more extensive modernisation would be required to make her fully operational with her new aircraft. She departed for the return journey to Australia on 31 October. A Sea Venom on one of Melbourne's flight deck lifts. 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. Front row, left to right: LEUTs Ronald McIver, Stanley Carmichael, Keith Potts, Neil Ralph and Bernard Brennan. Melbourne spent most of the first half of 1970 in foreign waters. [114] A radio message was sent from Melbourne to Evans' bridge and Combat Information Centre, warning the destroyer that she was on a collision course, which Evans acknowledged. [5] Initial plans were for three carriers, with two active and a third in reserve, although funding cuts led to the purchase of only two carriers in June 1947: Majestic and sister ship HMS Terrible, for the combined cost of AU2.75million,[note 2] plus stores, fuel, and ammunition. Serving in the RAN's flagship had its benefits when it came to recreational activities and keeping fit, with Melbourne's flight deck providing an excellent sporting platform, circa May 1969. [110], In September 1967, Melbourne travelled to the United States to collect new aircraft: 14 Trackers and 10 Skyhawks. This definition does not include seaplane tender. The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928 By Andrew Kilsby and Greg Swinden, Longueville Media, Woollahra, NSW, 2013. [9] Construction and fitting out did not finish until October 1955. 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. She steamed into Singapore on 6 June with flags flying at half mast. [77] In August, Melbourne was called upon to lead Exercise Tuckerbox, in the Coral Sea. navy.gov.au HMAS Melbourne (II) HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy. Thousands of people turned out to watch her arrive in the harbour and three days later she replaced HMAS Sydney (III) as the flagship of the RAN when Rear Admiral HM Burrell broke his flag in her. That December she commenced another major refit at Garden Island Dockyard during which her flight deck was strengthened and her catapult rebuilt with a bridle catcher extension. . [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. This cine film has been placed online as part of the Sea Power Centre - Australias ongoing archival digitisation program. [155] The RAN was again offered HMS Hermes, and again declined due to the carrier's age and manpower requirements. On 15 August 1947 the Government approved the creation of the Naval (later Fleet) Air Arm. Her steam catapult, arresting equipment and mirror landing system were not removed. The Royal Australian Navy does not lack quality in its men. The crew formed the caption 20,000 LANDINGS on the flight deck to be photographed by helicopter. US Navy Sea King helicopters in flight. Crew members of the HMAS Melbourne (II) attend a memorial service on the deck of the aircraft carrier while it transports injured sailors from HMAS Voyager (II) to Sydney. Upon her return to Sydney, Melbourne commenced preparations for a major refit and modernisation, conducted at Garden Island Dockyard, to enable her to operate her new aircraft. [12][61] Aboard were the 64 aircraft of RAN squadrons 808, 816, and 817, as well as the racing yacht Samuel Pepys (named after the English naval administrator and diarist), which was a gift to the RAN Sailing Association from the Royal Navy. [37] At the time of their arrival, the Sea Venoms were the only radar equipped and all-weather combat aircraft in the Southern Hemisphere. This was followed by radio sea trials between the two ships. Right: Melbourne's damaged bow following her tragic collision with Voyager. [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. Melbourne returned to sea on 3 February 1969 for sea trials and workup exercises, and a rededication ceremony was conducted on board on 14 February. [23][62] The ship visited Gibraltar, Naples, Malta, Port Said, Aden, and Colombo, before arriving in Fremantle on 24 April 1956. [52] After Melbourne was decommissioned, the Fleet Air Arm ceased fixed-wing combat aircraft operation in 1984, with the final Tracker flight saluting the decommissioned carrier. They arrived at Garden Island at 4:13am on 28 April, some 5 hours and 32 minutes ahead of the ship. On 26 November 1959, the Minister for Defence, the Hon. Following her return, the carrier spent six months in Australian waters, before a two-month deployment to Southeast Asia. [4] Construction resumed in 1946, and major modifications to the design were incorporated. [23] During this deployment, a fire ignited inside the ship's main switchboard. 808 Squadron in 1955 posing before a Sea Venom onboard Melbourne. The scrapping was delayed so Melbourne could be studied by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as part of a secret project to develop a Chinese aircraft carrier and used to train PLAN aviators in carrier flight operations. The fleet made its way northwards to the Philippines over the course of the exercise which concluded with a fly-over of aircraft over Manila. [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. Ask us a question about records in our collection. [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. He was 31 years of age. [17] Following this, she travelled to New Zealand, where she participated in exercises with HMNZS Royalist and visited several New Zealand ports. [78], In 1962, Melbourne began the year's activities at the Royal Hobart Regatta, before sailing to her Strategic Reserve deployment, by way of Adelaide and Fremantle. $32,998. [1] Melbourne had been designed to operate in North Atlantic and Arctic climates, and the original ventilation systems were inappropriate for her primary operating climate, the tropics. [44] The highlight of the deployment saw the three ships represent Australia and New Zealand at the Silver Jubilee Naval Review on 28 June 1977. [1] During this deployment, Melbourne led a fleet of 17 ships from the RAN, Royal Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, US Navy, Philippine Navy, and Royal Thai Navy in Exercise Sea Hawk. She then sailed for Brisbane and the Hervey Bay area to conduct flying training. The refit included a communications upgrade and a new radar suite, consisting of both Dutch and American radars. The first aircraft to land on HMAS Melbourne. [120] After having narrowly passed in front of Melbourne, the turns quickly placed Evans back in the carrier's path. Please be advised that HMAS Melbourne arrived at Port Huangpu, intact and safely afloat, proud and majestic. HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic -class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1955 until 1982, and was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier [note 1] to serve in the RAN. [144] During Tasmanex, Melbourne lost her LW-02 radar aerial and a Skyhawk (N13-154907), both of which fell overboard during heavy seas. She went on to participate in the international cross service Exercise TUCKER BOX in the Coral Sea in August before visiting New Zealand in September. Finally on 9 May she arrived in Sydney for the first time. [151] The performance of Invincible and other Royal Navy aircraft carriers during the conflict showed that the report which suggested reductions in the size of Britain's carrier fleetwith the follow-on effect of making Invincible available for salewas flawed, and both sides withdrew from the deal in July. With 24 ships and submarines from five nations participating, OCEAN LINK was the largest SEATO exercise yet. Melbourne rendezvoused with Sydney on 30 April and remained in company until 4 May, when she detached south of Vung Tau for Hong Kong. [23][64] The role of flagship was transferred from Sydney to Melbourne three days later. 1959 began positively for Melbourne, with the news that she had been awarded the Duke of Gloucesters Cup for 1958 as the RAN unit displaying the highest level of overall proficiency for the year. The observer, Lieutenant Edward Kennell, RAN, apparently did not eject but was briefly seen in the water next to the wreckage of the Sea Venom before he disappeared. [1] Crew members aboard HMAS Vampire. The fleet was divided into two with Melbourne's group operating out of Manila, the second group operating out of Bangkok. [1][56] A decision was made in 1959 to restrict Melbourne's role to helicopter operations only, but was reversed shortly before its planned 1963 implementation. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions.[1]. [135] Melbourne, Brisbane, and eleven other ships were deployed as part of the largest peacetime rescue effort ever organised by the RAN: Operation Navy Help Darwin. [82] The trials involved interactions between both ships, and when Melbourne performed night-flying exercises that evening, Voyager acted as the carrier's plane guard escort. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging. The three person crew suffered only minor injuries. [100] The second commission found that Stevens was medically unfit for command and that some of the findings of the first Royal Commission were therefore based on incorrect assumptions. [38] Under consideration were British carrier HMSAlbion and a ship of the United States' Essex class. [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. Melbourne went on to visit the Solomon Islands before returning to Jervis Bay on 4 October. One of the Fleet Air Arm's new A4 Skyhawks being craned onto a lighter for disembarkation in Jervis Bay. [130] In December 2012, Stevenson announced that he had received a letter from the Minister for Defence, apologising for his treatment by the RAN and the government of the day.[131]. 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