1

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 tonyholliday13@gmail.com 0403026916

Series No. 3 Date: Issue November 2020 No11

GREENBANK NAVAL ASSOCIATION Sub Section

Events for November and December 2020. November: Tuesday. 03 1900-2100 Normal Meeting RSL Rooms Wednesday. 11 Remembrance Day Service Wednesday. 25 1000-1030 Executive Meeting RSL Rooms December: Saturday 05 1900-2330 Dine in night & Christmas Function Glenn Hotel Jack’s Memorial Service: November 26th at 1100. XE4 - Sub Lieut. Briggs. Submariner 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.

2

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – PERSONALITY Captain I.S. Pullar:

Ian Stewart Pullar was born in Darwin, Northern Territory on 2 September

1938; his family later moved to South Australia where they lived in the

Adelaide suburb of Magill. Ian entered the RAN College, at HMAS

Cerberus, in January 1952 as a 13 year old Cadet Midshipman. He was an

average student, was captain of the college soccer team and also a very

competent dinghy sailor. Upon graduation in 1955 he and classmates went to

sea in the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the sloop HMAS Swan for

further training and he was promoted to Midshipman on 1 May 1956. The

class of 1952 then proceeded to the United Kingdom for professional

training courses at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. Ian was promoted to

Sub Lieutenant in September 1957.

After returning to Australia he was appointed to Melbourne for further training and while on board the

carrier served in Southeast Asia as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve. Ian chose to specialise as a

Hydrographic Surveyor and joined the survey vessel HMAS Warrego in October 1959 as an Assistant

Surveyor 4th Class. He was transferred to the survey vessel HMAS Barcoo in December of that year

and served in her until February 1962.

While serving in Barcoo Ian was promoted to Lieutenant in March 1960, married Erica Pickering in

Sydney that year and qualified as an Assistant Surveyor 3rd Class in July 1961. Barcoo was employed

conducting surveys in New South Wales and Victorian waters with a side trip to Lord Howe Island.

Lieutenant Pullar joined Warrego in early 1962 while she operated in South Australian waters. The

Hydrographic Survey Branch was, and still is, a small, tight profession where everybody knows

everybody, and the learning curve is steep. Ships stayed in the remote areas being surveyed for several

weeks at a time and periods away from home were extended.

In January 1963 Ian was appointed to the RAN Hydrographic Office in Sydney and qualified as an

Assistant Surveyor 2nd Class in January 1964. He joined the new survey vessel HMAS Moresby in

July 1964 and during his twenty months in her, the ship operated from New South Wales to Western

Australia and from Tasmania to Queensland. Then in early 1966 Ian and Erica proceeded to the United

Kingdom where he was to serve on exchange with the Royal Navy for the next two years. He and Erica

made their home near Maidstone, in Kent with their two children and where their third child was born,

but Ian was often away at sea.

Ian served initially in the survey ship HMS Myrmidon operating in the North Sea and on the east coast

of Scotland before joining HMS Vidal in January 1967 for sixteen months service in the Persian Gulf

and Indian Ocean. Ian Pullar became an Assistant Surveyor 1st Class in March 1967 and was promoted

to Lieutenant Commander in March 1968. Upon returning to Australia the Pullars went to HMAS

Creswell, at Jervis Bay, where Ian was a member of the RAN College training staff. It was a welcome

return to the home-every-night routine that most people enjoy.

In January 1970 Lieutenant Commander Pullar was appointed as the Officer in Charge of the

Hydrographic School at HMAS Penguin, at Middle Head in Sydney, where hydrographic officers and

survey recorders received their initial training. Ian was given his first command in December 1970

when he was appointed to the survey vessel HMAS Paluma. She was the RAN’s smallest surveying

ship and spent most of her time working in the Barrier Reef and Torres Strait.

3

He was then selected to command Paluma's replacement, the newly constructed and purpose-built

survey ship HMAS Flinders. Ian took command of Flinders, on commissioning, on 27 April 1973 at

Williamstown Naval Dockyard, Victoria. The next 13 months were then spent operating in north

Queensland waters.

On promotion to Acting Commander, in July 1974, Ian took command of the navy’s principal

surveying ship, HMAS Moresby, and was engaged in surveying work in Western Australian and

Northern Territory waters. For a time, the family lived in Perth, where Moresby was home ported.

Ian was confirmed in the rank of Commander in June 1975 and joined the Hydrographic Office in

Sydney as the Deputy Hydrographer, RAN. He was the acting Hydrographer, RAN during 3 February-

27 June 1976 while awaiting Captain Michael Calder, RAN to be promoted into the position. He then

reverted to the appointment of Deputy Hydrographer.On 28 October 1980 Ian Pullar commissioned his

fourth and last command in the RAN, the newly built oceanographic ship HMAS Cook. He was

promoted to Captain in June 1981 and to many of his peers Ian was clearly destined to be the next

permanent appointee to the position of Hydrographer RAN, however he chose otherwise. Cook proved

to be riddled with equipment problems due to questionable workmanship by the builder during the

1970s and 1980s.

Cook was eventually home ported in Sydney in mid-1981 but the plethora of mechanical and electrical

engineering problems with the ship caused the ship to spend an inordinate amount of time undergoing

corrective maintenance. As a result, Ian Pullar submitted his resignation at the end of 1981 and left the

RAN in January 1982 after 30 years of service.

He initially worked for the Australian Yachting Federation and competed in the 1983 Sydney-Hobart

yacht race in his yacht Odin. In 1988 he purchased a 100 acre property near Armidale, NSW and began

producing Lowline cattle. The Pullars moved to Mudgee in the early 1990s where they bought a larger

property and operated a Lowline cattle stud for the next few years. In the late 1990s they returned to

Sydney residing in Seaforth.

Ian was also a very keen fly fisherman often spending several months in New Zealand trout fishing at

the Mataura River. In 2006 he published ‘New Zealand’s Mataura River: A Fishing and Access Guide’.

He also made model yachts for his family and friends. Captain Ian Pullar died in Sydney on 3 January

2019. He was survived by his wife Erica and their three children.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

4

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – ADMIRALS

ADM Sir A.M. Synnot

Anthony Monckton Synnot was born on 5 January 1922 at Corowa,

New South Wales. While he was young the family moved to Albury, New

South Wales and then to a remote sheep property at Eskdale, near

Longreach in Queensland. From age 12, Anthony (Tony) was educated at

Geelong Grammar in Melbourne, and for the next five years he was

immersed in school life, only visiting his family at Christmas. Synnot was

a solid achiever at school and excelled at tennis, cricket and golf.

In early 1939, at age 17, Synnot joined the RAN as a Special Entry Cadet

Midshipman. He was sent to Britain for training at the Royal Naval

College, Dartmouth, and after a compressed seven month course he graduated as a Midshipman in

1940. At Dartmouth he had gained course prizes for signals, torpedo, anti-submarine and his specialty

gunnery.

Synnot was promoted Sub Lieutenant in late 1940 while serving on HMAS Canberra. He then joined

HMAS Stuart in the Mediterranean under Captain Hector Waller [q.v.]. After a near miss from

attacking aircraft early in 1941, Captain Waller [q.v.] asked his Midshipman ‘What do you think of that

then?’ to which Synnot replied, ‘Very exciting, Sir’. Much more ‘excitement’ followed as Synnot

served on Stuart at the Battle of Matapan and during the evacuations of Greece and Crete. He was

mentioned in dispatches for bravery when ferrying soldiers off the beach at Tolon, Greece, in strong

wind, heavy surf and under shellfire. Synnot later served on board HM Ships Barham and Punjabi. He

was onboard Punjabi when it was sunk in collision with the battleship HMS King George V in Arctic

waters in 1942. Paddling in the mid-winter conditions, covered in engine oil, he was fortunately

rescued by another destroyer. Later in life, he joked that the bill for the oil-fouled sheets where he slept

on board that destroyer followed him for the rest of the war. Synnot joined HMAS Quiberon in July

1942 and remained on board until December 1944. He was promoted Lieutenant in April 1942 and

became the ship’s second-in-command at age 22. After leaving Quiberon he qualified as a specialist

Gunnery Officer at HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth.

After the war he served in the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney on staff at Navy Office, and as an

instructor at HMS Excellent, being promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1950 and Commander in

1954. In 1956 he commanded HMAS Warramunga during the Malayan Emergency and as a guard ship

for the yachting at the Melbourne Olympic Games. Promoted to Captain in 1960, Synnot commanded

HMAS Vampire in operations in south east Asian waters, including a visit to Saigon in 1962. He left

Vampire to become Chief of Naval Staff for the Royal Malaysian Navy, a position which he held from

1962 to 1965. His efforts helped establish a strong naval tradition in Malaysia, and his service was

recognised when he was awarded the Order of Chivalry 3rd class, Johan Mangku Negara, (3rd Grade of

Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara). His tact, judgment and energy were all instrumental in his

success in this complex environment. Unfortunately, his stay in Malaysia was interrupted by the illness

of his wife, Virginia. When she subsequently died in Australia, Synnot’s sister Kitty Howson was able

to care for his two young daughters while their father was at sea.

5

In 1966 Synnot commanded HMAS Sydney on two voyages to South Vietnam, carrying troops and

equipment in support of the Australian Army. On one of these occasions he successfully berthed the

698 foot (213m) long aircraft carrier in Sydney without tugs - his ship handling skills receiving a loud

cheer from the ship’s company. The following year he commanded the aircraft carrier HMAS

Melbourne during the introduction of the A-4 Skyhawk and Grumman S-2 Tracker aircraft. In the

words of Vice Admiral (Sir) Richard Peek, ‘the flagship never had a better, more efficient and more

loved Captain’.

During 1968 Synnot attended the Imperial Defence College in London. He married his second wife

Anne Colvin, the daughter of Admiral (Sir) Ragnar Colvin, RN, [q.v.] in the same year before returning

to Canberra. He was promoted to Rear Admiral and appointed Second Naval Member in 1970, and

subsequently Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. In 1973 his last sea-going command was as Flag Officer

Commanding the Australian Fleet.

Returning to Navy Office Canberra in 1974, he served as Director Joint Staff on the Defence Force

Staff, and then as Assistant Chief of the Defence Force Staff. He was prominent in organising relief

operations after Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas morning 1974.

Synnot was promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) in November 1976.

During the same year he was also awarded an AO. While CNS he ensured the RAN developed an

awareness of the decision-making processes within the Australian government and administration. He

emphasised good planning and staff work, and improved systems and relationships between the

military and public service arms of the Department of Defence. Although he recognised the need to buy

the United States built Guided Missile Frigates (FFGs) as a stop gap measure, he consistently

advocated renewal of an Australian in-country shipbuilding effort.

In April 1979 he was promoted to Admiral and became the Chief of Defence Force Staff, a position he

held until his retirement in 1982. He initially persuaded the Government that the replacement of the

aging aircraft carrier Melbourne was a high priority and was involved in the decision to buy HMS

Invincible. Later, he criticised the Fraser government’s economic cutbacks when they ‘rescheduled’ a

range of re-equipment programmes, including the purchase of a replacement aircraft carrier for the

RAN. ‘Rescheduling’ was a euphemism used to hide the loss of defence force capability without

directly over-ruling the individual Defence Force and Service Chiefs. Despite such setbacks Synnot

was always courteous, patient and thoughtful. His approach was not adversarial, but rather he sought

consensus through systematic effort.

After retiring from the RAN, he became Chairman of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, a

post that he relinquished in 1985. Survived by his second wife Anne and his four children Jane,

Amanda, Zoe, and Mark, he died on 4 July 2001 after a long illness and a number of years suffering

total blindness.

Synnot was one of the most highly respected officers ever to serve in the Australian Defence forces. He

had a presence that simply commanded without ever raising his voice or using theatricals. From an

early age he was destined for the highest ranks in the Australian Defence Force, despite the

determination of a select group of politicians and defence bureaucrats to promote only ‘safe’ people to

senior rank. With strategic foresight and determination, he started a program to improve the equipment

capability of the Australian armed forces that would enable Australia to play a significant military role

as a leader in the Asia-Pacific region.

*******************************************************************

6

NAVAL BATTLES

Battle of Guadalcanal:

Burning ships and bodies littered the field of battle off the shores of Guadalcanal at dawn on November

13, 1942. The previous night, American and Japanese ships had clashed in arguably the most

unorganized and chaotic naval battle of World War II. A superior Japanese force had run smack into a

smaller, outnumbered American force. Despite many errors, the Americans gave a good accounting of

themselves, forcing the Japanese to abandon their mission of attacking Henderson Field. Aircraft

launching from Henderson Field attacked the retreating Japanese and sunk the disabled battleship Hiei

later on the 13th, completing the American strategic victory.

Thanks to US Naval cryptanalysts reading the Japanese force’s mail, Admiral William Halsey was fully

aware that the enemy was not finished with its attempts to batter Henderson Field from the sea and

reinforce Guadalcanal’s starving Japanese garrison. Halsey knew the Japanese had already sortied

another force south. This force, much like the one sent the previous night, outnumbered anything the

US Navy could respond with. The Japanese sent another battleship, the Kirishima, accompanied by

four cruisers and nine destroyers, to shell Henderson in preparation for another reinforcement landing

that would occur later that night into early the next morning. Halsey surveyed what he had available for

defense and was dismayed at what he saw. The majority of his cruisers were either already committed

to battle or heavily damaged. His fleet of destroyers was shrinking, and sinking, rapidly. The only real

effective power that Halsey had to fight in a surface action were two warships at sea, cruising as

screening ships for the battered carrier Enterprise.

Naval warfare went through a massive evolution during World War II. Prior to the attack on Pearl

Harbor, the battleship was the queen of the sea. With her massive main battery, she was the striking

power of a nation’s navy. The number of battleships put to sea by a navy was how their strength in

world affairs was judged. After Pearl Harbor, everything changed. The aircraft carrier, and to some

lesser respects the submarine, became a navy’s striking power, especially the US Navy. In 1942, the

battleship was seen as a screening ship. Heavily armed with a vast array of anti-aircraft weapons, the

battlewagons could throw up an impressive amount of lead to deter Japanese aerial attacks against their

aircraft carriers. Battleships had become secondary ships. However, in November 1942, deprived of

cruisers and destroyers and possessing only one workable and damaged aircraft carrier, Halsey was

forced to respond to the Japanese threat of November 14 with the only thing he had left in his arsenal—

his two battleships. The new battleship Washington (BB-56) and the newer South Dakota (BB-57)

detached from screening the “Big E,” signaled an acknowledgement of orders, and turned due north,

plowing through the wide-open waters off Noumea for the close confines of Ironbottom Sound.

7

Perched in the bridge of the Washington, Admiral Willis “Ching” Lee chatted over the coming events

with Washington’s captain, Glenn Davis. Lee knew the action, if it occurred, would be fought at night.

As such, he would have to rely on Washington’s radar ability to detect the enemy. A student of radar

and a firm believer in its abilities, Lee was confident he and his ships could see and fire on their enemy

long before the Japanese did the same to him. Supremely confident, Lee was sure his small but

extremely powerful task force of two battleships could destroy any enemy they encountered.

At around 2230 hours on November 14, the SG radar system aboard the Washington indicated targets

north-northwest making 21 knots in two columns at a range of 18,000 yards. As the information was

relayed to Lee on the bridge, he took a drag from a cigarette, looked over his shoulder to Captain Glenn

Davis, and casually said, “Well, stand by Glenn, here they come.” Word was passed to load

Washington’s main battery of 16-inch guns. Deep in the bowels of the ship, men jumped to their feet

and began the process of loading the great weapons. The men moved with ease and speed as they

hustled the 100-pound powder bags into the breech after the 2,700-pound shells had been loaded. The

process normally took 30 seconds; Washington’s well-trained gun crews did it in 15. The three massive

turrets aboard Washington and South Dakota each trained to starboard and waited for the order to open

fire.

At 2313 hours, the waiting ended. When the enemy was visually sighted from the Washington at a

range of 11,000 yards, Admiral Lee called South Dakota’s Captain Gatch over the radio and gave him

permission to fire. Lee put the radio down, turned to his talker and ordered, “Open fire when ready.”

An instant later, nine 2,700-pound armor piercing projectiles left the 60-foot barrels of Washington’s

main battery and screamed towards the Japanese heavy cruiser Sendai. Barely two seconds later, South

Dakota followed suit. The Japanese, aware of the presence of American ships but unaware of the

presence of American battleships, panicked at the sight of 900-foot geysers of water sprouting around

their ships. After opening fire, South Dakota’s radio snoopers picked up “Japanese voices excited and

very numerous.” The heavy cruiser Sendai and her escorts turned tail and beat a hasty retreat, putting as

much distance between them and the American giants as possible.

Back aboard Washington, Admiral Lee watched as his destroyers tangled with Japanese destroyers and

were summarily pounded. In minutes, the battleship’s four escorts were out of the fight, thus leaving

the two battlewagons alone to slug it out with the Japanese. Lee looked on as Washington and “SoDak”

passed through the debris field left by the destroyers. One of the destroyer sailors bobbing in the water

was heard to holler, “Get after ’em Washington!” as the massive ship steamed by at a speed of 26

knots.

Shortly after the destroyer debacle, Lee lost contact with Gatch aboard South Dakota. Electrical failures

caused the new battleship to lose power and steam onward in complete darkness. Power was restored,

lost again, and restored again throughout the rest of the fight. While South Dakota would give her share

of punishment, she would receive a great deal in return as well. Sailing blind, the battleship was lit up

by Japanese searchlights, and heavy fire poured into her, setting her upperworks ablaze. The Japanese

battleship Kirishima opened fire. South Dakota reeled under the intense fire, swung out of line, and

returned fire with her main battery, hitting both Japanese cruisers that were setting her afire. Having

suffered over 26 hits, one of which was a 14-inch battleship shell, SoDak retired from the fight.

Washington and Willis Lee were now alone.

8

Undeterred, Lee watched as Washington’s radar tracked a large target off her starboard beam. Aware

that the target she was tracking might be the blacked-out South Dakota, Lee ordered “check fire” on the

target. As Kirishima illuminated South Dakota with her searchlight, the target’s identity was confirmed

as hostile. At a range of 8,400 yards—point-blank for 16-inch naval rifles, Washington’s main battery

roared as she flung 2,700-pound armor-piercing shells at the Kirishima. The first salvo missed,

straddling the target, but Washington’s gun crews had their weapons ready to fire less than half a

minute later. A second salvo roared from the great guns and scored a direct hit on the Japanese

battleship’s superstructrure, obliterating her third-level bridge and everyone in it. Washington’s third

salvo was deadly accurate. Five of Washington’s shells struck Kirishima amidships, with one shell

penetrating below her waterline, causing massive flooding. The five amidships hits blew open

bulkheads, penetrated well inside the ship, and exploded in close proximity to Kirishima’s secondary

battery-ammunition magazine, causing ship-threatening fires and leaving 30-foot holes in the deck near

the casemates. The shell strike below the waterline caused water to cascade across the breadth of the

Kirishima from starboard to port. Yet another shell from the same salvo struck below the waterline

further aft, causing flooding. Heavily battered but not dead, Kirishima returned fire at her tormentor,

her 14-inch shells passing close by Washington’s superstructure but missing their mark.

As the distance closed, Washington’s secondary five-inch gun battery opened fire, raining shell after

shell into Kirishima’s superstructure and causing untold loss of life and damage. Through the melee of

noise, smoke, and fire, Admiral Lee said, “If you can see anything to shoot at, go ahead.” The

leviathan’s 16-inch guns opened up again, striking Kirishima at a range of 7,850 yards. Two shells

struck the forward 14-inch turret of Kirishima at the same time, destroying the weapon. More shells

found their mark up forward as even more shells struck farther aft, the coup de grace a 16-inch shell

exploding under Kirishima’s rudder, jamming it 80 degrees to starboard and eliminating all control of

the vessel.

Having suffered 20 16-inch shell hits from Washington and an untold number of five-inch hits,

Kirishima staggered through the night, slowly sinking, finally capsizing, plunging by the stern and

disappearing from sight. Deprived of its main punch, the Japanese task force attempted to track

Washington, fired one last salvo of torpedoes in defiance, gave up, came about and withdrew from the

scene with all possible haste. Willis Lee found no gain in pursuing the retreating enemy. He ordered a

zigzag course and retired from the field of battle having almost singlehandedly pounded the enemy to a

bloody pulp.

The American victory in the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal effectively ended any hope the

Japanese had of wresting control of the island back from the United States. The Japanese transports

were attacked in the morning with aircraft from Henderson Field. Troops remaining on the island were

hunted down and killed by Marines and soldiers. Never again would the Imperial Navy attempt to

deliver a knockout blow to Henderson Field. Never again would the “Tokyo Express” operate with

impunity. It took an old-fashioned gunfight between two armored giants to secure the seas around

Guadalcanal, now—finally—American owned.

The Guadalcanal campaign officially ended on February 9, 1943, a little over six months after it began.

The Americans entered the campaign on a shoestring, barely able to fend off incessant enemy attacks

on all fronts. They emerged victorious, a war-waging powerhouse with new ships steaming over the

horizon to replace those lost in the bloody early battles, troopships laden with fresh-faced Marines and

soldiers, and a sky full of aircraft with which to carry the war all the way to Japan’s doorstep. What

began on the morning of August 7, 1942, would be finished in Tokyo Bay on the decks of the battleship

Missouri.

9

Battle was a Strategic victory for America

Battle Losses: USN Japan Navy

2 Light Cruisers 2 Battleships

7 Destroyers 1 Heavy Cruiser

2 Heavy Cruisers damaged 3 Destroyers

1 Battleship damaged 11 Transports

36 Aircraft lost 64 Aircraft lost

1,732 casualties 1,900 casualties

Japanese Battleship Hiei

USS Heavy Cruiser Portland (Sydney Drydock after battle)

Japanese Heavy Cruiser Kinugasa

10

HAVE A LAUGH

Jim, Scott and Alex are tired after traveling all day and check into a hotel. When they get to reception, they find

out they'll have to walk 75 flights of stairs to get to their room because the elevator is out of order. Jim suggests that they do something interesting to pass time while they walk the 75 flights. Jim will tell jokes, Scott will sing songs, and Alex will tell sad stories. So Jim tells jokes for 25 flights, Scott sings songs for 25 flights and Alex tells sad stories for 24 flights. When they reach the 75th floor, Alex tells his saddest story of all, "Guys, I

left our room key at reception."

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands

Bob, the next-door neighbour.

Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few

seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,

‘Who was that?’

‘It was Bob the next door neighbour,’ she replies.

‘Great,’ the husband says,

‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’

A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house,

pat me and take good care of me...THEY MUST BE GODS!!!!!

A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house,

pat me and take good care of me....I MUST BE A GOD.

****************************************************************

11

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – SHIP HISTORY

HMAS Parramatta (lll)

Class River Class Displacement 2,700 tons

Type Destroyer Escort Length 370ft

Builder Cockatoo Dockyard Beam 41ft

Laid Down 3 Jan 1957 Draught 15ft

Launched 31 Jan 1959 Speed 30 knots

Commissioned 4 Jul 1961 Crew 250

Machinery Babcock Wilcox Turbines Horsepower 40,000 shp

Guns 2 x 4.5in guns Missiles Seacat anti-aircraft Ikara anti-submarine

Other Triple Barrelled A/S Mortar

HMAS Parramatta was laid down at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney on 3 January 1957. She was

launched on 31 January 1959 by Lady Dowling, wife of Vice Admiral Sir Roy Dowling, RAN the then

Chief of Naval Staff.

On 15 June 1961, while still in the hands of the builders undergoing sea trials and wearing the Red

Ensign, Parramatta took part, with commissioned units of the fleet, in a ceremonial entry into Port

Jackson to mark the 50th anniversary of the RAN.

HMAS Parramatta commissioned at Sydney on 4 July 1961 under the command of Commander Guy

Griffiths, DSC, RAN. She was the first of six new River Class destroyer escorts built for the RAN.

n 20 April 1962 Parramatta joined her sister ship Yarra deploying to the Far East where the two ships

relieved HMA Ships Quickmatch and Vampire in the British Commonwealth Strategic Reserve. During

that deployment Parramatta's crew took part in the SEATO exercise SEA DEVIL before visiting Japan

in company with other RAN vessels. In August she and Yarra searched unsuccessfully for the British

tug Kowloon Docks which was reportedly in distress in a typhoon in the South China Sea. Departing

Hong Kong in September the two ships visited Port Swettenham and Singapore before steaming for

Sydney, where they arrived on 10 October 1962 having been relieved of their Far East Strategic

Reserve (FESR) duties.

In January 1963 Parramatta succeeded HMAS Queensborough as the leader of the 1st Frigate

Squadron. The formal transfer took place at Sydney when the senior officer of the squadron, Captain

B.S. Murray, RAN, assumed command. During February and March Parramatta, Anzac and Yarra

undertook escort duty for HM Royal Yacht Britannia during the visit to Australia of Queen Elizabeth II

and the Duke of Edinburgh.

12

Parramatta berthed at Circular Quay with Anzac visible astern. Both ships are dressed overall in recognition of HM Queen

Elizabeth II's Royal Visit. Note Parramatta's first pennant number F05 visible on her port side.

On 17 March 1963 Parramatta deployed as part of a task group comprising the aircraft carrier HMAS

Melbourne (II), Yarra (III) and Supply for a two month 'up top' tour of duty in S.E. Asia. There the task

group took part in Exercise SEA SERPENT in May, after which Parramatta returned to Sydney. Later,

in July, she steamed to Queensland waters taking part in fleet exercises in the Hervey Bay area. Later

that year Captain J.J. Scrivener, RAN relieved Captain Murray in command.

Following a brief refit at Garden Island Dockyard in Sydney, Parramatta began the new year working

up in company with Yarra before again deploying for the Far East on 28 January 1964. During their

six-month tour of duty with the FESR, the two ships took part in the large-scale exercises JET and

LITGAS before returning home in mid-July. Later in the year Parramatta was equipped with the Sea cat

guided-missile system. Early in 1965 she carried out her first successful firing of the new weapon in

waters off the NSW coast before again deploying for the Far East.

Following participation in Exercise SEAHORSE Parramatta paid a goodwill visit to Bangkok, after

which she escorted HMAS Sydney (III) on the final leg of her first heavy troop-lift voyage to Vietnam.

The ship also participated in anti-Indonesian infiltration patrols off Malaysian Borneo, before returning

to Sydney in company with Yarra on 3 September 1965.

In February 1966 Parramatta was selected to perform the role of flagship at the Hobart Regatta in

Tasmania. There her crew was treated to the famous hospitality of the Hobart community. On her

return to Sydney, Commander R.H. Perry, RAN, who has assumed command of the ship in November

1964, relinquished command to Commander J.A. Mathew, RAN.

March 1966 saw the ship enter a three-month long refit at Williamstown Naval Dockyard, Victoria,

after which she re-joined the fleet on 24 June. In early July she again deployed for the Far East and in

September she was employed conducting patrols in waters off Borneo. During October and November,

she exercised with ships of the Royal Navy, the United States Navy and RAN in waters off the

Philippines before visiting Japan for Rest and Recreation (R & R). In November while transmitting the

Malacca Strait Parramatta damaged her propellers following a grounding. This necessitated repair

being carried out in Singapore and she subsequently returned to Sydney, in company with HMAS

Stuart, in January 1967.

13

Parramatta deployed to the Far East for the sixth time in 1967, and, on 5 March 1968, then under

Commander F.R. Woods, RAN, she steamed on her seventh tour in company with HMAS Vendetta.

(II). By then the ship had become a familiar sight in S.E. Asian waters and Singapore her home away

from home.

In October 1968 the ship was sorely in need of maintenance and on her return to Australia she was

again placed in refit at Williamstown at which time Commander P.M. Rees, RAN, assumed command.

In February 1969 Parramatta again took part in the Hobart Regatta, renewing old acquaintances and

making new friends in the Tasmanian capital. Later, in May, she departed Sydney with HMA Ships

Melbourne and Supply en route for SEATO exercises in the Far East. She returned to Sydney later that

year.

1970 saw the ship involved in a minor accident when on 28 February, while going astern having

refuelled at Chowder Bay, Sydney, she collided with the Manly ferry Bellubera. Both vessels sustained

minor damage, but Parramatta's bow was holed necessitating repairs to be carried out at Garden Island

Dockyard. By April, Parramatta was again on her way 'Up Top' joining Stuart in May and

participating, with other Commonwealth ships, in the large-scale exercise BERSATU PADU off the

coast of Malaysia. On 15 October the families of Parramatta's crew welcomed the ship back to Sydney

after an absence of six months with the FESR. Shortly afterwards she again entered Williamstown

Naval Dockyard for a prolonged refit.

On 10 March 1971, by then under the command of Commander P.G.N. Kennedy, RAN, Parramatta

sailed in company with HMAS Duchess for yet another tour of duty with the FESR. She again visited

Japan before being relieved by HMAS Swan (III) and returning to Sydney on 20 October.

The RAN's destroyer escorts (DE) had by that time proven themselves very capable ships in both the

escort and patrol duties roles. Australia's commitment to the FESR was largely shouldered by the DEs,

while the new Perth Class destroyers and HMAS Vendetta were undertaking naval gun fire support

duties in Vietnam. The operational tempo for all concerned was high and it was a credit to the crews

and their families that such a sustained effort was maintained. Parramatta saw active service during the

Vietnam War, escorting the fast troop transport HMAS Sydney (III) to Vung Tau, Vietnam, in 1965,

1968 and 1971.

14

On 29 October 1971 Commander M.S. 'George' Unwin, RAN, was appointed in command of

Parramatta. He was to prove a popular captain at a time when the ship's familiar pattern of trips to S.E.

Asia was interrupted with participation in celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the

Coral Sea followed by a deployment to Fiji and New Zealand in mid-1972. On Thursday 24 August

1972 Parramatta gained the distinction of being the 1000th vessel to enter the Captain Cook graving

dock in Sydney since it commissioned in 1945.

In mid-1973 Parramatta emerged from refit under Commander D. Thomson, RAN, deploying to S.E.

Asia shortly afterwards. In November she took part in Exercise LEADLINE, off Malaysia, before

detaching for Singapore where she replaced Yarra in the ANZUK force.

In July 1976 Parramatta was diverted to the Indonesian island of Bali to provide humanitarian relief

following an earthquake which killed over 500 Balinese and injured another 3,000.

She was decommissioned on 3 June 1977 for modernisation and refit at Williamstown Naval Dockyard,

and on completion recommissioned on 26 August 1981 under the command of Commander KH

McGowan, RAN.

HMAS Parramatta as she appeared following her extensive half-life refit. Note the new location of her distinctive LWO

radar aerial.

Highlights of her second commission included a rare visit to the Peoples Republic of China in 1986 and

participation in the 1986 Royal Australian Navy 75th Anniversary Naval Review and the Bicentennial

Naval Salute in 1988.

Parramatta was decommissioned on 11 January 1991 as the River Class Destroyer Escorts were

replaced by the Adelaide Class Guided Missile Frigates.

Parramatta was subsequently sold to a Pakistani company and towed from Australia October 1991 to

be broken up.

15

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY – NU SHIPS HMAS Sirius

Type Support Ship Displacement 46,755 tonnes

Builder Hyundai Mipo Length 191.3Mtrs

Commissioned 16 Sept 2006 Beam 32Mtrs

Speed 16 knots Draught 11Mtrs

Crew 60 Machinery Hyundai B&W 65 50MC Diesel

Armament 5 x 12.7mm Machine guns

The Royal Australian Navy's afloat support capability is provided by the underway replenishment ship

HMAS Sirius. The Afloat Support Force provides operational support for the rest of the fleet by

providing fuel, stores and ammunition, thus significantly extending the RAN's operational reach and

endurance at sea. It can also provide limited support to deployed Army and Air Force units.

HMAS Sirius was built as a double-hulled commercial product tanker, MV Delos and purchased by the

Commonwealth Government on 3 June 2004. Named Sirius, the ship underwent modification for

underway replenishment. In addition, a flight deck was fitted for helicopter operations.

The ship can carry over 34,806 cz (cubic metres) of fuel including 5486 cz (cubic metres) of aviation

fuel for use by RAN helicopters. Sirius can replenish ships at sea by day and night and is capable of

replenishing two ships at a time. She has transfer points for fuel, water and stores. Sirius is the first

RAN ship to carry this name, however HMS Sirius was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1780 as

the flagship of the 'First Fleet'. The name was selected because of its historical connections with the

First Fleet and the import role the ship played in providing logistic support to the struggling economy.

Her motto is “to serve and provide”.

16

PICTURE FUNNIES

17

NAVAL TERMS

Rummage Sale:

From the French “arrimage” meaning ship’s cargo. Damage cargo was sold at a rummage sale.

A square meal:

In good weather, crew’s mess was a warm meal served on a square wooden platter.

Son of a Gun:

When in port, and with the crew restricted to the ship for any extended period of time, wives and ladies

of easy virtue often were allowed to live onboard along with the crew. Infrequently, but nor

uncommonly, children were born aboard, and a convenient place for this was between the guns on the

gun deck. If the child’s father was unknown, they were entered in the ship’s log as “son of a gun”.

Overbearing:

To sail downwind directly at another ship thus “stealing” or diverting the wind from his sail.

Taking the wind out of his sails:

Sailing in a manner so as to steal or divert wind from another ship’s sails.

Let the cat out of the bag:

In the Royal Navy the punishment prescribed for most serious crimes was flogging. This was

administered by the Bosun’s Mate using a whip called a cat o’ nine tails. The “cat” was kept in a leather

or baize bag. It was considered bad news indeed when the cat was let out of the bag. Other sources

attribute the expression to the old English market scam of selling someone a pig in a poke (bag) when

the pig turned out to be a cat instead.

No room to swing a cat:

The entire ship’s company was required to witness floggings at close hand. The crew might crowd

around so that the Bosun’s Mate might not have enough room to swing his cat o’ nine tails.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

18

NAVAL TRADITIONS Naval Uniforms: Cont.

The 1970s and 1980s saw the introduction of further new non-substantive badges, particularly for

technical sailors whose badges were adorned with a variety of stars to denote technical expertise and

skill. Specialist badges for principle warfare officers were also approved as were navy blue jumpers,

known as ‘woolly pullies’, which made their debut in the mid-1980s. With them came the first of the

RAN’s soft rank insignia that was worn on the shoulders. The disbandment of the WRANS followed

and for the first time, women adopted the traditional uniforms of the sailor, as the RAN became one

service.

Left: A leading seaman on duty on the gangway of a guided missile destroyer dressed in a traditional seaman's flannel or

'white-front' as they were sometimes known. The khaki felt fur wide brimmed hat was introduced in the early 1990s to

provide protection in tropical or hot climates from the sun. Right: An able seaman dressed in a 'woolly pully' jumper works

in cold conditions on a RAS point.

The introduction of the specialist qualification badge for Principal Warfare Officers was, over time, followed by a range of

others denoting specialist qualifications for both officers and sailors. L-R. Principal Warfare Officer, Mine Warfare &

Clearance Diving Officer, Maritime Logistics Officer Charge Qualification, Mine Warfare Officer, Engineering Officer

Charge Qualification, Fighter Control Officer, Maritime Geospatial Officer, Fighter Control Sailor.

19

Left: CMDR M Blenkin, RAN, wearing the standard RAN parachute qualification badge on his left breast.

Centre top: RAN special duties parachute qualification badge, awarded to clearance divers who had passed

Special Air Service selection. Middle: RAN standard parachute badge. Bottom: Senior Engineering/Electrical

Sailor charge qualification badge. Right: CPOMT C Frampton, wearing his charge qualification badge on his

left breast.

In April 1997 new style uniforms were introduced for junior sailors. This saw the traditional bell-bottom trousers and white

flannels give-way to straight leg trousers and collared shirts for both male and female sailors.

The next major uniform change came with the advent of the first Gulf War when a need for a more

robust form of action working dress was identified. This saw the introduction of grey, fire retardant,

combat coveralls that were soon adopted throughout the entire RAN fleet. Around the same time,

approval was also given for personnel serving ashore in operational areas to wear army disruptive

pattern camouflage uniforms (DPCU). This was to become standard kit for officers and men of the

clearance diving branch due to the nature of their work. A second variant, known as disruptive pattern

desert uniform (DPDU), featuring sandy coloured tones better suited for operations in the Middle East

Region followed and many naval personnel found themselves wearing this pattern while deployed

ashore overseas.

To be continued: