HMAS Melbourne (II)

HMAS Melbourne was one of 6 Majestic class light fleet aircraft carriers. It laid down for the Royal Navy (RN) as HMS Majestic on 15 April 1943 and launched in 1945.

In 1946 the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) wanted to establish a naval Fleet Air Arm (FAA). On 3 June 1947 the Australian Government approved the purchase of 2 aircraft carriers.

On 28 October 1955, the ship was commissioned into the RAN. It was under the command of Captain Galfrey George Ormond Gatacre DSO DSC RAN.

Milestones from the early years

On 6 December 1955 an RN Westland Whirlwind helicopter landed on Melbourne’s flight deck. it was the first aircraft to touch down on the aircraft carrier. The first fixed-wing aircraft, a Hawker De Havilland Sea Venom and a Fairey Gannet, arrived during trials in the English Channel.

Melbourne sailed from Glasgow for Australia on 11 March 1956. It had 808 Squadron (Sea Venom all weather fighters) and 816 and 817 Squadrons (Gannet anti-submarine aircraft) embarked.

Melbourne could operate its jet aircraft by night as well as by day. This gave Australia a capability no other regional land-based air force had.

On 8 August 1956 Lieutenant Barry Thompson and Lieutenant Keith Potts of 808 Squadron were both killed when their Sea Venom crashed. The aircraft took off normally but veered to the right and down into the water off Hervey Bay. The cause of the accident was never discovered. Insufficient wind speed over the deck was the most likely reason.

In September 1956 Melbourne deployed to Southeast Asia. The Australian Government had committed naval forces to the Far East Strategic Reserve. This included an annual visit from an aircraft carrier. Melbourne made these visits with the Strategic Reserve and later with Australia, New Zealand and UK (ANZUK) forces. It joined many South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) exercises.

Melbourne had a regular program of exercises, training and maintenance over the next few years. In 1958 it deployed to Singapore for the SEATO exercise OCEAN LINK. OCEAN LINK was the largest SEATO exercise to date. It involved 24 ships and submarines from 5 nations. Melbourne then continued on to Japan and Hawaii for Exercise REX with the United States Navy (USN).

Melbourne was awarded the Duke of Gloucester’s Cup in 1958 as the most proficient RAN unit of the year. It is the most prestigious fleet award in the RAN, one which the carrier would go on to win twice more, in 1962 and 1972.

In 1960 Melbourne took part in exercise SEALION. The SEATO exercise involved more than 60 ships from 9 nations. Participating nations were: 

• Australia
• New Zealand
• the US
• the UK
• France
• India
• the Philippines
• Thailand
• Pakistan

In 1961, Melbourne participated in Exercise JET 61 in the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka. This was the eleventh JET exercise, the third to include Australia. It involved 41 naval units from 6 countries.

Melbourne went on to visit ports in Sri Lanka, India, Singapore and the Philippines. In the Philippines it took part in the SEATO exercise PONY EXPRESS.

On 15 June 1961 Melbourne led a column of RAN ships into Sydney Harbour for a ceremonial fleet entry. This was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the granting of royal assent to the RAN. It fired a 15-gun salute as it rounded Bradleys Head. It then held position as the rest of the fleet passed and FAA aircraft performed a flyover.

On 20 July 1961 Leading Seaman Allan Moore was killed during exercises in Jervis Bay. Leading Seaman Moore was securing a 40-foot workboat to the lighthouse jetty on Montague Island. He suffered fatal injuries when he was crushed between the boat and the jetty. He was 31 years of age.

On 28 February 1962 Melbourne departed for Singapore. It visited Hong Kong then went to Subic Bay in the Philippines for the SEATO exercise SEA DEVIL.

SEA DEVIL began on 16 April. It included sea and air units from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Pakistan and Thailand. The exercise was commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding HMA Fleet, Rear Admiral Alan McNicoll CBE GM RAN, aboard Melbourne.

Melbourne then visited Nagasaki, Kure, Kobe and Yokohama. It participated in Exercise TUCKER BOX 2 later in the year.

In 1963 Melbourne sailed to Hobart for the Royal Hobart Regatta and the visit of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.

A royal guard and band were paraded on the flight deck. A 21-gun salute was fired by both Melbourne and FNS Commandant Riviere as HMY Britannia entered Port Hobart on 27 February.

Collision with HMAS Voyager

On 6 February 1964 Melbourne began exercises with HMA Ships Voyager (II) and Kimbla. Melbourne and Voyager sailed from Jervis Bay early on 10 February. Kimbla had preceded them to Sydney. That evening Voyager closed Melbourne for the first time that day for transfer of mail by heaving line. This was followed by radio sea trials between the two ships.

That night Melbourne was engaged in night flying exercises off the New South Wales coast. Voyager’s role was that of plane guard. This involved rescuing any aircrew personnel from the sea. Both ships had been refitted, so they had not done close quarters manoeuvring for almost 6 months. They were both ‘darkened’ with only navigational and operational lighting in use.

At approximately 8:56 pm, 20 miles southeast of Jervis Bay, the two ships collided. Melbourne struck Voyager at the end of its bridge. The impact pushed Voyager through the water for a few seconds, and then it broke in two. Its forward section passed down Melbourne’s port side. The stern section went down the starboard side. The disaster resulted in the loss of 82 lives. Fourteen officers, including the commanding officer, Captain Duncan Stevens 67 sailors and one civilian dockyard employee. There were 232 survivors. Melbourne was damaged but sustained no casualties.

Melbourne immediately began search and rescue operations. It asked for help from nearby NAS Nowra where search and rescue aircraft and boats were based. All Melbourne’s boats were ordered into the water. Inflatable life rafts were deployed, and scrambling nets were prepared. Melbourne’s aircraft searched for survivors.

Additional medical officers came by air from Nowra. Those not involved in search and rescue efforts looked after the survivors. The most injured survivors were transferred to Balmoral Naval Hospital by helicopter. Others remained aboard Melbourne until it returned to Sydney on 12 February.

Later reports and inquiries noted the exemplary behaviour of all involved in the aftermath of the tragedy. Melbourne’s commanding officer, Captain Ronald Robertson DSC RAN, later reported:

The actions required of Melbourne’s ship’s company called for individual initiative at all levels, and calm resolve to an extent that is not often required in peace time.

A large proportion of this ship’s company had only recently joined the ship and some 25% were ordinary seamen, barely accustomed to wearing naval uniform. Their actions and behaviour left nothing to be desired. I am proud of them.

I am also proud to record that Voyager’s officers and men displayed the same high standards of individual behaviour. The Royal Australian Navy does not lack quality in its men.

Repair work kept Melbourne alongside in Sydney for three months. It returned to sea on 11 May 1964 and commenced workup exercises off the coast of New South Wales.

Late 1960s operations and refit

Melbourne departed for its Southeast Asian deployment on 24 February 1965. On 27 March it contributed to Exercise SHOWPIECE off Singapore. This exercise was designed demonstrate the strength and readiness of the British Far East Fleet. It then joined Sydney’s escort force for four days during the troop carrier’s voyage to Vietnam in early June.

In 1965 the FAA was re-equipped with Douglas A4G Skyhawk fighter bombers and Grumman S2E Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The Douglas and McDonnell aircraft companies merged in 1967, so the Skyhawk was known as the McDonnell-Douglas Skyhawk.

Melbourne participated in Exercises JUC 61 and HOMERUN with USN units off the New South Wales coast in March 1966. It then joined Sydney's escort force bound for Vietnam. On 28 April during flying operations in the Sulu Sea, one of Melbourne’s Sea Venoms crashed over the side. An arrestor wire failed on landing, and the aircraft did not regain enough airspeed to get airborne. The pilot was Lieutenant John da Costa RAN, one of the FAA’s most experienced pilots. He ejected before the aircraft hit the water and was later rescued by a search and rescue helicopter. The observer, Lieutenant Edward Kennell RAN, apparently did not eject. He was briefly seen in the water next to the wreckage of the Sea Venom before he disappeared. Subsequent search and rescue efforts found no trace of him.

Melbourne underwent a major refit and modernisation at Garden Island Dockyard, to enable it to operate its new Skyhawk and Tracker aircraft. It remained alongside in Sydney until February 1969. The refit included a communications upgrade and a new radar suite, consisting of both Dutch and American radars. The British Type 293 surface search set was retained and an LW-02 air-surveillance radar was installed over the bridge. Abaft the funnel, an SPN-35 carrier-controlled approach radar was mounted within a dome. On the lattice mast, a new tactical air navigation (TACAN) aerial and electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods were mounted.

Melbourne returned to sea on 3 February 1969 for sea trials and workup exercises. A rededication ceremony was conducted on board on 14 February. On 29 April, Sub Lieutenant Ross Smith RAN landed his Tracker, marking the 1000th deck landing since the refit.

USS Frank E Evans collision

Melbourne participated in the SEATO exercise SEA SPIRIT in June 1969. In the early hours of 3 June USS Frank E Evans crossed Melbourne’s bows and was cut in two. The forward section of Evans sank, and its stern was secured to Melbourne’s starboard side.

Seventy-four of Evans’s crew lost their lives. Melbourne's bow section was severely damaged. Temporary repairs were made at sea before Melbourne proceeded to Singapore. It steamed into Singapore on 6 June with flags flying at half-mast.

A joint USN/RAN board of inquiry held Captain Stevenson partly responsible. They said that as commanding officer of Melbourne, he could have done more to prevent the collision. But a later RAN court martial cleared him of any responsibility. The integrity of the initial inquiry has since been questioned. It was presided over by Rear Admiral Jerome H King USN, the officer in command of Evans at the time of the collision.

Operations and events of the 1970s

On 11 October 1970 Melbourne sailed for Hawaii for the first RIMPAC exercise. It arrived in Pearl Harbor on 25 October. Naval units from the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada participated in the exercises.

In 1972 Melbourne participated in the SEATO exercise SEA HAWK in the South China Sea. It then conducted Exercise TRANSITEX with other New Zealand and UK units. It participated in the first ANZUK exercise, GENESIS, at the end of March.

On 5 July Melbourne joined other RAN and RAAF units in the search for a fishing boat, Fishing News. They found the missing vessel on the morning of 6 July, 60kms off shore. The three occupants were suffering from exposure. They embarked in Melbourne by the carrier’s rubber Gemini dinghy. Their boat was towed back to Sydney by a police launch.

The ship took part in Exercise JUC 85 later that month and into August. It then sailed to Pearl Harbor to participate in RIMPAC 72 on 17 August. Melbourne visited Yokosuka in early October. It then went to Manila where it participated in the SEATO exercise SEA SCORPION. Melbourne took part in the ANZUK exercise GROUNDWORK in late October.

From January to July 1973 Melbourne underwent a minor refit at Garden Island. It returned to sea on 19 July to begin shakedown exercises and post-refit trials.

Melbourne exercised with HMA Ships Brisbane and Stuart, and, later, HMNZS Taranaki while on its way to Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC. A defect in Melbourne's catapult forced it to cancel all fixed-wing flying from 15 September to the end of the exercise.

Melbourne took part in the ANZUK exercise LEADLINE from 8 to 14 November off Singapore. One of its Skyhawks was lost overboard upon launching near Pulau Aur. The pilot, Sub Lieutenant Barry Evans RAN, remained in the aircraft while the ship passed overhead. He freed himself underwater and was later rescued by helicopter.

Melbourne visited Pearl Harbor in February 1974. It had 120 Army personnel on board to participate in Exercise PACIFIC BOND TWO. Melbourne left Hawaii on 23 February. It carried a US Coast Guard Sikorsky HH 52 Seaguard helicopter for a medivac from a US Coast Guard cutter 1100km north east of Hawaii. The cutter, USCGC Mellon, had embarked the survivors of the Italian supertanker Giovanna Lolli-Ghetti. An explosion and fire on Giovanna Lolli-Ghetti had caused the loss of seven lives. The Seaguard evacuated a survivor in need of urgent medical attention.

Melbourne continued on to Los Angeles. There it delivered Pacific War relics for presentation to the Admiral Nimitz War Museum at Fredericksburg, Texas. It then steamed to San Francisco where it embarked a consignment of Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters for delivery to Brisbane.

The carrier participated in the inaugural Exercise KANGAROO ONE in the Coral Sea in June 1974. This involved sea, land and air forces from Australia, the UK, the US and New Zealand.

Melbourne was alongside in Sydney when Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin on 24 December 1974. Melbourne arrived in Darwin on 1 January 1975. Its aircraft made an immediate impact on Operation NAVY HELP DARWIN. 817 Squadron helicopters conducted search and rescue sorties in areas that had been inaccessible. This allowed for quick evacuations over great distances. Melbourne stayed in Darwin until 18 January 1975. Over the course of the operation, Melbourne’s aircraft made 2493 landings, amounting to 304 flying hours. It lifted 7824 people and delivered 236 968 lbs (107 486 kgs) of freight. Darwin’s mayor, Harry ‘Tiger’ Brennan, later said ‘We owe the Navy the greatest debt of all’.

At midnight on 4 December 1975, all but 3 of the RAN’s Tracker fleet were destroyed in a hangar fire at HMAS Albatross. The fire impaired the FAA’s fixed-wing anti-submarine warfare capabilities. However, the following months showed the strong relationship that the RAN had developed with the USN. The Tracker fleet was not only replenished but increased. The RAN had already ordered six second-hand Trackers from the USN. This order was expanded to 16. An RAN team travelled to the US to select the aircraft from USN stores. The RAN received them at a massive discount, as much as 97 per cent.

Melbourne departed Sydney on 28 April with HMAS Brisbane (II) and HMNZS Canterbury. The ships went on to visit Colombo before passing through the Suez Canal on 31 May. Melbourne, Brisbane and Canterbury crossed the Mediterranean in early June. Melbourne visited Crete and Gibraltar and exercised with the RN and USN. It arrived in Portsmouth on 13 June.

Three Skyhawks, a Tracker and a Sea King took part in the International Air Tattoo on 25 and 26 June. The Silver Jubilee Review was conducted on 28 June. Some 175 ships from 18 nations assembled at the Spithead anchorage. Most of the major units fired a royal salute before HMY Britannia anchored at the head of the review columns. Some 200 guests were ferried to Melbourne after Britannia took up its position. The royal yacht weighed anchor that afternoon and proceeded down the lines, conducting the review. Ten members of Melbourne’s ship’s company attended a reception aboard Britannia.

Melbourne participated in Exercise HIGHWOOD in July. Participants sailed up the west coast of Britain and Ireland as far as the Faeroe Islands. The force was surveilled off the Norwegian coast by a Soviet ocean-going tug and the Okean class intelligence ship, Ekholot. The Soviet vessel made occasional close passes of the ships on 16 and 17 July.

After the exercise, on 18 July, Melbourne was observed an Okean Class intelligence ship, but proved too fast for Soviet vessel. It went on visit Rotterdam, Portsmouth and Naples before transiting the Suez Canal on 18 August. Along with Brisbane and Canterbury, it once again conducted exercises with the RN and USN in the Mediterranean. While at Naples, a large contingent of the ship’s company attended an audience given by Pope Paul VI at Castel Gandolfo.

On 16 August Melbourne rescued a French sailor who had fallen overboard from his vessel, MV Leon RE, and spent 8 hours in the water. 

After clearing the Red Sea, Melbourne visited Mumbai, Singapore, Fremantle and Melbourne. It conducted exercises with British, French, US and Indian navies.

1980s operations and decommissioning

In February 1980 Melbourne deployed to Hawaii to take part in its last RIMPAC. It returned to Australia on 16 April. It took part in Exercise SANDGROPER 80 in Western Australian water. It left Fremantle three days later with HMA Ships Perth (II), Stalwart (II) and Supply for Southeast Asia and India on an extended ‘flag showing’ cruise. They were later joined by HMAS Derwent and HMAS Otama. They visited Christmas Island, Jakarta, Singapore, Kochi and Colombo.

In October and November, the task group conducted surveillance operations of the main shipping routes in the Southern Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The operation was known as Operation CHE SERA. The ships encountered several Soviet serveillance vessels during the deployment.

Melbourne took part in in Exercises BEACON SOUTH and BEACON COMPASS with the USN units in Western Australian waters in May. It then went to Southeast Asia and for its last overseas deployment. It conducted exercises with the USN in Manila at the end of May. It then went to the South China Sea for exercises with HMA Ships Torrens and Supply. There it came under observation by a Soviet surveillance vessel.

On the morning of 21 June, one of Melbourne’s Trackers saw an Indo-Chinese vessel with about 30 people on board. The vessel indicated it was in distress. The Tracker directed the merchant ship MV Karaka to the scene which embarked all those on board. Later that afternoon, a Tracker found another overcrowded vessel indicating distress. Torrens was dispatched to investigate. It found an unseaworthy vessel crowded with Vietnamese refugees. Melbourne embarked 99 refugees, including 19 children aged under 10. The refugees were given medical treatment, food, clothing and accommodation.

Melbourne’s supply officer, Commander John Ingram RAN, recalled:

It was a miracle that they were discovered. Just having the Tracker in that position, late in the afternoon in deteriorating light conditions. And to pick up a flare on the horizon, the last flare that they had. They had been ignored by other vessels. And to have an admiral and a captain (on board) who said, ‘investigate’... You might be in the Navy for 25 years. But you’ve got to live with your conscience all of your life... The MG99 rescue was the highlight of my career.

Melbourne arrived back in Sydney on 24 July. It took part in Exercises SEA EAGLE in September and KANGAROO in October. It returned to Sydney for the last time on 12 November 1981.

Melbourne was decommissioned on 30 June 1982. It had spent 62 036 hours underway and steamed 868 893 nautical miles.

The ship was sold in June 1984 to an Australian company for A$1.7 million, however, the sale fell through. In February 1985 it was sold to the China United Shipbuilding Co Ltd for A$1.4 million to be broken up for scrap metal in the port of Dalian, China.