HMAS Sydney (III)

HMAS Sydney (III) was commissioned on 5 February 1949 under the command of Captain RR Dowling DSO RAN. It was one of 2 Majestic class light aircraft carriers the Australian Government bought from the Royal Navy (RN).

Sydney sailed for Australia 12 April 1949. It had 805 Squadron (Hawker Sea Furies) and 816 Squadron (Fairey Fireflies) embarked. The voyage to Australia took approximately 4 weeks.

On 7 June 1950 Sydney sailed to England to embark two more Royal Australian Navy (RAN) air squadrons. These were 808 Squadron (Sea Furies) and 817 Squadron (Fireflies). From January to August 1951 Sydney conducted flying exercises and took part in war games in the eastern Australian exercise area.

Sydney’s first fatal deck landing crash occurred when a Firefly clipped Sydney’s island superstructure and fell overboard. The pilot, Lieutenant B Smith, was killed. The observer was rescued by HMAS Tobruk.

The Korean War

The British Admiralty asked Australia to send Sydney to Korea to relieve the RN carrier HMS Glory. Cabinet approved the request on 11 May 1951.

Sydney left for Japan, escorted by Tobruk, on 31 August 1951. Squadrons embarked were numbers 805 (Sea Furies), 808 (Sea Furies) and 817 (Fireflies). The United States Navy (USN) had also loaned Sydney a helicopter and crew for the search and rescue.

Sydney began its first patrol of the Korean War on 4 October in the western theatre. It transferred 4 days later to the east coast for special operations. On 11 October, Sydney created a light fleet carrier record by flying 89 sorties. This made a total of 147 sorties in two days of operations.

On the last patrol on the 2nd day, 12 of Sea Furies caught more than 1000 troops ‘digging in’ on the hills covering beaches. The aircraft killed or wounded some 200 of them. Sydney’s high standard of bombardment spotting was praised by US battleship USS New Jersey.

On 13 October 1951 Sydney was warned of approaching Typhoon Ruth. On the morning of 14 October, Sydney was ordered to put to sea. Sydney experienced the most intense phase of the typhoon from 5 pm to midnight. Winds exceeded 68 knots.

A Firefly aircraft, a 16-foot motor dinghy and a fork lift truck were lost overboard. Various other stores and equipment were also lost from the flight deck. Other aircraft secured on the after end of the flight deck were damaged.

On 18 October Sydney began its 2nd patrol on the west coast as part of Task Element 95.11) on the Korean west coast.

Sydney gave close air support to the Commonwealth Division attacking enemy communications. On 23 October, the carrier's aircraft searched for ditched American aviators in the northeast of Korea Bay. One Sea Fury pilot found a survivor. Towards dusk a Firefly dropped a dinghy and supplies. The man was rescued by a boat from the frigate HMAS Murchison.

On 25 October a Sea Fury piloted by Lieutenant C M Wheatley RAN was hit by flak off Chinnampo and forced down. He was rescued by helicopter and landed at Kimpo. A second Sea Fury, piloted by Lieutenant Commander J L Appleby RN, was hit while operating over the front line. The aircraft managed to reach Kimpo field. A Sea Fury crash landed on the south bank of the Han River. The pilot, Sub Lieutenant N W Knappstein RAN, was rescued by a boat from HMS Amethyst.

Operations against the enemy communications continued throughout 26 October. A flight of 5 Fireflies tried to block a railway tunnel between Chaeryong and Haeju. They missed their primary objective, but the line was cut.

One of the aircraft was forced down in a frozen rice paddy 50 miles behind enemy lines. The aviators were rescued by Sydney’s Dragonfly helicopter. The Dragonfly had flown 172 kilometres for the rescue–the limit of its range. The helicopter pilot, Chief Petty Officer Arlene ‘Dick’ Babbit USN, was awarded the Commonwealth Distinguished Service Medal and the United States Navy Cross. He was the only allied serviceman in Korea to receive the awards of two nations for the same action.

Sydney's first casualty was Lieutenant K E Clarkson RAN. Lieutenant Clarkson was killed when his aircraft failed to pull out of a strafing dive against enemy transport.

On 18 November Sydney joined Task Group 95.8, commanded by Rear Admiral A K Scott-Moncrieff DSO RN in HMS Belfast. The task group made a coordinated strike on the industrial centre of Hungnam on the east coast. Just after dawn on 20 November, the fleet guns opened fire on anti-aircraft positions. Sydney’s aircraft made 10 attacks on barracks, industrial plants, stores and rail communications. They flew more than 100 sorties during the 2-day operation. 

On 7 December Sydney lost the 2nd pilot of its complement. Sub Lieutenant R R Sinclair RAN was operating a Sea Fury northwest of Chinnampo. The aircraft was hit by flak. Sub Lieutenant Sinclair bailed out but died from injuries. Four other aircraft were hit on that day. One Sea Fury was forced to land on Paengyong-Do with its wheels up.

On 2 January 1952 the ship suffered its 3rd casualty when an aircraft piloted by Sub Lieutenant RJ Coleman RAN dived into the Yellow Sea.

Sydney left Korea on 25 January 1952. Several of its crew were decorated and all received the Imperial Korea Medal and United Nations medal. Captain Harries was later made a Commander of the British Empire for:

Devotion to duty while in command of HMAS Sydney, operating off the west coast of Korea for four months, during which time this most efficient carrier created a sortie record and consistently kept up a very high rate of sorties, which could only have been achieved by high efficiency of all hands from hard training under the supervision of Captain Harries. He displayed excellent qualities of command and leadership under conditions of great strain and bad weather, all tasks asked for were accurately carried out.

Sydney went back to Korea during the post armistice period for patrol work. It stayed in Asian waters until May 1954. Two pilots were killed during the deployment, and one member of the flight deck’s crew was seriously injured. On 29 December 1953, a Sea Fury, piloted by Sub Lieutenant M J Beardsall RN, crashed into the sea 8 miles ahead of the carrier. Sub Lieutenant J H McClinton RN died after walking into a turning aircraft propeller.

In April 1955 Sydney was redesignated the fleet training ship. Sydney hosted many drafts of naval reserves engineering sailors who joined the carrier for the seagoing component of their training.

Sydney was paid off into special reserve in Sydney on 30 May 1958. It had steamed 315 958 miles since commissioning.

Fast troop transport service

Sydney recommissioned as a fast troop transport on 7 March 1962.

Captain JP Stevenson RAN took command on 6 April. He was ordered to transport troops, equipment and aid to Malaysia as part of the Australian Army’s commitment to Confrontation.

Sydney steamed firstly to Manus Island then met elements of the First Frigate Squadron, HMA Ships Parramatta and Yarra. Parramatta and Yarra escorted Sydney to Jesselton, Borneo.

The ships maintained radar and radio silence and were darkened at night to avoid attention. Parramatta was stationed 1000 yards ahead of Sydney and Yarra 1000 yards astern. Other precautionary measure included evasive steering and the closing up of defence watches.

The ships arrived at Jesselton on 4 June. They disembarked all personnel, vehicles, stores and equipment destined for Borneo. On 15 June Sydney and Parramatta sailed to Penang where they discharged the rest of Sydney’s cargo.

Captain Stevenson reported:

the ‘Aid to Malaysia’ operation has been conducted with remarkably little difficulty although some problems arose with security, publicity and health in a hot crowded ship with poor ventilation. On the credit side the ship performed its new role better than expected and the spirits of the young men in the ship’s company, working defence watches and long hours in difficult conditions, remained very high throughout.

The Vung Tau Ferry

On 29 April 1965 the Australian Government decided to commit an infantry battalion to South Vietnam. Sydney was ordered to transport the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) to Vung Tau.

Sydney sailed on 27 May 1965, escorted by the Daring class destroyer HMAS Duchess. On 2 June they were joined by Parramatta. Two days later they met HMA Ships Melbourne, Vampire and Supply to replenish southeast of the Philippines.

As they continued across the South China Sea, Melbourne’s Wessex helicopters were deployed in a screening role. Its Gannet aircraft flew anti-submarine patrols during daylight hours and Sea Venom fighters flew sorties at dawn and at dusk. The task group entered the operational area in the early hours of 8 June 1965. Melbourne and Vampire detached, leaving Duchess and Parramatta to accompany Sydney to Cap St Jacques (Vung Tau). Sydney and its escorts anchored on 8 June. It unloaded cargo until 11 June.

On 8 March 1966 Prime Minister Harold Holt announced Australia would increase its forces in Vietnam to 4500 men. This force became known as the 1st Australian Task force (1ATF) and was based in Nui Dat, Phuoc Tuy Province.

During May and June 1966 Sydney was an integral part of Operation HARDIHOOD, the deployment of 5RAR and 6RAR to Vietnam. Two trips were completed in support of HARDIHOOD and Melbourne, already on with the Far East Strategic Reserve, was tasked as an escort. Sydney’s efforts in 1965 and 1966 were recognised with consecutive Duke of Gloucester’s Cup awards for general and operational efficiency.

Once the Australian ground forces were established in Vietnam, Sydney began a regular pattern of disembarking one battalion at Vung Tau and back loading another to return to Australia. Its escort was reduced to a single ship, but 4 Wessex MK 31A helicopters from 725 Squadron were embarked in April 1967 for anti-submarine protection.

Sydney boosted its turnaround times in Vung Tau in 1967 when it was equipped with 6 LCM Mk 6 landing craft. This enabled it to reduce unloading times to 6 hours or less. This astounded US Army port authorities, as it took merchant ships carrying a similar load of motor vehicles up to 2 weeks to discharge their cargos in Vung Tau.

Sydney made 3 trips to Vietnam in 1967, 4 in 1968, 3 in 1969 and 2 in 1970. Its busiest year was 1971 when it deployed to Vietnam 6 times.

While at anchor in Vung Tau, Australian and US ships used self-protective measures, known as Operation STABLEDOOR. These measures protected against waterborne attack. The RAN’s Operation AWKWARD routines provided an extra layer of protection against enemy sappers. This included posting armed upper deck sentries, lookouts, waterborne patrols and sweeps of the hull and anchor cables by ship’s diving teams. Underwater scare charges were also used to deter enemy swimmers.

By late 1971 Australian forces were withdrawing from Vietnam. Sydney shifted from rotating infantry battalions to bringing them home. In Vung Tau on 8 December 1971 Sydney embarked 4 RAR, the final battalion group, together with 104 Field Battery and 9 Squadron RAAF with its 16 Iroquois helicopters. The South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu flew on board to thank the Australian forces for their service. Sydney fired a 21-gun salute as the president departed.

Australia’s combat role in South Vietnam ended in March 1972 when Sydney brought home the last combat elements. Sydney returned to Vung Tau for a final visit in November 1972, when it delivered a cargo of defence aid for Vietnam and Cambodia.

On 12 November 1973 the ship decommissioned. It had steamed 395 591 miles as a fast troop transport. Since first commissioning in 1948, it had steamed 711 549 miles.

Sydney was sold for scrap to the Dongkuk Steel Mill Company Limited of Seoul on 28 October 1975. The former aircraft carrier and fast troop transport left Sydney under tow on 23 December 1975.