On This Day
1940 > WW2
On This Day - 1940
- April 19, 1940
HMAS Sydney joined the escort of Anzac convoy US 2 off Albany, and remained with the convoy until it reached the Cocos Island on 28 April and was replaced by French cruiser Suffren
- April 13, 1940
HMAS SWAN, (sloop), intercepted the Norwegian ship SOLHEIM off Fremantle, and escorted the vessel into port.
HMAS HOBART, (cruiser), intercepted the Danish merchant vessel AFRIKA between Colombo and Aden. A prize crew steamed the ship to Colombo.
- April 12, 1940
HMAS WESTRALIA captured Norwegian steamer FERNLANE (4310grt) north of Australia and sent her under a prize crew to Singapore.
HMAS MANOORA intercepted the Norwegian tanker HARBOR, and escorted her to Darwin.- April 9, 1940
AB A. Kennedy, RAN, survived the sinking of the destroyer HMS GURKHA by dive bombers off Norway. Kennedy was the only Australian in the crew.
- April 8, 1940
The Grimbsy type escort sloop HMAS PARRAMATTA, (LCDR J.H. Walker, RAN), was commissioned. PARRAMATTA was laid down at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 9 November 1938, and launched on 18 June 1939. Mrs G.A. Street, (wife of the Federal Minister for Defence), performed the launching ceremony.
HMAS VAMPIRE, (destroyer), took off the crew of the tanker BRITISH LORD, which had been disabled by German bombers north of Crete. The tanker was then safely towed safely to the port of Gavdhos.
HMS GLOWWORM, (destroyer), was sunk in a gallant but one sided fight against the German cruiser HIPPER, off the coast of Norway. AB R.E. Bampton, an RAN rating, was among those who lost his life when GLOWWORM was sunk.
- March 31, 1940
HMAS PERTH arrived at Sydney. She had departed the Caribbean on 2 March 1940 and passed through the Panama Canal on 3 March 1940.
- March 27, 1940
HMAS STUART, (destroyer), salvaged the tanker TROCAS in heavy seas in the Mediterranean.
- March 24, 1940
Volunteers from ships of Australia’s “Scrap Iron Flotilla”, in the Mediterranean, embarked on a mission to block the Danube River at a feature known as the Iron Gates. The operation was planned by DNI from a suggestion made by LCDR M. Minshall, RNVR, who had voyaged down the river on an intelligence mission shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. Coordinator for the operation was LCDR Ian Fleming, creator of the fictional hero James Bond. LCDR Fleming smuggled 14 tons of explosives across Europe on the Orient Express. The operation was discovered by German agents before the RAN-manned barges reached the target. In the withdrawal one barge loaded with explosives was detonated beneath a railway viaduct. All Australian members of the Commando-style mission succeeded in returning to their ships.
- March 15, 1940
HMS KANIMBLA, largely manned by the RAN, seized Soviet steamer VLADIMIR MAIAKOVSKY (3972grt) in the Sea of Japan and took her into control because she was carrying a cargo of copper from the United States to Germany
- March 14, 1940
HMS RAMILLIES, (battleship), was refitted at Garden Island Naval Dockyard, Sydney.
A. G. Cameron was appointed to the post of Australian Minister for the Navy.