- Author
- A.N. Other and NHSA Webmaster
- Subjects
- Obituaries, Biographies and personal histories, History - WW2, Post WWII
- Tags
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Cerberus (Shore Establishment), HMAS Nirimba, HMAS Canberra I, HMAS Vengeance, HMAS Vendetta I, HMAS Nizam, HMAS Tobruk I, HMAS Tarangau
- Publication
- March 1996 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Rear Admiral Bryn Mussared was born in 1917 in Semaphore SA, and entered the Navy in 1932.
On passing out from the Naval College, he was awarded ‘maximum time’ and the prizes for engineering, seamanship and navigation. In 1936 he was appointed to the RN Engineering College at Keyham, and returned to Australia to join HMAS CANBERRA in 1940.
Following the sinking of CANBERRA in the Solomon Islands in 1942, he spent time on Fleet Staff before joining HMAS VENDETTA, which was engaged in convoy duties between Townsville and New Guinea. In 1943 he was appointed Engineer Officer of HMAS NIZAM, serving firstly with the British Eastern Fleet and then the British Pacific Fleet off Japan. In 1946 he was mentioned in Despatches for distinguished service.
Following the Second World War, RADM Mussared served in HMAS TARANGAU and he met and married Betty – his wife of 48 years. He joined HMAS TOBRUK (the first post-war destroyer built in Australia) as the commissioning Engineer Officer in 1950, where his first son Philip was christened. In 1953 he was appointed to HMAS VENGEANCE. He saw active service in Korea in both TOBRUK and VENGEANCE.
RADM Mussared served as Commander of the Engineering School at HMAS CERBERUS in 1955 and the Commanding Officer of HMAS NIRIMBA in 1958, before being appointed to the staff of ANRUK in London. On return, he served as FMEO and CSO (T) on the staff of the Fleet Commander, before being promoted to Commodore and taking up the position of General Manager, Garden Island Dockyard in 1969.
Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1971, he became Project Director for the Light Destroyer Project and in 1972 went on to be the Third Naval Member and Chief of Technical Services. He was made a Companion of the British Empire in 1972 and retired in 1974.
Rear Admiral Brynmor Wheatley Mussared died on the 5th of November 1995, after a short illness.