%2c_HMAS_Voyager_(D04)_and_HMAS_Vendetta_(D08)_underway%2c_circa_in_1959_(AWM_301014).jpg) HMASVoyager alongsideHMAS Melbourne andHMAS Vendetta in 1959 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia | |
| Builder | Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company |
| Laid down | 10 October 1949 |
| Launched | 1 May 1952 |
| Commissioned | 12 February 1957 |
| Motto | "Quo Fata Vocant" (Where Fate Calls) |
| Honours & awards | Seveninherited battle honours |
| Fate | Sank following collision on 10 February 1964 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Daring-classdestroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 390 ft (120 m) |
| Beam | 43 ft (13 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × Foster Wheeler boilers, 2 × English Electric geared steam turbines, two shafts, 54,000 hp |
| Speed | 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range | 3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 20 officers, 300 sailors |
| Armament |
|
| Notes | Taken from:[1] |
HMASVoyager was aDaring-classdestroyer of theRoyal Australian Navy (RAN), that was lost in acollision in 1964.
Constructed between 1949 and 1957,Voyager was the first ship of her class to enter Australian service, and the first all-welded ship to be built in Australia. During her career,Voyager was deployed to theFar East Strategic Reserve on six occasions, but neverfired a shot in anger.
During the night of 10 February 1964,Voyager and theaircraft carrierHMAS Melbourne collided offJervis Bay, when the destroyer passed in front of the carrier during post-refitsea trials.Voyager was cut in two by the collision, sinking with the loss of 82 of the 314 people aboard. This was the largest loss of Australian military personnel in peacetime, and the subsequent investigations resulted in the holding of twoRoyal Commissions—the only time in Australian history this has occurred.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) initially ordered fourDaring-classdestroyers, which were to be named after the ships of the "Scrap Iron Flotilla" of World War II.[2] The ships were modified during construction: most changes were made to improve habitability, including the installation of air-conditioning.[2]
Voyager waslaid down by theCockatoo Docks and Engineering Company atSydney, New South Wales on 10 October 1949.[3] She waslaunched on 1 May 1952 byDame Pattie Menzies, wife of the prime minister.[3]Voyager wascommissioned on 12 February 1957—she was the first ship of the RAN commissioned as'Her' Majesty's Australian Ship.[1][3] She was the first all-welded ship to be constructed in Australia.[4] During construction the cost ofVoyager nearly tripled toAU£7 million.[4]
Voyager was armed with six 4.5-inch (114 mm) Mark V guns in three doubleturrets ("A" and "B" turret before the bridge, "X" turret on the aftsuperstructure), sixBofors 40 mm guns in three twin mounts (one each side on the forward superstructure, the third on the aft superstructure behind the rearfunnel), two 5-tube 21-inch (533 mm) Petand torpedo launchers (located between the forward and aft superstructure), and oneLimbo anti-submarine mortar (located near the stern).[1]Voyager's armament differed from the other two AustralianDarings,Vendetta andVampire: the latter ships were equipped with two single Bofors on the forward superstructure, and two twin Bofors on the aft superstructure.[1]
AsVoyager was the first ship of her class in Australian service, she underwent an extensive program ofsea trials after commissioning, which lasted until September.[1] During the late stages of the trials,Voyager was damaged in a heavy storm, and on her return to Sydney, she was docked for repairs and maintenance until early January 1958.[1][3] After re-entering service,Voyager andHMAS Warramunga were assigned on 13 January to theFar East Strategic Reserve (FESR).[1]Voyager returned on 1 September 1958, and entered a refit and leave period two days later, which lasted until 27 January 1959.[5]
Following the refit, the destroyer was involved in a "Shop Window" exercise on 20 February—a day-long fleet exercise used to demonstrate RAN capabilities to politicians and media.[1] On 3 March, the ship was assigned again to the FESR, and sailed for Singapore via South and Western Australia.[1] While still off the northern coast of Western Australia,Voyager was involved in aSouth East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) joint naval exercise.[1] On 30 April, burst tubes in the "B" boiler damaged the ship, forcing her to limp to Hong Kong for six weeks of repairs.[1] Over 300 sections of tubing had to be replaced in both boilers, with the cause of the damage confirmed to be oil contamination of the boilers' feed water.[1] After repairs were completed on 15 June,Voyager sailed to Australia and underwent refit in Victoria.[5]
In late 1959,Voyager was sent to the Far East for a two-and-a-half-month deployment.[3] On 20 October,Voyager and her two sister ships operated together for the first time, and were officially designated the 9th Destroyer Squadron.[1] A few days later, the Squadron was assigned to escort the aircraft carrierHMAS Melbourne during a cruise to New Zealand, with the ships returning to Sydney on 4 December;Voyager immediately entering a maintenance and leave period.[1]
Voyager's operations in 1960 began with a promotional visit toPort Kembla, New South Wales in late January, before participating in exercises with ships of the RAN andRoyal New Zealand Navy (RNZN).[1] On 28 March,Voyager and the carrierMelbourne departed for the FESR.[1] En route, water tubes in "B" boiler burst again, although the damage was less severe than in the previous year.[1] The destroyer was made to collect replacements in Singapore before sailing to Hong Kong to have them installed before the start of SEATO exercise Sea Lion in May.[1]Voyager returned to Sydney via the west and south coasts of Australia in late June, and immediately entered a refit, which included restructuring of her bridge area.[1] The refit was concluded on 14 November, and after working-up exercises and a short period of Christmas leave for the ships' company, departed on 28 December withHMAS Quickmatch for another FESR deployment.[1][6]
Upon arriving in Singapore on 11 January 1961,Voyager andQuickmatch were assigned as escorts for the British aircraft carrierHMS Hermes.[1] The three ships were meant to sail toSubic Bay for joint exercises with theUnited States Navy, but these were cancelled while en route.[1]Voyager andQuickmatch were ordered to Bangkok for a goodwill visit at the end of January, with the two ships performing a Shop Window exercise forRoyal Thai Navy officers.[1] After rejoining the FESR,Voyager was deployed to the Indian Ocean for SEATO Exercise Jet 61, which involved 25 ships from severalCommonwealth navies.[1] After participating in several other exercises,Voyager returned to Australia, escorting the carrierMelbourne as far asTownsville, Queensland before sailing to Jervis Bay and rendezvousing with nine RAN ships, two RN submarines, and three small military watercraft for a ceremonial entry to Sydney Harbour on 15 June.[1] On 19 June, the ship commenced a refit which lasted until 1 November.[1] On completion,Voyager was involved in a training exercise with other RAN, RN, and RNZN ships, and visited New Zealand before returning to Sydney on 8 December for Christmas leave.[1]
Voyager left dock on 11 January 1962, before joining the carrierMelbourne and the frigateQueenborough for a deployment to the FESR.[1] During this deployment,Voyager participated in several SEATO exercises, became the first RAN ship to visitTacloban City in the Philippines, made multiple port visits to Japan, and cast awreath inLingayen Gulf to remember those killed bykamikaze attacks aboard the World War II heavy cruiserHMAS Australia.[1][7]Voyager arrived back in Sydney on 21 June.[7] The destroyer underwent refits until early October, participated in SEATO Exercise Seascape later that month, visited Fremantle for the1962 Commonwealth Games in November, and returned to Sydney for maintenance in December.[1][7]
Voyager started 1963 with work-up exercises in Jervis Bay, before departing on her sixth visit to the FESR on 31 January, in the company of sister shipVampire.[1] The Australian ships participated in SEATO Exercise Sea Serpent in late April and early May.[7] The twoDarings returned to Sydney on 3 August.[7]Voyager then sailed toWilliamstown Naval Dockyard in Victoria for a major refit, which lasted from 12 August to 31 December.[7] The destroyer returned to Sydney on 25 January 1964, then proceeded to Jervis Bay on 7 February.[7]
On 10 February 1964,Voyager was performing trials off Jervis Bay, under the command of CaptainDuncan Stevens, following the Williamstown refit.[8] The aircraft carrierHMAS Melbourne, under the command of Captain John Robertson, was also undergoing post-refit trials off Jervis Bay.[8] The trials involved interactions between both ships, and whenMelbourne performed night flying exercises that evening,Voyager acted as the carrier'splane guard escort.[8] This requiredVoyager to maintain a position 20° offMelbourne's port quarter at a distance from the carrier of 1,500 to 2,000 yards (1,400 to 1,800 m).[9]
During the early part of the evening,Voyager had no difficulties maintaining her position during the manoeuvres both ships performed.[9] Following a series of turns intended to reverse the courses of both ships beginning at 8:40 pm,Voyager ended up to starboard ofMelbourne.[9] At 8:52 pm,Voyager was ordered to resume the plane guard station.[10] The procedure to accomplish this requiredVoyager to turn away fromMelbourne in a large circle, cross the carrier's stern, then take position offMelbourne's port side.[10] Instead,Voyager first turned to starboard, away fromMelbourne, then turned to port without warning.[10] It was initially assumed byMelbourne's bridge crew thatVoyager was conducting a series of tight turns to lose speed before swinging behindMelbourne, butVoyager did not alter course again.[11]
At 8:55 pm, withVoyager still turning to port,Melbourne's navigator ordered the carrier's engines to half astern speed, with Robertson ordering an increase to full astern a few seconds later.[11] At the same time, Stevens, returning toVoyager's bridge from the nearby chart table, gave the order "Full ahead both engines. Hard a-starboard.", before instructing the destroyer's Quartermaster to announce that a collision was imminent.[11] Both ships' measures were too late to avoid a collision;Melbourne hitVoyager at 8:56 pm.[12]
Melbourne struck just aft ofVoyager's bridge structure, rolling the destroyer to starboard before cutting her in half.[13]Voyager's forward boiler exploded, briefly setting fire to the bow of the carrier before it was extinguished by seawater.[13] The destroyer's forward section sank quickly, due to the weight of the two 4.5-inch (110 mm) gun turrets.[14] The aft section did not begin sinking until half an hour after the collision, and did not completely submerge until just after midnight.[15] Messages were sent to the Fleet Headquarters in Sydney immediately after the collision, although staff in Sydney initially underestimated the extent of the damage toVoyager.[16]Melbourne launched her boats almost immediately after the collision to recover survivors, and the carrier's wardroom and C Hangar were prepared for casualties.[17] At 9:58 pm,Melbourne was informed that search-and-rescue boats fromHMAS Creswell, helicopters fromHMAS Albatross (Naval Air Station Nowra), and fiveTon-class minesweepers had been despatched to assist in the search.[18]
Of the 314 personnel aboardVoyager at the time of the collision, 14 officers and 67 sailors were killed, including Stevens and all but two of the bridge crew.[19] A civilian dockyard worker also lost his life.[16] The wreck of the destroyer lies in 600 fathoms (1,100 m) of water, 20 nautical miles (37 km) fromPoint Perpendicular on a bearing of 120°.[1]
ARoyal Commission into theevents of the collision was held in 1964, and found that whileVoyager was primarily at fault for neglecting to maintain an effective lookout and awareness of the larger ship's location,Melbourne's bridge crew was also at fault for failing to alertVoyager and not taking measures to avoid the collision.[20] The Royal Commission and its aftermath were poorly handled, and following pressure from the public, media and politicians, combined with revelations byVoyager's former executive officer that Stevens may have been unfit for command, a second Royal Commission was opened in 1967.[21][22] This is the only time in Australian history that two Royal Commissions have been held for a single incident.[23] The second commission found that Stevens was medically unfit for command, and that some of the findings of the first Royal Commission were therefore based on incorrect assumptions.[24]
Chief Petty OfficerJonathan Rogers was posthumously awarded theGeorge Cross for his actions during the sinking.[25] Recognising that he was too large to fit through the escape hatch, he organised the evacuation of those who could escape, then led those stuck in the compartment in prayers and hymns as they died.
PosthumousAlbert Medals for Lifesaving were awarded to Midshipman Kerry Marien and Electrical Mechanic William Condon for their actions in saving otherVoyager personnel at the cost of their own lives.[26][27] The awards were listed in the 19 March 1965 issue of theLondon Gazette, along with oneGeorge Medal, fiveBritish Empire Medals for Gallantry, and threeQueen's Commendations for Brave Conduct forVoyager personnel.[27]
Memorial parks were established atHuskisson, New South Wales andEast Hills, New South Wales.[1] The latter park became part of the suburb ofVoyager Point, New South Wales, which was originally an estate in East Hills accommodating the spouses and children of RAN personnel. Memorials were also erected at the RAN training establishmentHMAS Cerberus and theDevonport Maritime Museum.[1] A memorial plaque is dedicated to the Tasmanian officers and men lost with HMASVoyager at theTasmanian Seafarers' Memorial atTriabunna on the east coast of Tasmania, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north-east of Hobart.[28]
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1964 | |
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| Other incidents |
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