Today we remember and commemorate the loss of HMAS Vampire and pay tribute to those of her ship’s company who lost their lives. They arrived at Alexandria on the 16th. Something broke in Spaulding in 1964, and broke again when HMAS Melbourne crew members were spat at in the street and called ‘‘murderers’’, and again when the aircraft carrier was wrongly blamed for the loss of 82 HMAS Voyager lives, and again when the Australian government fought survivor compensation claims for decades. HMAS Voyager: loss of 82 lives David Forster, the solicitor alleged to have overcharged victims of the Melbourne-Voyager naval disaster, is fighting off receivers and the Bureau de Spank in a protracted struggle that so far has chewed up $1.5 million in costs. The first all-welded ship built in Australia, Voyager was laid down by Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney on 10 October 1949, launched on 1 May 1952, and commissioned into the RAN on 12 February 1957. ... HMAS Voyager was detached on the 14th with orders to proceed to Alexandria with HMAS Waterhen. On February 10th, 1964, the HMAS Voyager bungled a routine exercise and passed under the bows of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. CPO Stoker R.E. HMAS Australia survey shows wreck in 3-D for the first time Media release: 14 October 2013. The survivors were ordered to abandon ship after which she was sunk by gun and torpedo fire from HMS York. Ruper Cowper Robison, DSC, RAN) was landing a Dutch / Australian guerilla force at the time of her loss. Hellier was posted to sea on the navy frigate HMAS Quiberon and remained in … Survivors of the HMAS Voyager (II) collision and sinking gather at the Shrine of Remembrance in Victoria to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the loss of 82 lives, when the vessel collided with HMAS Melbourne (II) off the coast of Jervis Bay NSW. At 390 feet (120 m) in length, Voyager displaced 2,800 tons (standard), and had a maximum speed of 33 kn (61 km/h). HMAS Voyager arrived in Betano Bay and anchored half an hour before sunset on 23 September 1942. The first all-welded ship built in Australia, Voyager was laid down by Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney on 10 October 1949, launched on 1 May 1952, and commissioned into the RAN on 12 February 1957. These vessels were originally designed as anti-submarine craft but their high speed and manoeuvrability made them ideal as search and rescue vessels. Flowers and rosemary leaves were sprinkled onto the waves off Jervis Bay on Monday in the place where, a kilometre below, the wreck of HMAS Voyager rests. The Voyager was sliced in two and sunk with the loss of 82 men. 64 talking about this. MORE than 43 years have passed since Australias worst peacetime naval disaster, but survivors of the crash between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager are still fighting the Government for compensation. HMAS VAMPIRE (1) with camouflage scheme 1940. Helicopters from the RAN air station, HMAS Albatross, rescued four exhausted survivors, whilst Vendetta carried on searching until late in the weekend, when all hope of finding further survivors had evaporated. 23rd - Joined Fleet units off Crete with HMAS STUART and HMAS VOYAGER and took part in search for survivors from HM Cruisers GLOUCESTER and FIJI which were sunk in air attacks on 22nd May. The crew of the Melbourne recovered survivors from the water and the after section of the Voyager. Two Sea Venom fighters from the naval air base at Nowra were attempting a ‘touch and go’ landing on the carrier’s flight deck. HMAS Voyager was the first of three Australian-built Daring-class destroyers. Two RAN search and rescue boats, HMAS Air Nymph and HMAS Air Sprite, set out from shore establishment HMAS Creswell, and the crews succeeded in rescuing 70 men. Once the survivors were on board the Melbourne, they started treating the survivors, many of whom had steam burns. 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. Scuttled off Timor, in position 09º15'S, 125º45'E after being damaged by a Japanese air attack. To make the most of the fading light, the troops were ordered to disembark immediately. HMAS Voyager was the first of three Australian-built Daring class destroyers. A large contingent of survivors embarked at Port Kembla for passage to where VOYAGER lies, 20 miles south east of Point Perpendicular. Lord Voyager survivors were given a mere seven days survivor’s leave before being given new postings. Introduction. 25 Topics 42 Posts Sat 16 Jan 2016, 01:28 Rafts were thrown in the water for the survivors. Transferred to Australia and commissioned into the R.A.N. The 590 survivors of Vampire and Hermes were rescued by the merchant ship VITA and were landed in Colombo. After service in east Australian waters, VOYAGER departed Sydney for the Far East on 28 March 1960, returning to Sydney on 22 June for refit. Ultimately, it may be too little too late for many of his ageing former clients. 24th - Returned to Alexandria. 22 Topics 33 Posts Mon 15 Feb 2016, 05:54 Admin ; Sick Bay Sick Bay area to post information on health issues of shipmates and thier families. During her career, Voyager was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve on six occasions, but never fired a shot in anger. HMAS Voyager was the first of three Australian-built Daring class destroyers. Sophisticated multi-beam sonar technology has been used to create up-to-date images of the shipwreck of HMAS Australia, once the flagship of the Royal Australian Naval Fleet, Director of Heritage Division at NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) Tracey Avery announced today. A memorial church service was held at HMAS Creswell on Sunday 9 February 2014, for over 100 families and survivors of the tragic collision on 10 February 1964 between HMAS Voyager (II) and HMAS Melbourne (II) which resulted in the loss of 82 lives. This was published 1 year ago. This would prove to be a fatal mistake for the Voyager; within minutes it was realised that a strong tidal current was pushing the ship parallel to the shore. Sure Frank - nobody would think to check. The HMAS Melbourne at sea off NSW following a collision with the destroyer HMAS Voyager on the night of Feb. 10, 1964. On the evening of 10 February 1964, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, flagship of the Royal Australian Navy, and the Daring-class destroyer HMAS Voyager were conducting a night exercise to the south-east of Jervis Bay. We remember: Commander W.A.T. This forum also contains all information for the Services and/or Reunions and Memorial Services for HMAS Voyager 50th Anniversary. "It was an organised chaos." On the evening of February 10 1964, Australia's worst peacetime naval disaster occurred, when the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with the destroyer HMAS Voyager. The collision of HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager remains the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) worst peacetime disaster.Occurring off the New South Wales coast in 1964, the aircraft carrier Melbourne and destroyer Voyager were engaged in night flying exercises when Voyager inexplicably … He also stated that he was a survivor of the HMAS V OYAGER tragedy, when the Voyager was cut in half and sunk by the HMAS Melbourne off Jervis Bay during exercises on 10 February 1964, with the tragic loss of 82 lives. HMAS Voyager was a Daring class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), that was lost in a collision in 1964. Medal - Bomber Command Medal - Hazardous Service medal [Atomic Veterans Association] - HMAS "Voyager" Survivors Medal - HMAS "Voyager" Rescuers Medal - 40th Anniversary, end of Korean War Medal - Front Line Infantry Service Medal - Gallipoli Star … HMAS Voyager (Lt.Cdr. Completed as HMS Voyager on 24 June 1918. By MIDN Mollie Burns, RAN – NEOC 54 Naval Historical Society Prizewinning Essay. Moran, RAN. VOYAGER remained at Sydney and in Australian waters until 10 November 1959 when she proceeded in company of HMAS MELBOURNE to New Zealand returning to Australia in early December 1959. on 11 October 1933. The HMAS Voyager Survivors Association, in memory of those that served upon her and those that were lost in 1964. LIST OF OTHER COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS Tobruk Service Medal - Dunkirk Veterans Medal - Somme Commemorative medal - Belgium Medal - B.C.O.F. (9) 28 Mar 1941 Battle of Cape Matapan. The first all-welded ship built in Australia, Voyager was laid down by Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney on 10 October 1949, launched on 1 May 1952, and commissioned into the RAN on 12 February 1957. The ship did, however, recover four bodies from the sea. Sunday, 10 February 1991 marked the 27th Anniversary of the loss of HMAS VOYAGER. HMAS Air Sprite was the last of 21 air/sea rescue (ASR) vessels originally built in the USA and Canada between 1943 and 1945, and transferred to the RAN under the Lend-Lease Agreement. February 10 next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the sinking of HMAS Voyager off Jervis Bay. From the Archives, 1964: Hope Fades for 85 Missing Men The collision of HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager is the Royal Australian Navy's worst peacetime disaster. Chaplain Whealdon performed a memorial service over the VOYAGER wreck, concluding with a wreath laying ceremony.