Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN} is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Established in 1909, the RAN was formed out of the Commonwealth Naval Forces, the small navy of Australia after federation, which consisted of the colonial navies of the new Australian states. The Royal Navy continued to provide blue water defence in the Pacific until World War Two, when expansion of the RAN saw the acquisition of aircraft carriers, and other large surface vessels.

History

See also: Military history of Australia

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Formation

Prior to the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia, each self-governing colony in Australia retained its own naval force. These usually consisted of naval gunboats for coastal defence of harbours and rivers. The Royal Navy continued to provide blue water defence of Australia, as it had since 1788. After federation of Australia in 1901, the Commonwealth Naval Forces was formed. The Commonwealth government paid for the Royal Navy to continue providing blue water defence.

Related Topics:
Royal Navy - Federation - 1901

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A growing number of people, among them Captain William Rooke Creswell, the director of the Commonwealth Naval Forces, demanded an autonomous Australian navy, financed and controlled by Australia. In 1909 Creswell represented Australia at the Imperial Conferences, convened to settle the question of naval defences, and won his campaign for an Australian Navy. His name lives on as the name of base, HMAS Creswell, the site of the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay.

Related Topics:
William Rooke Creswell - 1909 - Royal Australian Naval College - Jervis Bay

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The first Australian warship, the destroyer HMAS Parramatta, was launched at Govan in Scotland on Wednesday 9 February 1910 and its sister ship HMAS Yarra, was launched at Dumbarton in Scotland on Saturday 9 April 1910. Both ships were commissioned into the Royal Navy on Monday 19 September 1910 and sailed for Australia. They arrived at Port Phillip on Saturday December 10 1910 and, as they passed through The Rip, Engineer Lieutenant Commander W. Robertson, RN, was washed overboard from Parramatta and drowned.

Related Topics:
Destroyer - HMAS ''Parramatta'' - Govan - Scotland - 9 February - 1910 - HMAS ''Yarra'' - Dumbarton - 9 April - 19 September - Port Phillip - December 10 - The Rip

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In October 1911 King George V fixed his signature to the approval for the Royal Australian Navy and the ships now officially received the prefix "His Majesty's Australian Ship" (HMAS). The manpower of the fleet stood at four hundred officers and men and, for the next two years, ships were built for the fledgling navy. On Saturday 4 October 1913 the first fleet review of the Royal Australian Navy took place, the battle cruiser HMAS Australia, the cruisers HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Sydney, the protected cruiser HMAS Encounter and the torpedo boat destroyers HMAS Parramatta, HMAS Yarra and HMAS Warrego, entered Sydney Harbour.

Related Topics:
1911 - King George V - 4 October - 1913 - Battle cruiser - HMAS ''Australia'' - HMAS ''Melbourne'' - HMAS ''Sydney'' - HMAS ''Encounter'' - HMAS ''Warrego'' - Sydney Harbour

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World War One

In 1914, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, bringing the whole British Empire into war, including Australia. The war was greeted with enthusiasm in Australia, and over 200,000 troops were deployed to Africa for campaigns in Gallipoli. RAN ships helped provide naval cover for the ambitious landings on the Turkish beaches. The RAN also contributed, under the command of the Royal Navy in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The first RAN victory of the war occurred when the battle cruiser, HMAS Sydney sank the German light cruiser, Emden off the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. RAN ships also played a part in capturing German colonies in the Pacific.

Related Topics:
1914 - Gallipoli - Battle cruiser - HMAS ''Sydney'' - ''Emden'' - Cocos Islands - Indian Ocean

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World War II

Australia declared war on Nazi Germany, days after the United Kingdom's declaration of war in September 1939. At the onset of war in 1939, the RAN numbered two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, five destroyers, three sloops and a variety of support and ancillary craft. Initially, the RAN was deployed in the Mediterranean against the Italians, with the light cruiser HMAS Sydney sinking the Italian cruiser, Bartolomeo Colleoni and helping sink, Espero. The Sydney would later be sunk herself to much controversy after a battle with the Kormoran, a German cruiser.

Related Topics:
Mediterranean - Light cruiser - HMAS ''Sydney'' - ''Kormoran''

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After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the RAN redeployed to home waters to protect British colonies in the Pacific, as well as the Australian mainland from Japanese attack. The RAN took part in the Battles at Java Sea, Sunda Strait, Coral Sea, Savo Island and Lingayen Gulf. Overall over 30 ships were lost in the war, the costliest in RAN history.

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Aircraft carriers

Following World War II, the RAN reduced its surface fleet but continued to expand in other ways, acquiring two Royal Navy Majestic class aircraft carriers then under construction (HMS Majestic and HMS Terrible) to build up a fleet air arm division. The first to be commissioned into the RAN in 1948 was Terrible, taking the name of the RAN's two most famous ships, HMAS Sydney. Sydney saw action in the Korean War, and later in a converted role as a transport ship in Vietnam, affectionately known at the time as "The Vung Tau Ferry". Majestic, although the name ship of the class, was not as near completion at the end of the war as Terrible and the RAN decided to have her construction completed with the latest Royal Navy carrier innovations of the time - the angled flight deck and a mirror landing aid. Commissioned as HMAS Melbourne she entered into RAN service in 1956, and provided fixed-wing capability to the fleet until her decommissioning in 1982. Melbourne was sold to China for scrap and broken up in Shanghai.

Related Topics:
HMAS Sydney - Korean War - Vietnam - HMAS Melbourne

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Roles in post-war conflicts

With the retreat of British forces west of the Suez Canal in the 1960s, the RAN began to take a more defensive role, and in co-operation with the United States, allied though the ANZUS treaty. The RAN saw service in many of the world's post war conflicts including Korea, Vietnam, and the Indonesian Confrontation. RAN ships also served in the first Gulf War, and later in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Related Topics:
Suez Canal - ANZUS - Korea - Vietnam - Indonesian Confrontation - Gulf War - 2003 invasion of Iraq

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