Sunday February 10 will mark the 55th anniversary of the loss of 82 officers, sailors and a dock-yard worker when the four thousand ton Daring Class Destroyer, HMAS Voyager was sliced in two following collision with the Flagship of the Australian Fleet, the twenty thousand ton aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne at 2055 hours some twenty miles off Jervis Bay.
This was the worst peace time disaster to befall the Royal Australian Navy. HMAS Melbourne (Captain John Robertson RAN) was engaged in aircraft “fly-on, fly-off” with aircraft from the Naval Air-Station HMAS Albatross at Nowra. HMAS Voyager (Captain Duncan Stevens RAN) was her destroyer escort for the recovery of air-crew from aircraft crashing attempting to land on Melbourne. Both ships were steaming at about twenty knots when Voyager was ordered by Melbourne to take up position astern of Melbourne. This order would see Voyager make a starboard turn and come up about a mile astern of Melbourne. Voyager commenced this starboard turn before coming back to mid-ships and then started the fatal turn to port. The Bridge officers on Melbourne expected Voyager to swing back to starboard but to their alarm, Voyager raced, on course, to take her under the bow of Melbourne. Melbourne’s Navigating Officer ordered “engines half astern” and within seconds, Robertson, Melbourne’s Commanding Officer ran onto the bridge and ordered “stop all engines”, “full astern all engines”. Within three seconds of time, Voyager slid under the bow’s of Melbourne and was cut in two just forward of Voyagers bridge. Eighty two officers, sailors and a dockyard worker from Garden Island, Sydney, gave their lives in the service of the proud, Royal Australian Navy.
The Clarence Valley Naval & Mariners Association will conduct a Memorial Service at the Maclean War Memorial, at 1100, Sunday February 10. We invite all former Naval men & women and all serving or former Merchant Navy personnel and members of the public to join them to remember those who lost their lives.
Roger Jones