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County class Royal Australian Navy cruiser

HMAS Australia (I84/D84/C01) was a County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of two Kent subclass ships ordered for the RAN in 1924, Australia was laid down in Scotland in 1925, and entered service in 1928. Apart from an exchange deployment to the Mediterranean from 1934 to 1936, during which she became involved in the planned British response to the Abyssinia Crisis, Australia operated in local and South West Pacific waters until World War II began. The cruiser remained near Australia until mid 1940, when she was deployed for duties in the eastern Atlantic, including hunts for German ships and participation in Operation Menace. During 1941, Australia operated in home and Indian Ocean waters, but was reassigned as flagship of the ANZAC Squadron in early 1942. As part of this force (which was later redesignated Task Force 44, then Task Force 74), Australia operated in support of United States naval and amphibious operations throughout South East Asia until the start of 1945, including involvement in the battles at the Coral Sea and Savo Island, the amphibious landings at Guadalcanal and Leyte Gulf, and numerous actions during the New Guinea campaign. She was forced to withdraw following a series of kamikaze attacks during the invasion of Lingayen Gulf. The prioritisation of shipyard work in Australia for British Pacific Fleet vessels saw the Australian cruiser sail to England for repairs, where she was at the end of the war. During the late 1940s, Australia served with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, and participated in several port visits to other nations, before being retasked as a training ship in 1950. The cruiser was decommissioned in 1954, and sold for scrapping in 1955.

Australia was one of seven warships built to the Kent design of County class heavy cruiser, which were based on design work by Eustace Tennyson D'Eyncourt. The propulsion machinery consisted of eight Yarrow superheated boilers feeding Curtis high pressure and Parsons low pressure geared turbines. Secondary armament consisted of four guns in four single mounts, with 200 shells per gun, and four 2 pounder pom poms for anti aircraft defence, with 1,000 rounds each. These were replaced in late 1943 by seven single 20mm Oerlikons. As the aircraft catapult was not installed until September 1935, the Seagull was initially lowered into the water by the ship's recovery crane to launch under its own power. She was laid down by John Brown and Company at their shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, on 26 August 1925. The cruiser was launched on 17 March 1927 by Dame Mary Cook, wife of Sir Joseph Cook, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and former Australian Prime Minister. The funnel design was subsequently lengthened by 15 feet (5 m); the taller funnels on the under construction were later switched over to Australia as she neared completion. On 26 July 1927, it was decided to use the Coat of arms of Australia as the basis for the badge, with the shield bearing the symbols of the six states and the Federation Star crest depicted in the design. No motto was given to the ship, but when the badge design was updated prior to the planned 1983 acquisition of the British aircraft carrier (which was to be renamed HMAS Australia), the motto from the battlecruiser, "Endeavour", was added. Australia and sister ship (also constructed by John Brown) were the only County class vessels built in Scotland. During the voyage, the cruiser visited Canada, the United States of America, several Pacific islands, and New Zealand before she reached Sydney on 23 October. In 1932, Australia cruised to the Pacific islands. Following the outbreak of the Abyssinian crisis, Australia began to train for a potential war. Australias initial role in any British assault on the Italian Navy was to cover the withdrawal of the aircraft carrier after an air attack on the base at Taranto. They arrived in Sydney on 11 August. Although the modernisation was scheduled for completion in March 1939, inconsistencies between Australias construction and the supplied drawings caused delays. The cruiser was recommissioned on 28 August, but did not leave the dockyard until 28 September. From 10 to 20 January 1940, Australia was part of the escort for Anzac convoy US 1 as it proceeded from Sydney to Fremantle, then sailed with it to the edge of the Australia Station en route to Colombo, before returning to Fremantle. On arrival, Australia relieved as the cruiser assigned to the western coast until 6 February, when she was in turn relieved by and returned to the east coast. On 12 May, Australia and Canberra left Fremantle to escort Anzac convoy US 3 to Cape Town. After arriving on 31 May, the two ships were offered for service under the Royal Navy; Australia was accepted for service in European waters, although she spent most of June escorting ship around southern and western Africa. On 3 July, Australia and the carrier were ordered to sail to Dakar, where the cruiser was shadowing the French battleship Richelieu and preparing to deny her use to the Vichy French if required. The Australian cruiser left Dakar on 9 July, and caught up to an England bound convoy two days later. At the start of September, Australia was assigned to Operation Menace (the Allied effort to install the Free French in Vichy controlled Dakar) as a replacement for the torpedoed British cruiser On the morning of 19 September, shortly after relieving on patrol off Dakar, Australia located three French cruisers, which she and Cumberland began to shadow until losing sight in the dark. One of the French ships, the cruiser Gloire suffered engine troubles and turned back to Konakri, encountering Australia shortly after. The two ships remained together until the morning of 21 September, when Gloires captain promised his opposite on Australia that the French ship would complete the voyage unescorted, and the Australian cruiser sailed to intercept the main body of the Allied fleet, which was met the next day. That afternoon, Australia and the British destroyers and engaged the French destroyer L'Audacieux, setting her on fire. On 25 September, Australia and shelled French ships anchored at Dakar. Operation Menace was abandoned as a failure on 26 September, and Australia was ordered to return to the United Kingdom two days later. During early October, Australia escorted a group of troop transports returning from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom. The ship was damaged during an air raid the following night: the blast from a bomb landing near the port side cracked several scuttles and damaged the catapult. On 22 January, after handing the convoy over to off Mombasa, the cruiser joined the unsuccessful search for the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. The cruiser then escorted Convoy US10 for the first leg of the Australia to Suez run, after which she sailed to Singapore at the end of the month to collect Admiral Ragnar Colvin and his staff following the Singapore Conference. Prompted by the loss of and the deteriorating situation in South east Asia, Australia was ordered on 3 December to hand Convoy WS12X to HMS Dorsetshire, then make for home. In February 1942, the Australian cruiser became flagship of the newly formed ANZAC Squadron. However, on 7 March, the ships for the operation were recalled, and were used three days later to provide long range protection for the American aircraft carriers Lexington and Yorktown while they launched an air raid in retaliation to the Japanese capture of Lae and Salamaua. On the evening of 12 March, while sailing near the Louisiade Islands, one of the ship's stokers was stabbed fourteen times, and died from peritonitis during the night. Before dying, the stoker informed the ship's surgeon that he had threatened to expose the homosexual relationship between two other stokers, which led to the attack. The stokers were found guilty of the first ever murder aboard an Australian warship; under British naval regulations (which the RAN was operating under), the men were to be hanged from the cruiser's yardarm. However, despite Captain Harold Farncomb's aggressive prosecution of the two men, he successfully requested that the death sentences be put off at least until the ship returned home. This situation had arisen because the Australian government had not yet adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931, a British Act which defined the Dominions as sovereign governments capable of amending or repealing previous British legislation affecting them, while preventing the British government from legislating on the Dominions' behalf unless requested. On 22 April, the Anzac Squadron was reclassified as Task Force 44; Australia remained flagship. Australia returned to Sydney in late April for a week of repairs and maintenance, primarily to the outer port propeller shaft. Around this time, the Americans learned of an imminent Japanese invasion of Port Moresby, and on 1 May, Australia sailed with to rendezvous with American forces in the Coral Sea. At 07:00 on 7 May, Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace, who was embarked aboard Australia as commander of Task Force 44, was ordered to take his ships (Australia, the cruisers Hobart and Chicago, and the destroyers Perkins, Walke and Farragut) to the Jomard Passage, and engage any Japanese ships found en route to Port Moresby, while several US carrier groups engaged a Japanese force headed for the Solomon Islands. The ships reached their patrol area around 14:00, fired on a group of eleven unidentified aircraft at maximum range with no damage dealt at 14:27, and were attacked themselves by twelve Japanese twin engine torpedo bombers at 15:06. Australia and Chicago were able to manoeuvre out of the torpedoes' paths, and at least five aircraft were destroyed. At 15:16, nineteen Japanese heavy bombers dropped their payload on the Allied ships. Australia and the rest of the task force remained in their assigned area until 01:00 on 10 May, when Crace ordered them to withdraw south to Cid Harbour on Whitsunday Island; the lack of reports and intelligence concerning either the Americans or Japanese led him to conclude that both forces had withdrawn, and there was no immediate threat to Port Moresby. On 13 June, Crace was replaced by Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley as commander of Task Force 44 and the flag officer embarked aboard Australia. A month later, on 14 July, Australia led Task Force 44 from Brisbane to rendezvous in Wellington with the amphibious assault force for the landings at Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands. The force left New Zealand for Fiji on 22 July, and conducted rehearsal landings at Koro Island from 28 to 31 July. The various elements began to head for their positions on 6 August, with Australia leading Squadron X (with four other cruisers, nine destroyers, nine transports, and six store ships) towards the main landing site, on the north side of Guadalcanal. During the early morning of 7 August, Squadron X transited the channel between Guadalcanal and Savo Island, and reached the assault point off Lunga Point at 06:47. While moving into position, Australia and the other warships fired on shore targets sporadically, then commenced a coordinated bombardment before the first wave of landing craft hit the beach unopposed just after 08:00. Despite the efforts of the carrier air groups and interdiction attacks on Japanese air bases, the first of several retaliatory air attacks against Squadron X occurred at 13:23; each was driven off by the squadron's massed anti aircraft fire, with no damage to Australia. Anticipating a naval attack to occur during the night, Crutchley split his forces around Savo Island, with Australia leading Canberra, Chicago, and two destroyers on patrol of the southern waters, a second group of three heavy cruisers and two destroyers to patrol the northern passage, while the rest of the ships protected the transports or served as picket ships. Nothing occurred during the night of 7–8 August, and the same arrangement was assumed at 18:30 for the night of 8–9 August. At 20:45, Crutchley was recalled to meet urgently with US Admiral Richmond K. Turner, overall commander of the amphibious landings, aboard the transport McCawley to discuss the proposed withdrawal of the carrier groups, and Australia left the patrol group. The meeting concluded at 01:15 on 9 August, and instead of returning to the southern patrol, Crutchley ordered Australia to patrol around the transports. Just before 02:00, the southern patrol force was attacked by a six ship Japanese task force, and Canberra was irreparably damaged. Once the transports completed unloading, the naval force withdrew over the course of 9 August; Australia reached Nouméa on 13 August. The ships of Task Force 44 were replenished at Nouméa, then sailed to rejoin the three carrier groups on 19 August, in response to intelligence that a large Japanese fleet was sailing to the Solomon Islands. After arrival on 21 August, Crutchley and Australia were placed in command of the carriers' combined surface defence group, including several cruisers and the battleship North Carolina. Air attacks between the Allied and Japanese forces occurred during 24–25 August; the Japanese fleet was driven off without Australia or the other warships having to engage directly. On 31 August, Task Force 44 was detached from the carrier groups and sailed for Brisbane, arriving on 3 September. Four days later, Australia sailed with the task force for Milne Bay, where Allied ships and shore positions had been attacked several times by Japanese warships. Task Force 44 did not make contact with any enemy vessels. After this, the ships were assigned to patrol the Coral Sea.

Australia and the rest of Task Force 44 were removed from patrol duties on 10 January 1943; no Japanese aircraft or ships were sighted during the three months on station. In early February, Australias group sailed to Sydney, where the cruiser was fitted with a new radar, then proceeded on 17 February to meet the convoy returning the 9th Division from the Middle East. On 11 April, Australia was sent to investigate rumours of Japanese landings along the south eastern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, but found no evidence of Japanese activity. Arriving on 16 July, Australia and the other ships were assigned to Espiritu Santo's western waters. At sunset on 20 July, Task Force 74 was returning to Espiritu Santo when was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine: Crutchley believed that the submarine had fired at Australia at long range, but the speed of the task force may have been underestimated, causing the torpedoes to miss the heavy cruiser, while one hit the following Hobart. By October, Australia was back in Australian waters. At the start of the month, the cruiser was the only ship assigned to Task Force 74, but she was joined by the destroyer Bagley on 13 October, and the two ships arrived at Milne Bay two days later, in case of retaliatory sea attacks on the recently captured town of Finschhafen. Although Australia and the task force arrived on 13 November, they were ordered to return to Milne Bay two days later, as a USN cruiser division had arrived. On 15 December 1943, Australia and Task Force 74 participated in the landings at Arawe, through escorting the landing force, then performing pre landing bombardment. Australia also led the landing and escort force for the landing at Cape Gloucester, departing from Milne Bay on the evening of 25 December.

In early January 1944, Australia returned to Milne Bay, before sailing to Sydney on 12 January for an eight week refit. During the refit, Captain Farncomb was replaced by Captain Emile Dechaineux. On the morning of 7 February, Crutchley transferred his flag to ; the role of Flagship was returned to Australia on 21 March, three days after she rejoined Task Force 74 at Milne Bay. On the morning of 20 April, Australia and Task Force 74 rendezvoused with three other task forces of the Seventh Fleet off Manus Island: the combined force was to support the amphibious landings at Aitape, Humboldt Bay, and Tanahmerah Bay. The next evening, Australia split off with her task force and the attack force for Tanahmerah Bay. The flotilla arrived off the bay at 03:00 on 22 April, and at 06:00, Australia led a half hour shore bombardment to cover the first wave of the amphibious landing. After the bombardment, which allowed the 24th Infantry Division to land with minimal opposition, the warships withdrew to protect the transports. Later in the day, Australia led two destroyers along the coastline, destroying any Japanese barges or supply dumps they encountered. Task Force 74 remained in the Hollandia area for the rest of the month to provide support to the landed forces, and arrived in Seeadler Harbour on 4 May. Australia and Task Force 74 returned to Tanahmerah Bay on 16 May, to escort troopships to Wakde Island. The task force left the troopships (which were also being escorted by Task Force 75) at 04:30 on 17 May, and commenced an hour long shore bombardment of the area around Sawar and Sarmi just after 06:00. On 25 May, the task force was temporarily redesignated Task Group 77.2, and sailed at 22:00 to provide escort, then fire support, for the amphibious landing at Biak. At 06:30 on 27 May, Australia bombarded Biak Island. Over the next few days, Australia and the ships under her command provided cover patrols and fire support for Allied forces ashore. Predicting a heavy naval response from the Japanese, Crutchley was ordered on 1 June to return to Humboldt Bay with Australia and Task Force 74, then form a combined fleet with Task Force 75, which was to take up station northeast of Biak nightly from 4 June and intercept any Japanese forces encountered. On the evening of 4 June, while en route, the fleet was attacked by Japanese dive bombers; Australia was not damaged in the attack. Crutchley's force was withdrawn on 6 June to replenish at Humboldt Bay, then returned the next day. Aerial sightings of a Japanese force (three destroyers towing landing barges and three destroyers escorting, one of which was sunk by air attack) had been made during the day, and the Allied ships made radar contact at 23:19. At 23:31, just after the Japanese ships fired torpedoes, Crutchley ordered the destroyers under his command to close and attack, while he brought Australia and the other cruisers into range. The Japanese ships cast off their barges, turned, and fled, and Crutchley ordered the Allied destroyers to chase until 02:30 on 8 June, then retire; the cruisers broke off almost immediately as could not match the Japanese destroyers' speed. The Japanese escaped with minimal damage. On 12 June, the combined task force returned to Seeadler Harbour, and Crutchley left Australia, having completed his two year assignment as Rear Admiral Commanding Australian Squadron. A day later, Commodore John Augustine Collins raised his flag on Australia as commander of both the Australian Squadron and Task Force 74; the first graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College placed in overall command of the RAN's ships. On the morning of 2 July, Australia bombarded Noemfoor Island, then was released before midday to sail for Hollandia, then on to Seeadler Harbour. on 12 July, Australia led Task Force 74 to Aitape, where the warships were to provide naval gunfire support for Allied forces ashore, help in the interdiction of Japanese troop movements by barge along the coast, and destroy gun emplacements covering the surrounding waterways. On 14 July, Australia bombarded the Yakamal area of Aitape, then shelled the Marubian area on 17 July, before attacking Yakamal again on 20 July. On 22 July, Collins transferred his flag to Shropshire, and Australia departed with for maintenance dockings in Sydney. Collins reembarked on 3 September, and Australia was assigned to the Morotai landings as lead ship of Task Group 75.2, part of the escort and bombardment force. The cruiser remained on station to provide fire support until the evening of 16 September, when Australia and the other ships normally assigned to Task Force 74 were permitted to withdraw to Mios Woendi. Australia remained there until 27 September, when Task Forces 74 and 75 sailed for Manus Island, where they were involved in exercising. During this time, the cruiser was visited by British Admiral of the Fleet Lord Roger Keyes. At 15:30 on 13 October, Task Group 77.3 (including Australia and her companions) began the seven day voyage to Leyte. At 09:00 on 20 October, Australia commenced shelling targets prior to the amphibious landings, then was positioned to provide gunfire support and attack targets of opportunity throughout the day. At around 06:00 on 21 October, Japanese aircraft attacked attempted to bomb the Allied ships in Leyte Bay. An Aichi D3A dive bomber dove for Shropshire, but broke away after heavy anti aircraft fire was directed at it. Although the bulk of the aircraft fell overboard, the bridge and forward superstructure were showered with debris and burning fuel. Observers aboard Australia and nearby Allied ships differed in their opinions of the collision; some thought that it was an accident, while the majority considered it to be a deliberate ramming aimed at the bridge. Following the attack, commander Harley C. Wright assumed temporary control of the ship. Although historian George Hermon Gill claims in the official war history of the RAN that Australia was the first Allied ship hit by a kamikaze attack, other sources, such as Samuel Eliot Morison in History of United States Naval Operations in World War II disagree as it was not a preplanned suicide attack (the first attack where the pilots were ordered to ram their targets occurred four days later), but was most likely performed on the pilot's own initiative, and similar attacks by damaged aircraft had occurred as early as 1942. On 24 October, the Australian ships proceeded to Manus, then sailed to Espiritu Santo for repairs. Five days later, Farncomb, now a commodore, rejoined Australia to replace Collins.

At the start of 1945, Australia and the ships under her command were absorbed into Task Group 77.2, the escort and fire support force for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf. Australia brought up the rear of the Task Group when it sailed from Leyte on the morning of 3 January, and was to be tasked with providing fire support for the landings at San Fabian. 25 were killed and 30 were wounded (officer casualties numbered 3 and 1 respectively), mostly from the gun crews of the port side secondary and anti aircraft guns, but the physical damage was not considered severe enough to withdraw her from the operation. A second kamikaze rammed the cruiser at 17:34 between the starboard 4 inch guns, killing 14 and wounding 26. The casualties again consisted primarily of gun crews, and after this point, there were only enough trained personnel to man one 4 inch gun on each side of the cruiser. Australia, assigned to a counter battery role, saw little activity during 7 January. The next day, she was attacked twice by kamikazes in quick succession: at 07:20, a twin engine bomber hit the water from the cruiser and skidded to connect with the ship's port flank, then a second aircraft attacked at 07:39, again shot down just before it hit the port side at the waterline. A bomb carried by the second attacker opened a hole in the hull, causing a 5 degree list, but despite the explosion and a large quantity of debris and shrapnel, casualties were limited to a few cases of shock, and Australia was able to carry out the day's assigned bombardments. At 13:11, the fifth suicide aircraft to hit Australia during the operation struck; although it intended to take out the cruiser's bridge, the aircraft hit a mast strut and the forward exhaust funnel, and fell overboard. Although there were no casualties, the crash damaged the funnel, radar, and wireless systems, and the decision was made to withdraw the cruiser for repairs. Temporary repairs were made to the cruiser, and after Farncomb transferred his flag to so he could return to the main force, Australia sailed to Sydney via Manus for permanent repairs and a refit, arriving home on 28 January. Two days later, she docked at Cockatoo Island for repair and the preliminary stages of the refit, including the removal of 'X' turret and the aircraft catapult, and the shortening of the funnels by 5 feet (2 m) each. The ship received eight battle honours for her wartime service: "Atlantic 1940–41", "Pacific 1941–43", "Coral Sea 1942", "Savo Island 1942", "Guadalcanal 1942", "New Guinea 1942–44", "Leyte Gulf 1944", and "Lingayen Gulf 1945". According to naval historian John Bastock, Australia "probably fought more actions and steamed more miles than any other ship of the RAN" during the war. Given only 24 hours notice, the ship's company loaded provisions and cold weather gear, while removing all unnecessary equipment to improve fuel consumption, before sailing on 27 July. Because of structural damage to Australia caused by Southern Ocean conditions, the Australian government announced that RAN vessels would not be deployed for similar incidents in the future, although the RAN performed three medical evacuations at the nearby Macquarie Islands in later years. The ship was sold on 25 January 1955 to the British Iron & Steel Corporation for scrapping.