HMAS Australia (1927) - Definition and Overview

HMAS Australia, launched in 1927, was a County-class heavy cruiser in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship is believed to have been the ship first hit by a kamikaze and also to have also been hit the most times by kamikazes.

The Australia was laid down by John Brown and Company of Clydebank at Glasgow, Scotland on August 26 1925. It was launched on March 17, 1927 and commissioned on April 24 1928, two months before its sister ship HMAS Canberra.

After World War II began, "The Aussie" (as the ship was affectionately known within the RAN), first fired its main armament of eight 8-inch guns in anger off the coast of Dakar, in late 1940, when it took part in Operation Menace. Australia damaged the Vichy French destroyer L'Audacieux, which as a result was beached on September 23-24. Australia received hits from shore batteries and its Supermarine Walrus reconniassance plane was shot down.

During 1941, the Australia escorted convoys and patrolled the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Following the onset of the Pacific War, Australia patrolled the south west Pacific. In May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the ship faced an intense attack from Japanese torpedo bombers. From August 1942 until mid-1944, the Australia provided supporting fire and surface protection for Allied land forces at land battles including the invasion of Guadalcanal and the New Guinea campaign, including the Allied landings in New Britain.

On October 21 1944, in the lead-up to the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb, in the first-ever kamikaze attack. The plane struck the superstructure, above the bridge, spewing burning fuel and debris over a large area. However, the bomb failed to explode; if it had, the ship might have been effectively destroyed. At least 30 crew members died as a result of the attack, including the commanding officer, Captain Emile Dechaineux; among the wounded was Commodore John Collins, the Australian force commander.

On October 25, the Australia was hit again and was forced to retire to the New Hebrides for repairs. The ship returned to combat in January 1945; by the end of the war, she had survived being hit by kamikazes on six separate occasions, which had resulted in the loss of 86 lives.

Following the end of the war, Australia served as a training ship. It was paid off for disposal on August 31, 1954 and sold for scrap to the British Iron and Steel Corporation (Salvage) on January 25, 1955, left Sydney under tow on March 26, 1955, and was broken up at the Thomas W. Ward Shipbreaking Yard at Barrow-in-Furness in 1956.

See HMAS Australia for other ships of this name.