HMAS Perth

[herakles]

There have been two warships named after Australia's most western capital city.

HMAS Perth

She was a modified Leander class light cruiser. Commissioned at Portsmouth on 15 June 1936 as HMS Amphion. The ship was purchased by the Australian government and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Perth at Portsmouth on 29 June 1939.

Displacement: 6,830 tons (standard)
Length: 555 feet (waterline)
Beam: 56 feet 8 inches
Draught: 15 feet 8 inches
Propulsion: Parsons geared turbines Four shafts, 72,000 shp
Speed: 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h)
Range: 7,400 miles at 13knots 1,920 miles at 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h)
Complement: 646 (35 officers, 611 ratings) 681 at time of loss (includes 6 RAAF, 4 civilian)
Armament: 8 × 6 in MkXIII (4 × 2)
8 × 4 in MkXVI (4 × 2)
12 x .5 in Machine guns (3 × 4)
10 x .303 in machine guns (10 × 1)
8 × 21 in Torpedo tubes (2 × 4)
Aircraft carried: one seaplane; Seagull V A2-4 & A2-17, Supermarine Walrus L2234, L2298, & L2319. (Seagull V A2-4 survives at RAF Museum, Hendon)

In December 1940 she was transferred to the Mediterranean subsequently becoming famous for her service there. As a member of the British 7th Cruiser Squadron, she took part in the Battle of Matapan and helped in the evacuation of troops from Greece to Crete.

She returned to Australia for an extensive refit after being damaged by an air attack in May 1941.

She then joined the British-Dutch-American-Australian forces in the Java Sea in February 1942.

I won't dwell on her service there as this has been described in another thread. Except to add that while 324 of Perth's crew survived the sinking and were taken prisoner by the Japanese, 106 died in captivity before the end of the war.

HMAS Perth

was a Perth class guided missile destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy, laid down at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, USA on 21 September 1962, commissioned on 17 July 1965.

Displacement: 4,600 tons
Length: 134 m
Beam: 14 m
Draught: 6 m
Propulsion: 2 × General Electric steam turbines providing 70,000 hp (52 mW)
Speed: 30+ knots
Range: 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 310
Armament: Mk 13 Mod 6 launcher for SM-1; 2 x 127 mm/54 (5 in/54) Mk 42; 2 x 20 mm Mk 15 Vulcan Phalanx; 2 x triple 324 mm Mk 32 torpedo tubes

Her operational duties were in Vietnam. She was awarded the United States Navy Unit Commendation and Meritorious Unit Commendation for her service there.

She was laid off in 1999.

In late 2001 she was scuttled in King George Sound off Albany WA and joined the previously scuttled Swan.

Pics:
1. Perth 1
2. Perth 2
3. Perth 2
4. Scuttling Perth 2
5. Artist's impression of Perth1 in action in the Java Sea.

[The Sailor]

Thanks for this further post on Perth Herk. You know I have a bit of a soft spot for the first HMAS Perth.
Maybe new members would like to check out an earlier post.
Please read it everyone.

http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=612

[hucks216]

Just thought that I'd share this photo of HMAS Perth taken last year in Hong Kong. She was in company with HMAS Parramatta at the time. We later met up with the Parramatta again in Japan when she came alongside us just in time for the England v Australia World Cup rugby game!!

[Kevin Denlay]

Hi Sailor,

Thanks for the link and herakles the info. A fine and courageous ship that HMAS Perth, no doubt about that. And Waller a fine sailor and a true gentleman from what I can gather.

However there are a few factual mistakes in the geocities.com/dutcheastindies/sunda_strait. site that you linked to that should be corrected.

For instance, the allied cruisers scored no torp hits on the Japanese transports. They were all 'self inflicted' as it were. And several ships were sunk, not just one or two as stated. (Japanese losses were four transports, Ryujo Maru, Sakura Maru, Tatsuno Maru, Horai Maru and the minesweeper W2. Because some were sunk in shallow water, two [I think] were later raised.) As a matter of fact the transport that General Imamura, the head of the army invasion force was on (Sakura Maru if I remember correctly) was sunk and he had to swim ashore. The story goes that his adjutant then walked up, saluted and congratulated an oil covered Imamura for a ‘successful landing’. Another story goes that at some stage a navy delegation came ashore to apologise for sinkng Imamura’s transports. Again the adjutant intervened and told them not to do so and to let Imamura continue thinking his transports were sunk by the allies so he would not 'loose face’.

Also the photo shown at the bottom of the page showing a four piper DD surrounded by shell splashes and bow rearing out of the water, oft/usually mistakenly quoted as USS Pope, is in fact USS Edsal, sunk south of Java in the Indian ocean. The photo comes from cine footage found after the war and was taken by one for the cruisers doing the sinking.

An excellent HMAS Perth website is;
http://perthone.com/perth.htm

And photos of the wreck itself can be seen on this page, some of which I contributed myself.

http://perthone.com/1perthwreck.htm

The attached panoramic image is taken from over the top of the wreck of HMAS Perth. To the far right is Sunda Strait, so one can see how close they came to ‘breaking out’ of the Java Sea. (To make the image I took several photos 'side by side, Bruce Constable, the Perth website owner then 'stitched' them together in Photoshop to make the panoramic image.)

Kevin

[herakles]

Thanks for this information Kevin. It is an important addition to the story of Perth.

The panoramic picture is truly excellent!

[The Sailor]

Well done Kevin. I regret the lack of suitable awards on this forum for members who go to a lot of trouble with their posts. Like on all forums, there are the workers and there are the answerers, and then there are the lurkers.
I am sorry that I can do nothing about it.

[herakles]

Here's the link to a great video of Perth II at sea. It's most professioanal: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/392797/hmas_perth/

[herakles]

This is a video of the sinking of HMAS Perth II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRmBhizOFho&feature=related

[battlestar]

G'Day From Western Australia

hucks216 had a good pic of the third HMAS Perth (FFH-157) the last of the Anzac class frigates built in Melbourne (8 Built for the Royal Australian Navy, 2 for New Zealand)

I thought I'd post pics from Perth III commissioning ceremony on 26 August 2006 in Fremantle Harbour. It was only the second warship commissioned in Fremantle Harbour since the Second World War (The first was the Collins class submarine HMAS Farncomb (SSG-74) in February 1998.

In order the images show the Perth alongside Victoria Quay as the day begins, the crew assembles and the flag is rasied, bringing Perth into service with the RAN.

Hope you like the pics!

Ian

[herakles]

Interesting pictures Ian. Thanks for posting them.

[Batstiger]

HMS Amphion,built by Portsmouth Dockyard,launched 26/7/1934.Transferred to RAN and renamed HMAS Perth 6/1939.Sunk,Sunda Strait action,1/3/1942.

HMS Amphion,,completed in July 1936, and commissioned at Portsmouth on 15 June 1936. The ship was purchased by the Australian government and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Perth at Portsmouth on 29 June 1939. She was crewed by personnel from HMAS Adelaide, which had been placed into reserve a month previous.

HMAS Perth served in the Mediterranean where she participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and was involved in the evacuation of Greece in April 1941.

On 26 February 1942, Perth arrived at Surabaya from Tanjong Priok, under the command of Captain Hector Waller, along with the Royal Navy cruiser Exeter, the Netherlands light cruiser Java, and the destroyers HMS Electra, Jupiter, and Encounter. Dauntless, Danae, and Hobart remained at Tanjong Priok. On 27 February, Perth joined a group of ABDA cruisers and destroyers, commanded by Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman onboard the cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter, that left Surabaya to intercept a Japanese convoy approaching from the Makassar Strait. The ensuing action was the Battle of the Java Sea.

Perth and USS Houston were two of only three cruisers to survive the Battle of the Java Sea, and they both attempted to move through the Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap. Perth was torpedoed by Japanese destroyers during the Battle of Sunda Strait on 1 March 1942, and sank with the loss of 350 of her crew and three civilians. While 324 of Perth's crew survived the sinking and were taken prisoner by the Japanese, 106 died in captivity before the end of the war.

B a t t l e H o n o u r s-ATLANTIC 1939 - MATAPAN 1941 - GREECE 1941 - CRETE 1941 - MALTA CONVOYS 1941 - SUNDA STRAIT 1942


Payment:

[ludsie]

There are dive companies in Indonesia who will take you out to the wreck of Perth 1 and let you dive on it

The experience is supposed to be amazing