The HMAS Melbourne-HMAS Voyager Collision: Australia’s Worst Peace-Time Naval Disaster
Nicholas Egan
__HMAS_Voyager_(D04)_and_HMAS_Vendetta_(D08)_underway__circa_in_1959_(AWM_301014).jpg)
HMAS Melbourne underway with the Daring-class destroyers Vendetta (D08, bottom) and Voyager (D04, top) in 1959,_HMAS_Voyager_(D04)_and_HMAS_Vendetta_(D08)_underway,_circa_in_1959_(AWM_301014).jpg)
On the 10th of February 1964 a terrible naval accident took place in Australian waters that led to 82 deaths. Off the coast of the Royal Australian Navy base at Jervis Bay, the aircraft carrier, the HMAS Melbourne and the destroyer, the HMAS Voyager were conducting maneuvers when it soon became clear that the 2 ships were heading for collision. Both crews desperately tried to change course, but it was too late.
The February 26 issue of the Australian Women's Weekly
HMAS Melbourne struck Voyager at 20:56, with the carrier's bow striking just behind the bridge and cutting the destroyer in two. Of the 314 aboard Voyager, 82 were killed, most of whom died immediately or were trapped in the heavy bow section, which sank after 10 minutes. The rest of the ship sank after midnight. Melbourne, although damaged, suffered no fatalities, and was able to sail to Sydney the next morning with most of the Voyager survivors aboard. The loss of the Voyager ranks as the 6th most deadly loss of life in Australian navy history.[i]
View of the damage to the bow of RAN aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C349725
The incident shocked the public and memorial services were held around Australia on 21 February. Public distrust in navy led inquiries over the previous few decades resulted in a Royal Commission being called to investigate the cause of the disaster. The commission, led by former Attorney General Sir John Spicer, concluded that the collision was primarily the fault of Voyager's bridge crew, in that they neglected to maintain an effective lookout and lost awareness of the carrier's location, although he did not blame individual officers. When reporting on the contribution of Melbourne and those aboard her to the collision, Spicer specifically indicated failures of its captain John Robertson and two other bridge officers, as they did not alert Voyager to the danger she was in, and appeared to not take measures to prevent Melbourne from colliding. Robertson submitted his resignation from the Navy and was considered to be a scapegoat by the media.[ii]
Over the next few years there was increasing pressure from the public, the media, and politicians of the government and opposition over the handling of the first Royal Commission, as well as claims made by Lieutenant Commander Peter Cabban, a former officer of the Voyager, that Captain Duncan Stevens frequently drank to excess and was unfit for command. Eventually in 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt announced that a second Royal Commission would be held.
The second Royal Commission found that Stevens was medically unfit for command, although not impaired by alcohol at the time of the collision, he was suffering from a duodenal ulcer and had been confidentially prescribed amphetamines. Consequently, some of the findings of the first commission, those based on the assumption that Voyager was under appropriate command, were re-evaluated. Robertson and the other officers of Melbourne were absolved of blame for the incident.
Chief Petty Officer Jonathan 'Buck' Rogers
In the aftermath of the disaster, Chief Petty Officer Jonathan 'Buck' Rogers was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his actions during the sinking. Recognizing that he was too large to fit through the escape hatch, he organised the evacuation of those who could escape, then led those stuck in the compartment in prayers and hymns as they died. Posthumous Albert Medals for Lifesaving were awarded to Midshipman Kerry Marien and Electrical Mechanic William Condon for their actions in saving other Voyager personnel at the cost of their own lives.[iii]
5 Years later, the HMAS Melbourne was tragically involved in a second naval disaster, this time with the American Destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea. Evans sailed under Melbourne's bow, where she was cut in two. 74 of Evans's crew were killed.
Port bow view of the damaged aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne after the collision with the American destroyer USS Frank E Evans.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C276967
USS Frank E. Evans after the disaster.
Author: PN2 Ralph Treser
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Frank_...
A joint RAN–USN board of inquiry was held to establish the events of the collision and the responsibility of those involved. This inquiry, which was believed by the Australians to be biased against them, found that both ships were at fault for the collision. Four officers (the captains of Melbourne and Evans, and the two junior officers in control of Evans at the time of the collision) were court-martialed based on the results of the inquiry; while the three USN officers were found guilty, the RAN officer was cleared of wrongdoing.[iv]
There are a number of memorials to those who were killed in both tragedies. In Jervis Bay stands a memorial to the HMAS Voyager and in Gurnee, Illinois stands a memorial to those who were lost in the USS Frank E. Evans disaster.
USS Frank E. Evans memorial located in Warren Cemetery, Gurnee, Illinois.
Wikimedia Commons
Author: GoodSam111
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USFEE_memorial_large_tablet.jpg
References
[i] Frame, Tom (2005). The Cruel Legacy: the HMAS Voyager tragedy. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-74115-254-2. OCLC 61213421.
[ii] Spicer, Sir John Armstrong (1964). Report of Royal Commissioner on loss of H.M.A.S. "Voyager" (Report). https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/46252538 Melbourne: A.J. Arthur, Commonwealth Govt. Printer.
[iii] Burbury; Asprey & Lucas (1 March 1968). "Royal Commissioners' Report on Voyager Inquiry" (PDF). http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documen... Navy News. Vol. 11, no. 5. Parramatta: Cumberland Newspapers Pty Ltd.
[iv] Stevenson, Jo (1999). In The Wake: The true story of the Melbourne-Evans Collision, Conspiracy and Cover-up. Alexandria, NSW: Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0-86806-681-8. (Author Jo Stevenson was the wife of Captain John Phillip Stevenson, the Commanding Officer of Melbourne at the time of the collision)