1967 DECEMBER – 1969 POSTED HMAS HOBART – Ship Visits to New Guinea, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong. HMAS Hobart D39 was a 4,500-ton guided missile destroyer. My duties were to oversee the Accounts Office assisting with the calculation, preparation and payments of accounts relative to medical, removal and travel allowances. I also carried out clerical and support duties in the Captain’s Office and the Pay Office. All RAN ships whether alongside or on deployment, the Commanding Officers must write a monthly Report of Proceedings containing the most utmost detail of day-to-day activities, courses navigated, sightings, fuel used, any unusual incidents, training activities, amount of ammunition used and target effectiveness etc. Reports could range between 20 and 40 pages depending on what events may have occurred. These had to be typed, five copies using carbon paper between pages and without using any corrective fluid, so everything had to be precise. Today not many people would be familiar with using carbon paper. As far as I know, carbon paper is still available in order books or invoice books etc, however, my mind wanders back to the days on board ships as a young novice scribe typing letters like the ships ROP on a manual typewriter using carbon paper and having circulated green and pink paper for file copy. This was one of my main duties in HMAS Hobart and my typed records are held in Navy Office and the Canberra War Museum today. If this duty was not hard enough often the captain would make changes and that would result in the whole page being typed again. If he took out or added a complete paragraph, it often resulted in every following page being re-typed so that the report flowed. Many a writer like me spent countless late nights completing these dreaded reports. If only we had computers back, then. All the ship’s company were involved when it comes to action stations including loading or firing gunnery equipment, fire control or medical parties. Each crew member had tasks to perform, and they all put in a great effort grinding away endlessly at their duties to attack Vietcong strongpoints. When operational on the Gun Line we underwent shifts of 16 to 18 hours non-stop, paperwork still had to be completed so to grab an occasional nap, fully clothed I would lie on the warm office iron deck utilising my gas mask for a pillow. At the end of firing exercises, we always had good accomplishment reports with several enemy kills, destroying and burning armed patrol boats and supply depots. On one run on the DMZ Zone, we were called in to assist an American group who were dug in but fighting a huge number of Vietcong and their radio man’s voice was put through the ships amplification system. We could hear all the gun fire, wounded and dying men screaming and as they called in our 5-inch gun fire all around them they were finally being overrun. This was called “Danger Close” which meant the enemy were within 50 metres. They then called the fire in on themselves knowing they would all be killed rather than be taken prisoners and tortured. The radio went silent. On another occasion we had a call from a spotter to fire our 5-inch guns on a hut in the middle of a rice field which was known to hold Vietcong. We lobbed a couple of shells in the area from about eight miles (13kms) away and hit the side of the hut, but two Cong got away running across the field. The spotter gave us new directions and we lobbed a shell right in between them which was amazing form the distance we were away from the target. I recall another incident where the Americans had a spotter sitting up high in treetops and he was directing our gun fire on the enemy. On the radio we could hear not only our direction to fire but the results of our hit. However, after a while he was shot and once again only silence on the radio. Another incident occurred when an Army patrol called for us to fire on approaching enemy and they mixed up their position and some of our fire injured American Marines. We also had a terrible Friendly Fire Incident against us which will be explained in detail later. RAN Ship’s Operational Deployments on the Gunline were attached to the United States Navy. We fired over 102,000 rounds in support of call for fire missions in multiple deployments. The only downside was the daily consistent UNREPS (Underway Replenishments of ammo and supplies on pallets) of jack stay transfers by ropes from ammunition supply vessels and VERTREPS (Vertical Replenishments) by helicopter. This was done every so often to replenish dwindling supplies of Ammunition, stores, fuel, water, and food. All replenishments had to be cleared to Lower Decks by the Ship’s Company of all Ranks to the Magazines and Storerooms. My main task in these times with mate Lofty Herod was the difficult task to handle all gunnery ammunition and to lower them down a deck two at a time in a box by Shute to a waiting troop to store. Not much time for the ship’s crew to sleep while on the Gun Line as we were in a Two Watch system, (continuous 6 hours on 6 off) for many days. As mentioned earlier office and salary work still had to be completed as I took breaks on the office steel floor. What a time of adventure for us young Sailors to look back on. We were overwhelmingly undaunted in spirit and with pride in our ship, as we worked bloody hard in all departments and played hard in our Ports of Call during our brief respite from Gunline Operations. All our Personnel who served the RAN and Australia in this Vietnam high tempo operational era with so much personal and ship’s pride, dedication and loyalty, in the best traditions of the RAN and Australia with an unsurpassed can-do attitude, often under increased duress in uncertain threat times. I think many of these young sailors on the Gunline matured and came of age in quick time, well beyond our young years of 18 to 21 years old. We had no choice but take on the tasks before us. 1968 HMAS HOBART VIETNAM INCIDENT REPORT Recollections of the 17TH June 1968 “FRIENDLY FIRE” Incident HMAS HOBART – DDG 39 (Capt K.W Shands RAN) was operating in North Vietnam waters in the Cap Lay area near Tiger Island in the early hours of 17th June as part of the US Seventh Fleet. FIRST ATTACK Just after 0300 an aircraft, not showing IFF (IFF allows all allied forces to know that it is a friendly aircraft) was detected on Radar and was being closely watched but knowingly our operations crew knew it to be friendly aircraft. It turned suddenly and approached HOBART at great speed. The ship was struck on the starboard side amidships by a missile launched from the aircraft; it hit the ship just aft of the forward boat davit. An expanding rod from the missile sliced through 01 deck into the CPO Mess Pantry and into the adjacent passageway. At the time I was completely sound asleep when the first missile hit. The ungodly sound of the explosion and tearing metal still haunts me. The main damage caused by the expanding rod was to the screen into radar room, the Missile Director Control Room, and the Secondary Conning Position, the outer skin of the after and forward funnels and both intakes. The SPS-52 radar, the Missile System and one UHF aerial were rendered unserviceable. My action stations were completely wiped out. Ordinary Seaman R J Butterworth was killed, and Able Seaman J R (Nosey) Parker and Ordinary Seaman R F (Davo) Davidson were injured. The aircraft could not be engaged by the missile system because of the damage sustained by the first impact and the restrictions of the Rules of Engagement. Action Stations sounded following the first explosion and full ahead and maximum wheel ordered. The Task Unit was immediately informed. SECOND ATTACK A few minutes later the aircraft attacked a second time. Two missiles struck the ship almost at the same time, one entered the transom just below the upper deck on the starboard side and the other exploded near where the first missile struck near the boat davit. After penetrating the transom, that missile passed through the Gunners Store, the After Electronics Store, the Engineers Workshop and part of it finished up through another bulkhead (Ship’s wall) and demolished an empty bunk and locker in the After Seaman’s Mess. This bunk was just below where I was sleeping. Luckily the owner was on night watch and not in his bunk. Ironically, fires were started in both the Gunners Store and the Electronics Store. The after-seaman’s mess filled with smoke and all the guys rushed to get dressed and get out of the place to action stations. With limited light I reached to my bunk side hook to retrieve my trousers only to find that they were not here. Someone had lifted them and my keys to my locker were in the pocket. I rushed around until I found someone else’s pair of strides and put them on only to find out they must have belonged to a midget. By this time the damage control hatch had been put down from the deck leaving only a small space for each sailor to pass through to escape our mess deck. I happened to see that our Leading Stores Assistant who was a little on the large side was incapable of escaping through the small hatch, so others pushed him aside. Approval was later granted from the Damage Control Centre to reopen the hatch and let him out. By this time the fires had been put out by CO2 gas released from cylinders stored in the Engineers Workshop and damaged by the explosion. The ship’s company did not generally know this. If the fires had not been extinguished so promptly there could have been a worse disaster, the Missile magazine was nearby. THIRD ATTACK Damage caused by the expanding rod of another missile that hit amidships occurred in the Fan Space, Missile Director Equipment Room, Director No.2 and the Tartar Check Room, through the deck into the forward end of the CPO Mess and Sick Bay. On my arrival at the Sick Bay which was supposed to be my present action station. Luckily for me, I was not at action stations as I found it was destroyed and if had I been there, I would most certainly have been killed. I found the deceased body of Chief Petty Officer Ray Hunt lying in the passageway outside with shrapnel wounds that had entered his back. This attack also caused injuries to several sailors close to their action stations nearby, so I went back to the After Damage Control Station to assist the wounded by carrying them into the After Chief Petty Officer’s Mess. I treated the wounds of Mechanical Engineer Holmes who had gaping leg wounds, strapping them up and assisted Leading Sick Berth Attendant Doc Solley with other injured. This was while we were still bewildered and in shock at what was going wrong. We had no information as to what was happening as communications were not working, and as the ship was a long way offshore, being relaxed from action stations and out of reach of the enemy. Then finally we heard one of our 4.5” guns open fire. ATTEMPTED FOURTH ATTACK The aircraft continued its turn to starboard and appeared to be turning for a fourth attack. At about 8000 yards Mount 51, in local control, the captain of the gun showed initiative off his own back and fired five rounds at the aircraft which turned away, never to be seen again. The pilot must have seen the flashes. If HOBART had engaged the aircraft before the first attack, she would not have been complying with the Rules of Engagement as we could tell it was a friendly aircraft displaying its IFF. After the first attack our much-needed equipment for target guidance was wiped out so it became too late to retaliate. THE AFTERMATH The following includes excerpts which I have been taken from the report of HMAS HOBART’s Report of Proceedings which I typed for sending to Chief of Naval Staff, Navy Office Canberra and Fleet Commander, and Fleet Headquarters, Garden Island Sydney. The ships continued in a northeast direction while a quick stock of damage was taken. Efforts had been made to bring up the radar SPS-52 radar from standby, but the set did not provide an effective picture. It was obviously necessary to retire from the general area to improve chances of a warning should another attack develop. At about 0330 USS EDSON reported being fired on by rockets from an aircraft, and Hobart, changed course to the west to join with the serviceable USS CHANDLER. At 0515 the Task Unit joined USS BOSTON and together with USS BLANDY formed a circular Anti-Aircraft screen around the cruiser on a course north at 15 knots towards Yankee Station Forces. On HMAS HOBART repair and isolation of damage continued and care was given to the wounded. The After Seaman’s Mess became the new Sick Bay and used for minor surgery and nursing until Medivacs by helicopter could be arranged. Remembering all this occurred during the night but as it became light, the extensive damage to the superstructure became apparent. At 0705 a Hello from USS ENTERPRISE, requested shortly after the attack, arrived to MEDIVAC the two sailors killed in action, and wounded sailors ABQMG Parker, ME J Holmes and ABFC Laity, who were considered to require further treatment in the hospital at DA NANG, Vietnam. The Ship’s Company commenced cleaning up the debris both above and below decks. All parts of the missiles we located were collected for subsequent identification. At this time items bearing the names of US manufacturers were discovered which led to our crew to become very discouraged and leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. ‘Who needs enemies when you have friends like that’ was the caption of the Rigby cartoon in the Sydney Daily Mirror on 19th June 1968. As crew members we found that when we walked into the vicinity of the Sick Bay or around the Forward Funnel, we could smell the scent of death. These areas were scrubbed and fire hosed down continuously. It was one of my tasks, but this unpleasant odour remained even after we returned to Subic Bay in the Philippines for refit. It’s quite ironic however that today I still do not know if this was a psychological effect or the actual smell. Our ship proceeded to Subic Bay for repairs at a slow 17 knots. At 1400 the ship was stopped for two hours while temporary repairs were affected on the missile hole made in the stern. Throughout the passage the Ship’s Company continued trying to restore the ship and to collect pieces of missile. I had ordered a thorough investigation of the incident and as more and more Officers and Sailors were interviewed and the sequence of events reconstructed, it became very clear that there had been many cases of calm and courageous actions and a minimum of disorder. I was very proud of my ship’s company.’ End of ROP excerpts. ABLSWM Bill Stokes who later became a PTI, and a commissioned officer wrote: During the Hobart’s 1968 Deployment the Ship was fired on by Shore Batteries on three separate occasions. HMAS Hobart during the 1967/68 Operation Vietnam Deployments fired some 25,500 Rounds from Mt 51 and 52 in various call for fire missions, with alarm counter battery actions on 12 separate occasions that Hobart was fired on by Enemy Shore Batteries. This also included HMAS Hobart Alarm Aircraft Action in local control with Command-and-Control Orders being passed over MT 51 Telephone by the Gunnery Officer from his position in Hobart’s Operations Room during this unfortunate FF Incident. Although Gunnery Support was the main objective during RAN Ship’s Deployment to the Gunline the outstanding professionalism of all departments and Ship’s Company on HMAS Hobart was commendable. Although I was not a Gunnery Rate, I remember as Gun Crew of X-Ray gun, loading cordite and later shells for the 4.5-inch guns on HMAS Duchess during the Malaysian/Indonesian confrontation in 1967 I still miss the sound and excitement of the Gun Firing, Air Blast, the noise of the Operation of the Mount Machinery Elevation and Training Motors, Cradle, Transfer Trays, Ramming, Spent Cartridge Ejection etc and the Smell of Spent Cordite, the Call for Fire communications by the Shore Spotter passed over the Armament Broadcast System. All RAN Ship’s and Ship’s Companies, not only those deployed to the Gunline, but also deployed to the Vietnam area of operations in the Vietnam era can be very proud of their outstanding dedicated and loyal service in the best traditions and honour of the RAN. I am surprised that there is very little education and knowledge on the outstanding performances levels the RAN achieved during the Vietnam era of operations. CONCLUSION From the time of the first explosion to the firing of Mount 51 to abort the third attack was only a matter of about ten minutes. However, it was ten minutes that no one aboard HOBART would ever want to live through again nor through the next couple of hours waiting for another attack. Remember that it took some time to know that we had experienced ‘friendly fire’ and not an attack from the Viet Cong. The attack left two of the ship’s company dead and seven with shrapnel wounds and many with psychological wounds. The ship suffered untold damage from the Sparrow air-to-air missiles whose warheads contain expanding (or continuous) rods compressed under pressure and released in a 360-degree arc when detonated, destroying all in the vicinity for many metres. The subsequent investigation was not made public, but the US Seventh Air Force acknowledged that the aircraft was one of their Phantoms and that they were SPARROW air-to-air missiles that hit HMAS HOBART. Rumour has it that the pilot mistook HOBART for a slow-moving helicopter! The ship was repaired at the US Navy shipyard at Subic Bay in the Philippines. The expanding (or continuous) rod of the Sparrow missiles had cut through the aluminium hull like it was butter. The shipyard staff worked 24 hours each day, 7 days each week for 4 weeks to get HMAS HOBART seaworthy and operational again. The Chief Petty Officer’s with salt in their veins, blared out snarling authority to get us back on the gun line to fight the enemy. The continual noise of grinding aluminium made sleeping very difficult, so the ship’s company spent as much time ashore as possible to escape the din, drinking ourselves silly and thanking God most of us got out of this alive. This is my short version of what happened assisted by other information I have read. However, I was the one who typed and forwarded the death and injury report, the damage report and the report of proceedings for Captain Shands to forward to Canberra so I have a good understanding of the whole incident. For R&R, (rest and recreation) off the gun line on other trips, we sailed back to Subic Bay in the Philippines. On the way back I kept some duties in charge of the refrigeration, so on occasions I would raid the officer’s crayfish supplies and take it to the Petty Officer Stoker’s mess and supply them with crayfish in exchange for sharing their beer issues. We did enjoy much of our time in Subic Bay when we arrived. This was where the US Navy base was situated and they certainly looked after their R & R forces by providing large entertainment areas for them with visits from entertainers from the US and they also fitted out Grande Island as a resort with diving, volleyball courts, bars, and cafes. Olongapo was a bit of a dive full of bars, prostitution and drugs where many a US Marine or sailor got addicted. As there was a curfew on the base some tried to swim across the river to avoid capture and I observed photos of some crab eaten bodies of those that did not make it. Just outside the Subic Bay base camp gate, the first thing we came upon in the bridge spanning the putrid and stagnant Olongapo river where many children tread water whilst they wait for the GIs to throw pesos or centavos for them to dive for. The rivers stench assaults the nostrils and you can almost taste the foul odour. How the kids could survive very long diving in this filth is beyond me. We were advised by the gate guards to keep our hands on our money and any valuables as we were preparing to enter the ‘wild west’. Nearly everyone ashore had a gun – automatics, sawn-offs, M16s, or 45s, if you could name it someone had it and if wanted, easily purchased. This area was very noisy with loudspeakers offering best rates for money change, loud music from shops and bars and the drivers of jeepneys loving loud music and the honking of their horns. The main road Magsaysay Drive was made of gravel and red dust which was kicked up by the jeepneys and choking in the scorching heat. Most of our guys headed for Pauline’s Bar a famous institution in Olongapo City, along with the New Jollo Bar. It was there for the asking, live shows, movies, gambling, sex, fights and rock and roll. In front of Pauline’s bar was the home of the infamous crocodile which was kept in a small pen outside the front of the bar on the foot path. Small children would wander up and down the path selling small ducklings for a peso each to feed the overfed fat crocodile. Every now and then a drunken sailor would jump in the pen to antagonise a sleepy croc, lucky to get out alive. We were informed that the area comprising Olongapo, Angeles City and Subic Bay was home to 500,000 hospitality girls who came from all over the Philippines to escape poverty. Walking up Magsaysay Drive the girls would try to lead the GIs and sailors into a particular bar and encourage them to purchase drinks for themselves and the girls with other offers often given as well. I could tell many stories of events in Olongopo but shall leave it to one when a Petty Officer, commonly known as Black Bob because he spent many hours sun tanning on the way to Vietnam. Our Chief Cook and some other guys were in a two story bar consuming a multitude of drinks when the waiter tried to overcharge them which upset them. They felt the need to defend their cause against a belligerent waiter and bouncers. A fight broke out and the waiter was thrown out of the first-floor window. They escaped the venue by swinging chairs above their heads. After escaping to another bar, a waitress came up to them saying that she knew what they had done because the police were looking for them. They remained hidden and were never discovered, nor did they ever find out what had happened to the poor waiter that was trying to rip them off. Moving around the Philippines by Jeepnee was utterly chaotic. One places their life into their hands, grabs hold of the vehicles side or overhanging rail as the driver weaves in and out of traffic, motor bikes, bicycles and pedestrians. The constant negotiation between man and vehicle had a very strange order. Essentially the constant use of vehicle horns and a hair-raising lack of brake use and language that was probably obscene was par for the course. After about 49 days in Subic Bay Dock Yard undergoing repairs to fix all the damage sustained during the FFI, (Friendly Fire Incident) HMAS Hobart returned to the Gunline. I was happy to get back to Sea and away from the Temptations of Olongapo. We received a Wonderful Reception in our first UNREP, (Underway Replenishment of fuel, ammunition, and stores) with a welcome back ‘Green Ghost’ message – the name the USN (United States Navy) had given our vessel. After the ship had been stored, we departed, called the Breakaway Phase where the Hobart increased revolutions to starboard and hoisted the Rebel Flag from the port yard arm and played over the intercom system ‘Ghost Riders in The Sky’ to the cheering from the Supply Ship which made my chest swell with pride of our war service in our ship. After a few days of Extensive Calls for Fire Missions, we were tasked with night-time Harassment and Indication (H&I) Firings in Danang Harbour. This gun firing was to disrupt the enemy trying to Repair Destroyed Infrastructure we had targeted earlier. Before our return to Australia, we were given R&R in Hong Kong which ended up a very riotous time, without going into detail. Not much imagination has to be used after all that we had been through and thankful to have survived. Due to an approaching cyclone HMAS Hobart along with other ships were ordered out of Hong Kong harbour. Seafarers know it is always best to go head on into the huge waves from a cyclone otherwise the ship could flip over. Prior to meeting the cyclone head on, in preparation the crew spent the time strapping everything they could down securely, both internal and external. Lockers came adrift as she pitched to more than 23 degrees. I remember us riding up the waves and plunging down the other side. At times it felt like we were in a submarine as we crashed through and over gigantic waves. We incurred some minor flooding and some injuries from falls. To use the head (or toilets), you got your rear end washed with salt water, that is if you could stay on the seat. It took a few days to clean everything up. It was the roughest sea I have ever been on. All hands were below decks strapped in their bunk all day. For those trying to eat in the mess, food just slipped of plates onto the table. Many that did try to eat vomited up in passageways and floors. To walk in passageways one foot had to be placed on the bulkhead and one on the deck to keep balance. No one was allowed on the upper decks with fear of being lost overboard, gone forever. The bridge was cleared of unnecessary personnel and sailors spent 20-minute stints at the helm. It was very scary. VIETNAM WAR From my tour in Vietnam later in 1982 in HMAS Hobart having been posted to Navy Office Canberra, I saw our old executive officer who was Lieutenant Commander I. B. James, who had been promoted to Commodore. He had shown tremendous leadership during the incident when our ship was hit by three missiles during warfare. Meeting up with him again unfortunately brought back horrible memories of the death and destruction I had witnessed and helped clean up. My wife Penny later mentioned that experience completely changed me from that day. Unfortunately, I continue to suffer from PTSD with these awful symptoms
