About This Unit
HMAS Australia (II) D84 - WW2
HMAS Australia D84 was one of two 'County' Kent Class heavy cruisers of 10,000 tons displacement and armed with eight x 8 inch guns in four turrets (A and B forward, X and Y to the rear of the ship) built in Scotland for the Royal Australian Navy's expansion program in the mid 1920s, the other ship being HMAS Canberra. These two ships, and one or two others, constituted Australia's active Navy during the Great Depression when costs forced most of the Navy dockside.
They were both to see significant service in WW2, although Canberra was to be lost off Guadacanal in 1942 in the Battle of Savo Sound.
The Australia was 1923 metres long and 20 metres beam, with a complement of around 800 crew.
HMAS Australia's story is related below in the context of its Battle Honours
Atlantic 1940–41 (/explore/campaigns/99)
Pacific 1941–43 (/explore/campaigns/96)
Coral Sea 1942 (/explore/campaigns/50)
Savo Island 1942
Guadalcanal 1942
New Guinea 1942–44
Leyte Gulf 1944 (/explore/campaigns/97)
Lingayen Gulf 1945
Content under development
Stories
Battle Honours
Battle Honours WW2
Atlantic 1940–41
Pacific 1941–43
Coral Sea 1942
Savo Island 1942
Guadalcanal 1942
New Guinea 1942–44
Leyte Gulf 1944
Lingayen Gulf 1945
Submitted 6 January 2016
Action off Dakar Senegal
When the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia took part in a British effort to neutralise Vichy French naval forces at Dakar (now the capital of Senegal), the French refusal to negotiate led to several naval engagements from 23 September 1940. On this day, the British ships lying offshore catapulted their gun-spotting aircraft before again approaching the anchorage. As Australia moved to engage, it was hit by several enemy rounds but without sustaining serious damage. Its own fire went unreported by the ship’s amphibian (A2-L2247), which had been set upon by three Vichy Curtiss Hawk fighters and shot down into the sea. Two crew were seen to bail out as the Walrus went down, leading to a belief that the pilot, Flight Lieutenant George Clarke from No 9 Squadron, had been disabled in the attack. Attempts to rescue the crew were not successful, however, and all three men died.
Air Force History Unit
Submitted 25 September 2014 by Steve Larkins
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