AUST MILITARY
“A wrong decision cost 100 lives, but produced an epic of sea survival and an act of sublime heroism.” #140522/081122/070423 224 p., [24] p. of plates : ill., maps, ports. ; 22 cm.
Armidale (Corvette) | World War, 1939-1945 — Naval operations, Australian. | World War, 1939-1945 — Campaigns — Timor Sea.
(Including the original “The Ship that had to Die”)
HMAS Armidale (I) was one of sixty Australian Minesweepers (commonly known as corvettes) built during World War II in Australian shipyards as part of the Commonwealth Government’s wartime shipbuilding programme. Twenty were built on Admiralty order but manned and commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy. Thirty six (including Armidale (I)) were built for the Royal Australian Navy and four for the Royal Indian Navy.
These ships established an enviable reputation in the RAN as ‘maids of all work’ but were also renowned for ‘rolling on wet grass’ by those who served in them.
At approximately 13:00 on 1 December 1943, five Japanese bombers were spotted by Armidale’s lookouts. Without adequate air cover there was little hope of surviving the attack and a signal was sent to Darwin requesting urgent fighter cover. For the next half an hour Armidale’s gunners beat off successive Japanese attacks and the ship escaped serious damage. In the meantime a signal was received from Darwin advising that the much needed fighters would arrive at 13:45.
Shortly before 15:00 Armidale was attacked by nine bombers, three fighters and a float plane. The fighters split up and came in at low level strafing Armidale’s decks with machine gun fire. With her gunners thus distracted, the torpedo bombers mounted their attacks from different directions as Richards manoeuvred desperately to avoid their torpedoes. In spite of the brave resistance, the ship was hit twice by torpedoes, immediately heeling over to port. At that point Richards gave the order to abandon ship. Rafts were cut loose and a motor boat freed from its falls before men took to the water. Their ordeal, however, was far from over. The Japanese airmen then pressed home further attacks machine gunning the survivors.