HMAS CANBERRA

HMAS CANBERRA (1) D33 was Commissioned in Clydebank, Scotland, UK on the 9th 0f July 1928 and was sunk by the Japanese Navy off Savo Island on the 9th of August 1942.

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HMAS CANBERRA (2) FFG-02 was Commissioned in Seattle, Washington, USA on the 21st of March 1981 and Decommissioning at Fleet Base West, Rockingham Western Australia on the 12th of November 2005.

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HMAS CANBERRA (3) LHD 02 commissioned into the RAN at Fleet Base East in Sydney, Australia on the 28 November 2014.


HMAS SHROPSHIRE

HMAS SHROPSHIRE was commissioned into the RAN at Chatham, England on the 20 April 1943 and was decommissioned on the 10 November 1949.

 

HMAS CANBERRA HMAS SHROPSHIRE ASSOCIATION NEWS

Archive News 2010-13

Archive News 2014-15

Archive News 2016-17

Updated 24 February 2018

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US Presidential announcement of the Commissioning of USS Canberra 2.

24 February 2018

 

USS Canberra - LCS 30

The members of the HMAS Canberra-HMAS Shropshire Association are delighted with the President of the United States very significant announcement today that a major surface combatant of the United States Navy is to be commissioned the USS Canberra in honour of the HMAS Canberra 1 and the USS Canberra 1.

This honour is very important for the Australian, United States ANZUS relationship and acknowledges the loss of HMAS Canberra 1 and the 86 members of the ship's company at the Battle of Savo Island whilst supporting the US Marine Corps landings at Guadalcanal‎ during World War II in August 1942.

"Lest we Forget"

The Association looks forward to supporting all of those who have served in HMAS Canberra, HMAS Shropshire and the USS Canberra. "Second to None"

Paul (Reg) Livermore 
President
HMAS Canberra-HMAS Shropshire Association
WA Division

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Able Seaman Robert James Brew PM7363 - HMAS Shropshire

13 February 2018

The WA Secretary of the Association Dave Shine and his wife Ellen hosted association member from Victoria Sharyn Loller to dinner with the WA Vice President Lee Webster and Treasurer Carol Webster.

Sharyn's father AB Robert Brew served in HMAS Shropshire in the latter part of WW 2 ,it was great to welcome Sharyn and gain some insight in to her Father's service in the RAN and his life post War.

Robert joined the RAN in 1944 at the age of 17 years, he was posted to HMAS Shropshire on the 16 Mar 1945.

In June 1945 Shropshire was back in the operational area and after supporting the landings at Brunei, she was part of the force at the Balikpapan landings on 3 July.

Shropshire then returned to the Philippines and was there when the Japanese surrendered. She sailed for Tokyo Bay and was present for the surrender ceremony. She remained in Japanese waters until 17 November and returned to Sydney.

In May 1946 Shropshire left Australia for the United Kingdom, carrying the Australian Contingent for the Empire Victory celebrations, returning to Australia in August 1946.

Robert discharged from the Navy on the 16 Sep 1946.

Letter from HRH Prince Philip
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HMAS Canberra 1 veteran, Captain John Philip Stevenson RAN (Ret) awarded AM on Australia Day.

Southern Highland News - 26 January 2018

The distinguished naval career of Captain John Philip Stevenson RAN began on January 26, 1939.

Seventy-nine years later on January 26, 2018, the retired naval officer has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Following his graduation, he became a midshipman on his first ship, HMAS Canberra (I). He travelled to the United Kingdom that May for service on loan with the Royal Navy (RN) and joined the County class heavy cruiser, HMS Shropshire, in which he was serving in the Mediterranean upon the outbreak of World War II (WWII). 

Shropshire was ordered to take up patrol in the South Atlantic and, in 1940, conduct patrol and escort duties in the Indian Ocean between Capetown, Durban, Mombasa and Aden. 

Ongoing training resulted in Stevenson quickly moving up the naval ranks to sub-lieutenant and a return to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)  on board the N Class destroyer HMAS Nestor by February 1941.

From July 1941 Nestor performed escort duties in the Mediterranean and South Atlantic, and on December 15 she was credited with sinking the German submarine U-127 off Cape St Vincent.

While acting as one of the escorts for a large convoy bound for Malta, Nestor was severely damaged by two bombs on June 15, 1942. Following the loss of Nestor, Lieutenant Stevenson, who had continued to move up the ranks, joined HMAS Napier, which conducted escort patrol duties in the Indian Ocean in the second half of 1942. He rejoined the Shropshire in June 1945 after it was commissioned as an RAN vessel.

Lieutenant Stevenson took part in operations in the Shropshire in New Guinea and the Netherlands East Indies before he left the ship to undergo radar training at HMAS Rushcutter and in the UK. After extended studies Lieutenant Stevenson was appointed the RAN Fleet Radar Officer and returned to Shropshire, then in New Guinea waters, in April 1945 and remained with the ship for the rest of the war.

Shropshire was present in Tokyo Bay during the Japanese surrender and was immediately assigned to a team of Australians, Americans and Canadians on prisoner of war (POW) recovery duties around Nagasaki. There he saw first-hand the devastating effects of the atomic bomb which had been detonated less than two weeks earlier.

Lieutenant Stevenson was then posted to HMAS Watson taking over the position of Radar Training Officer. In November 1946 he left for England and a four-year loan period to the Royal Navy where he underwent courses in navigation and fighter direction. He later served in the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and saw operational service in the early days of the Malayan Emergency.

He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in April 1950 and returned to RAN service that July when he joined the carrier HMAS Sydney (III) which was embarking her second carrier air group in Portsmouth at the time. 

Lieutenant Commander Stevenson went on to visit the UK for the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II where he commanded the RAN detachment ashore during the coronation parade and he conducted a post-armistice patrol in Korean waters. It was during this time, in June 1954, that he was promoted to Commander.

He was the naval equerry to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh who visited Australia for the opening of the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and served as commanding officer of HMAS Anzac (II) from January 1957 to June 1958 during which time the Battle class destroyer served in the Far East Strategic Reserve. He spent about 10 months in Asian waters.

In July 1958 he was selected to attend the Naval Command Course at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island, USA, followed by the US Naval Tactical Course in Virginia in July/August 1959. He was recalled in May 1959 to take up the position of Defence attaché to Thailand at a time when communist activity in the country was high and was promoted Captain in December 1960.

He was appointed honorary aide-de-camp to His Excellency the Governor-General on December 8,1961. 

Captain Stevenson was on the Board of Inquiry into the loss of HMAS Voyager (II)  which collided with HMAS Melbourne (II) resulting in the loss of 82 lives in 1964.

He took up the role of naval attaché in Washington 1966 before taking command of HMAS Melbourne (II) in October 1968 which was  recommissioned after a refit in February 1969. The Melbourne sailed from Sydney for the Far East on May 5, 1969. In the early hours of June 3,1969  the American destroyer USS Frank E Evans crossed her bows and was cut in two in an incident all too similar to that of Voyager (II) five years earlier. The forward section of Evans sank with the loss of 74 lives and Melbourne sustained extensive damage to her bow section.

A joint USN/RAN Board of Inquiry into the tragedy held Captain Stevenson partly responsible stating that, as commanding officer of Melbourne, he could have done more to prevent the collision from occurring; however, a subsequent RAN court-martial cleared him of any responsibility. 

Stevenson’s defence council, Gordon Samuels, QC, later Governor of New South Wales, said that he had “never seen a prosecution case so bereft of any possible proof of guilt.”

Captain Stevenson subsequently resigned from the RAN in 1970 bringing to an end what had been, up to that point, a distinguished 35-year naval career. 

The story of his experience of the Melbourne/Evans tragedy was told by his wife, Joanne, in the books In the Wake (1972) and No Case to Answer (1999).

Stevenson received an official apology from the Minister for Defence, the Hon Stephen Smith, MP, in November 2012. Sadly his wife did not live to her the apology as she passed away on June 26, 2012.

Smith stated that Stevenson was not treated fairly by the government of the day and the Australian Navy following the events of 1969. He described Stevenson as “a distinguished naval officer who served his country with honour in peace and war”.

Captain Stevenson, 96, worked in AGL from 1970-1985 after that he was tasked with setting up ELGas from 1985-1987. He then retired and spent time skiing in Lake Tahoe before moving moving retiring to Burradoo with his wife, Joanne in 2000. They were married for 54 years when she died in 2012. Captain Stevenson, 96, now lives at St Vincents Care, Edgecliff.

Their daughter, Kerry Stevenson,  said that while he father was now vision impaired he was still “bright as a button”. 

“He is delighted to be receiving an AM and he is really moved by this recognition as are many others who know him and the service he gave to this country,” she said.

Captain Stevenson will celebrate the special honour with a morning tea on January 26. He will be joined by family and friends including several retired navy admirals.

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Letter recieved from the Association's Patron in Chief - HRH Prince Philip

02 February 2018