Category: Royal Australian Navy: Destroyers, Frigates and Sloops

A very readable account of their wartime and post-war careers. They served in the Pacific, very often with American forces.

PARRY, A. F. HMAS Yarra 1936–1942: The Story of a Gallant Sloop. [x], 92p., illus. Garden Island: Naval Historical Society of Australia, 1980. ISBN: 0909153078.

The author has re-presented his earlier work above, now with the benefit of hindsight and the official record and without wartime censorship.  Limited edition of 1,000 copies. A new edition with more images was published by the Society in 2020, ISBN: 9780648776.    

CARLTON, Mike. The Scrap Iron Flotilla: Five Valiant Destroyers and the Australian War in the Mediterranean. xvi, 432p., bibliog., illus., index. Sydney, Heinemann, 2022. ISBN: 9781761042003.

The five old RAN V&W class destroyers served with distinction in 1940-41 and were at the heart of action in the Mediterranean battles of that period.

H.M.A.S. Yarra ; Epic of the Jervis Bay ; H.M.A.S. Ovens. 6, 5, [1]p., [2] p. of plates. [Canberra] : Naval Historical Society, A.C.T. Chapter, [1983]. ISBN: 0909153213.

Three brief essays. One Is on the three ships of name Yarra; One covers the Jervis Bay. Her Captain Fogarty Fegan had served in the Australian Naval College named Jervis Bay, while thirdly, HMAS Ovens is a post-war preserved submarine.

BURRELL, Henry. The Loss of the First Voyager (Naval Historical Society of Australia. ACT Chapter, Publication 15). [13p], illus. Canberra, ACT: Naval Historical Society ACT Chapter, [1983]. ISBN: 0909153191.

Vice-Admiral Burrell gives a detailed account of the grounding and scuttling and the subsequent Board of Inquiry. In essence this reprints an article from the Journal of the Australian Naval Institute.

MURRAY, Allan A. HMAS Nepal: To Tokyo, 1943-45 (Short Military Stories, Book 9). vi, 62p., illus. [n.p.], Family Murray Trust, 2019. ISBN: 978167870.

Following on from his earlier work this covers her service in the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the latter part of the war.

MURRAY, Allan A. HMAS Nepal: the Chameleon, 1939-43 (Men and Ships at War, Book 3). vii, 54p., illus. [n.p.], Family Murray Trust, 2017. ISBN: 9781521904572.

Describes the service in early World War II of the Australian-crewed destroyer Nepal when the author’s great uncle, Bobby Forbes, was a crew member. The ship started life intended for the Royal Navy as the Norseman, but was commissioned into the RAN. Soon after commissioning, she played the role of the fictional HMS Torrin in the 1942 film 'In Which We Serve'. She served mainly in the Indian Ocean.

THOMSON, Max. 8th Div Home From Changi 1945 (H.M.A.S. Hawkesbury). Addendum: USS Mount Hood Explodes 1944. (Naval Historical Society of Australia, Monograph 11). 13p., illus. Garden Island, NSW: Naval Historical Society of Australia, 1989.

The text of two lectures given to the Victoria Chapter of the Society in 1988 and 1989. The first records the movements of Hawkesmoor in the dying days of the war and her trip to Singapore to return Australian POWs. The second deals with a catastrophic incident in Manus harbour in November 1944. There are several pages of poorly reproduced photographs.

The Q Class destroyers Quiberon and Quickmatch were commissioned into the RAN, while Quality, Quadrant and Queenborough served with the BPF and transferred to the RAN at war's end.

The story of Yarra's last battle and a gallant sailor who fought for his ship until the end.

Nizam spent the early part of her service in the Atlantic, then went to the Mediterranean, where she was involved in the Crete and Syria-Lebanon Campaigns, the Tobruk Ferry Service, and the Malta Convoys. During 1942, she took part in Operation Vigorous and the Madagascar Campaign. The next year saw her involved in patrols of the Indian and South Atlantic, searching for German vessels, and rescuing the survivors of U-boat attacks. After returning to Australia for a refit at the end of 1944, ten sailors were washed overboard in January 1945, with none seen again. The rest of World War II was spent operating in the Philippines and New Guinea regions.

A complete but censored account of the career of this hard-worked sloop, which served from Tobruk to Singapore before being sunk by the Japanese early in 1942. The author served on her as a Leading Seaman until just two weeks before her sinking.

Diamantina is Australia's largest World War II survivor and the last of over 200 River class and variant frigates the Allies built during that conflict. Built in Queensland, HMAS Diamantina went to war at Bougainville in 1945, and was later to become the venue for the Japanese surrenders at Nauru and Ocean Island. Decommissioned in 1980, she is now a major attraction at Queensland's Maritime Museum on the Brisbane River.

Provides detailed information on the origin of the ship names, comprehensive histories and technical data. Service history and battles of the ships. Full lists of commanding officers, recently updated casualty lists and battle honours.

The story of the Australian V&Ws at war in the Mediterranean.

A history of this sloop-frigate of the Royal Australian Navy. This ship took part in landings on hostile shores and gained many battle honours, including Sunda Straits, New Guinea, Halmaheras, Philippines and Borneo.

The career of the Australian frigate. Completed early in 1944, she was active off the coast of New Guinea, at Tarakan, and supported the AIF landings on Borneo in 1945.

Experiences of an Australian petty officer on an N Class destroyer in the Indian Ocean and Pacific. From these experiences the author presents a composite picture of characters and incidents.

The story of the Australian V & W's, which won undying fame as the "Wobbly 10th" DF in the Mediterranean in 1940–41. The full wartime career of each ship is described in detail.

The first full account of these busy destroyers lent to the RAN. A second edition was published in 1974.

A heavily illustrated set of ships biographies.

The story of the 12 River and Modified River class frigates built for the RAN between 1st July 1942 and 1st May 1946. Gives a broad overview of the service of these ships and outlines the ships' stories.

The son of a crew member produces what is effectively a logbook of her wartime career.

The story of the author's service and of the ship from 1939 until July 1941. Stuart was flotilla leader of the Australian V&W Class destroyers which served in the Mediterranean in that period. Much has been omitted "for security reasons."

The Captain of Voyager was blamed for her grounding and subsequent loss, but this review of the circumstances exonerates him.