HMAS Sydney (R17/A214/P214/L134) was a light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built for the Royal Navy and was launched as HMS Terrible (93) in 1944, but was not completed before the end of World War II. The carrier was sold to Australia in 1947, completed, and commissioned into the RAN as Sydney in 1948.
Sydney was the first of three conventional aircraft carriers to serve in the RAN, and operated as the navy's flagship during the early part of her career. From late 1951 to early 1952, she operated off the coast of Korea during the Korean War, making her the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion, and the only carrier in the RAN, to see wartime service. Retasked as a training vessel following the 1955 arrival of her modernised sister ship, , Sydney remained in service until 1958, when she was placed in reserve as surplus to requirements.
The need for a sealift capability saw the ship modified for service as a fast troop transport, and recommissioned in 1962. Sydney was initially used for training and a single supply run in support of Malaysia's defence policy against Indonesia, but in 1965, she sailed on the first voyage to Vũng Tàu, transporting soldiers and equipment to serve in the Vietnam War. 25 voyages to Vietnam were made between 1965 and 1972, earning the ship the nickname "Vung Tau Ferry".
Sydney was decommissioned in 1973, and was not replaced. Despite several plans to preserve all or part of the ship as a maritime museum, tourist attraction, or car park, the carrier was sold to a South Korean steel mill for scrapping in 1975.
Design
Sydney was one of six light fleet carriers; a modified version of the carrier, incorporating improvements in flight deck design and habitability. These two classes of carriers were intended to be 'disposable warships': they were to be operated during World War II and scrapped at the end of hostilities or within three years of entering service.Hobbs, in The Navy and the Nation, p. 217 Sydney was the second ship of the class to enter service, following Canadian aircraft carrier .
The carrier had a standard displacement of 15,740 tons, and a deep displacement of 19,550 tons.Cassells, The Capital Ships, pp. 164–5 Her length was between perpendiculars and at her longest point, with a beam of and a draught of . Sydney was fitted with four Admiralty 3-drum boilers, which provided steam to Parsons single reduction geared turbines; these supplied to the two propeller shafts, and allowed the ship to reach . The average size of the ship's company in peacetime was 1,100, but could be increased to 1,300 for wartime deployments. Refitting the ship to serve as a transport reduced the standard displacement to 14,380 tons and the ship's company to a core of 544, which was supplemented by trainees and personnel from the Royal Australian Navy Reserve when required.Blackman (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships (1968–69), p. 12
The British Admiralty predicted that all Majestic-class carriers would require upgrades to their aircraft lifts and arrester gear in the early 1950s, to operate the faster and heavier carrier aircraft under development. Originally, the RAN wanted to upgrade Sydney to the same or similar standard as sister ship , after the second carrier was delivered. The installation of an angled flight deck and mirror landing aid, would have allowed Sydney to operate modern jet aircraft.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 105 However, financial and manpower restrictions led to the cancellation of this program.Wright, Australian Carrier Decisions, p. 160
Armament, sensors, and aircraft Sydney was initially armed with thirty Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns: eighteen single mountings and six twin mountings. During her refit as a troop transport, the carrier's armament was reduced to four single Bofors.
The radar suite included two Type 277Q height-finding sets, one Type 293M surface search set, one Type 960/281BQ long-range air warning set, and one Type 961 air search set.
As an aircraft carrier, Sydney operated with the RAN Fleet Air Arm's 20th and 21st Carrier Air Groups (CAGs), which were assigned alternately to the carrier. The former was made up of 805 and 816 Squadrons, while the latter was made up of 808 and 817 Squadrons. Twenty-four aircraft, split evenly between Hawker Sea Fury fighters and Fairey Firefly attack aircraft, were normally carried. Two Supermarine Sea Otter amphibious aircraft were carried for rescue duties (but were never required for this purpose); they were not attached to any squadron, but operated as the 'Ship's Flight'.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 62 The amphibians were removed from the ship at the start of her Korean War deployment, and were replaced by a helicopter.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 106 During the carrier's Korean War deployment, 805 Squadron was added to the 21st CAG to form a 38-strong wartime air group.
While undergoing conversion into a troop transport, the ability to operate aircraft was removed from Sydney. However, on seven of the troopship's twenty-five voyages to Vietnam, she carried a flight of four Westland Wessex helicopters, sourced from either 725 or 817 Squadron, for anti-submarine surveillance.Cooper, in The Royal Australian Navy, p. 204Nott & Payne, The Vung Tau Ferry, p. 33
Construction and acquisition The ship was laid down by HM Dockyard Devonport in England as HMS Terrible on 19 April 1943, with the Viscountess Astor presiding over the ceremony.Cassells, The Capital Ships, p. 165 She was the only aircraft carrier of the Colossus or Majestic classes to be constructed in a 'royal dockyard': a dockyard owned and operated by the Royal Navy.Hobbs, in The Navy and the Nation, p. 210 She was launched on 30 September 1944 by the wife of British politician Duncan Sandys. Work on the ship continued until the end of World War II, when the Admiralty ordered the suspension of all warship construction.Hobbs, HMAS Melbourne II – 25 Years On, p. 5
A post-war review by the Australian government's Defence Committee recommended that the RAN be restructured around a task force incorporating multiple aircraft carriers.Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, p. 33 Initial plans were for three carriers, with two active and a third in reserve at any given time, although funding cuts led to the purchase of only two carriers in June 1947; Terrible and sister ship Majestic, for the combined cost of AU£2.75 million, plus stores, fuel, and ammunition.Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, pgs. 38, 45–47 As Terrible was fitted out as a flagship and was the closer of the two ships to completion, construction was finished without major modification.Wright, Australian Carrier Decisions, p. 151 Although Terrible was due for completion on 24 June 1948, a skilled labour shortage affected the installation of the ship's boilers, causing the Admiralty to revise the delivery date to October 1948.Wright, Australian Carrier Decisions, p 155
A commissioning crew for the aircraft carrier was raised in Australia from the ship's company of the decommissioned cruiser , which departed from Sydney aboard in June 1948.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 57 Ex-Royal Navy sailors were used to fill out the carrier's complement. Terrible was handed over to the RAN on 16 December 1948, and was commissioned at noon as HMAS Sydney.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 60 One of the reasons behind the choice in name was so AU£426,000 raised by the HMAS Sydney Replacement Fund after the loss of the light cruiser HMAS Sydney in 1941 could be accessed. Sydney was the last vessel to be commissioned into the RAN as 'His' Majesty's Australian Ship: as after the death of King George VI on 6 February 1952 and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, all RAN ships became 'Her' Majesty's.Cooper, in The Royal Australian Navy, opp. p. 160
Operational history
1949–1951
Although commissioned in mid-December 1948, Sydney did not enter service until 5 February 1949, as work was still being completed. On 25 December 1948, while still fitting out in Devonport, a helicopter from carrying Santa Claus became the first aircraft to land on Sydneys flight deck.Lind, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 220 The ship's sea trials and post-commissioning workup were not without event: in early December 1948, a 771 Naval Air Squadron de Havilland Mosquito crashed while helping Sydney calibrate her radar suite, killing both British aircrew, and a RAN pilot undergoing landing qualifications aboard on 17 March 1949 crashed while attempting to land: none were killed, but the pilot's Fairey Firefly and four others in the deck park were destroyed.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 59
The carrier sailed from Devonport on 12 April 1949, carrying the 20th CAG.McCaffrie, in Sea power ashore and in the air, p. 173 Sydney arrived at Jervis Bay on 25 May, where the aircraft of the 20th CAG and training equipment were offloaded for transport to the new naval air station, , before the carrier proceeded to her namesake city.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 69 Sydney arrived in Sydney on 2 June, and took over as Flagship of the Australian Fleet from on 25 August.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 73Bastock, Australia's Ships of War, p, 304 20th CAG was reembarked during August, and Sydney exercised in Australian and New Guinea waters until late November. From January to April 1950, the carrier continued training exercises and visited ports in south-east Australia and New Zealand, and on 7 June, she departed for England to collect the 21st CAG.ANAM, Flying Stations, pp. 74–5 The 21st CAG embarked in October, and the carrier returned to Australia in December. Before Sydney departed in late October, the British Admiralty suggested that she be deployed to the Korean War as relief for and her worn-out catapult, but this was withdrawn because of the plan's drawbacks.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 76
On 29 January 1951, Sydney was part of an eighteen-ship fleet present in Sydney Harbour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australia's Federation.Lind, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 224 Following this, the carrier joined a multinational training exercise in south-east Australian waters, then visited Hobart for the Royal Hobart Regatta.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 80 During the exercise, a Sea Fury accidentally fired four practice rockets into the superstructure of the New Zealand flagship, : although an inquiry concluded that the pilot had unintentionally pressed the fire button, it was later found that certain signal frequencies transmitted by Sydneys radio aerials could trigger a Fury's firing circuits. Sydney was presented with the Gloucester Cup in April 1951, recognising her as the most efficient ship in the RAN for 1950. The two CAGs were switched over in April, and on 3 May, a Sea Fury crashed during a rocket-assisted take off; the pilot became the carrier's first fatality.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 81
Korean War (1951–1952)
In March 1951, the First Sea Lord requested that Sydney be deployed to Korea while was refitted in Australia, to maintain a Commonwealth carrier presence.McCaffrie, in Sea power ashore and in the air, p. 174Hobbs, British Commonwealth Carrier Operations of the Korean War, p. 66 This was agreed to, and a 38-strong wartime CAG was formed on 14 May by incorporating the Sea Furies of 805 Squadron into the 21st CAG. Because RAN Fireflies were optimised for anti-submarine warfare, and consequently not fitted with cannon, cannon-equipped RN aircraft were loaned for the duration of Sydneys deployment.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 79 After completing pre-departure exercises, during which several aircraft were destroyed in non-fatal, weather-induced deck crashes, Sydney and the destroyer sailed for Korea on 31 August. While en route, the carrier's aircraft were used for a fly-past demonstration over Rabaul on 6 September, following civil unrest.ANAM, Flying Stations, p. 84 On her arrival, Sydney became the first aircraft carrier owned by a Commonwealth dominion to see wartime service.