HMAS Perth (D 38) was the lead ship of the guided missile destroyers operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in the United States to a modified version of the Charles F. Adams design, Perth entered service with the RAN in 1965.
The destroyer made three deployments to the Vietnam War, earning a RAN battle honour and two United States Navy commendations for her service. The majority of the ship's career was spent on training exercises and goodwill visits to other nations, with one deployment as far as the Mediterranean. Perth was decommissioned in 1999, and sunk as a dive wreck off the coast of Western Australia in 2001.
Design and construction Perth was the lead ship of three guided missile destroyers built for the RAN.Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 81 Based on the United States Navy's , Perth had a displacement of 3,370 tons at standard load, and 4,618 tons at full load, a length of overall and between perpendiculars, a beam of , and a maximum draught of . Propulsion was provided by four Foster Wheeler boilers feeding two General Electric turbines, which provided to the destroyer's two propeller shafts. Perth could achieve speeds of . The ship's company consisted of 22 officers and 311 sailors.
As a guided missile destroyer, Perths main armament consisted of a Mark 13 missile launcher firing Tartar missiles. This was supplemented by two 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 guns and two Mark 32 triple torpedo tube sets.Chant, A compendium of armaments and military hardware, p. 208 Over the course of the ship's career, two Ikara anti-submarine missile launchers were installed during a refit in 1966–67, then removed in 1991, the Mark 13 launcher was modified to fire Standard missiles, and two Phalanx CIWS units were installed.
Perth was laid down at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company shipyard in Bay City, Michigan, on 21 September 1962. She was launched on 26 September 1963 by the wife of Howard Beale, the Australian Ambassador to the United States. Perth was completed on 22 May 1965, having cost $45 million to construct, and was commissioned into the RAN on 17 July. During the month leading up to the commissioning, the ship's company volunteered to help create hiking trails in the forests of Rhode Island's George Washington Management Area. The destroyer spent eight months in American waters on trials and exercises before sailing for her namesake city, via Pearl Harbor and Suva, on 12 February 1966. During construction, the ship was assigned the United States Navy hull number DDG-25.Sea Power Centre-Australia, AWD, Hobart, MFU or DDGH – What's in a name?
Operational history In April 1967, Perth was ordered to Macquarie Island to rescue a seriously ill researcher. The ship arrived without incident, but conditions at the island were so adverse to boat handling that instead, the ship's diver swam ashore and back towing a liferaft.
Vietnam deployments
During the mid-1960s, the United States government pressured Australia to increase the resources it was committing to the Vietnam War; one of the requests was for a combat vessel to help the USN meet the demand for naval gunfire support operations.Grey, Up Top, pgs. 132, 138–9 The idea of deploying a RAN combat ship to the Vietnam War was initially hampered by the number of ships available, particularly with commitments to the Far East Strategic Reserve and involvement in the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, along with the difficulty of operating and maintaining British-designed ships with USN resources.Grey, Up Top, pgs. 76, 80 On 14 December 1966, the Australian Cabinet approved the deployment of Hobart as part of increases to Australian military commitment to the conflict.Grey, Up Top, p. 81 Destroyers deployed to the Vietnam theatre generally operated in one of four roles: Patrols along the coast of North Vietnam as part of Operation Sea Dragon to interdict coastal shipping, with secondary attacks on inland supply lines and military targets, along with coastal defence sites that had fired on American and Australian ships.Grey, Up Top, pp. 125–30 Ships assigned to Sea Dragon were normally split into a northern and southern unit (although during 1967 up to four units were operating at any time), with each unit made up of two to three ships.Grey, Up Top, p. 129 However, the Australian government forbade RAN vessels from operating in the northern area.Grey, Up Top, p. 141 Naval gunfire support operations to assist ground forces, particularly the United States Marine Corps units operating closest to the North Vietnam border.Grey, Up Top, pp. 130–5 Seven ships were usually stationed on the 'gunline', and attacks fell into two categories: 'unspotted' shelling of areas where North Vietnamese or Viet Cong forces and facilities were known or believed to be, and 'spotted' fire missions in direct support of ground troops.Grey, Up Top, p. 132 In this role, Perth operated under the callsign "Gunpowder".Grey, Up Top, p. 155 Anti-infiltration operations under Operation Market Time, which aimed to stop the logistic supply and reinforcement of Viet Cong units operating in South Vietnam by tracking, intercepting, and searching coastal shipping.Grey, Up Top, p. 135-8 RAN destroyers were never formally assigned to Market Time, but the overlap of the gunline and Market Time operational areas meant the ships were often called on to assist by tracking suspicious ships or participating in raids.Grey, Up Top, p. 135 Escort of USN aircraft carriers involved in Operation Rolling Thunder airstrikes.Grey, Up Top, p. 125 Although RAN ships on deployment were expected to fulfil all duties of an equivalent American destroyer, they were forbidden by the Australian government from operating outside the Vietnam theatre on unrelated Seventh Fleet duties (such as the Taiwan Patrol Force, guard ship duties at Hong Kong, or the Space Recovery Program).Grey, Up Top, pp. 140–1 After the invasion of Cambodia in 1970, RAN ships were also prohibited from entering Cambodian waters.
While deployed to Vietnam, the destroyers were placed under the administrative control of Commander Australian Forces Vietnam in addition to that of the Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet.Grey, Up Top, pp. 82–3 Operationally, the RAN vessels were under the command of the United States Seventh Fleet.Grey, Up Top, p. 82 Arrangements were made to provide logistic support through the United States Pacific Fleet. A USN lieutenant was assigned to each ship during deployments to act as a liaison with the Seventh Fleet.Grey, Up Top, p. 144 The deployment of in March 1967 began a pattern of six-month deployments for RAN destroyers, with a constant RAN presence with the Seventh Fleet.Cooper, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 204 Australia was the only allied nation to provide naval support to the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.Grey, Up Top, pp. 94–5
First deployment On 14 September 1967, Vietnam duties were handed to Perth by Hobart. The destroyer's first assignment was the gunline off the II Corps operating area, where Perth rendezvoused with on 26 September.Grey, Up Top, p. 157 The ship was specifically tasked with providing gunfire support for the 1st Cavalry Division of the United States Army, which was involved in Operation Pershing. Three days later, Perth was reassigned to the northern part of South Vietnam, in response to increased North Vietnamese activity.Grey, Up Top, p. 158 On 2 October, both turrets broke down; both were repaired by 23:00, but the aft turret failed again the next evening, with the new problem beyond repair until replacement parts were air-dropped on 5 October.Grey, Up Top, pp. 161–2 Perth was redeployed to Sea Dragon operations on 16 October, joining American cruiser .Grey, Up Top, p. 163 On the morning of 18 October, the destroyer was fired on by coastal artillery while investigating a group of fishing junks; Perth was hit once, with the shell deflecting off the aft gun turret and penetrating the superstructure to start a fire in the confidential books vault. The gun turret captain was later awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his actions in response to the attack, while the officer of the watch was mentioned in despatches for courage and calmness under fire.Grey, Up Top, p. 170 Six days later, Perth and fired on six small supply craft, sinking five.
Perth sailed to Subic for emergency maintenance and rebarrelling on 26 October, and returned to Sea Dragon duties on 1 November. Another maintenance period occurred between 7 and 16 November, after which Perth sailed to Singapore for shore leave, returning to operations on 27 November.Grey, Up Top, p. 164 This gunline deployment lasted until 20 December, with Perth coming under shore battery fire on two occasions, but receiving no hits or damage. After maintenance at Subic, the destroyer returned Sea Dragon operations on 9 January. Problems with the forward gun turret and the starboard propeller saw Perth withdraw to Subic for repairs on 2 February.Grey, Up Top, p. 165 These were completed by 14 February, with the destroyer returning to the Sea Dragon force that day. The commanding officer of Perth was appointed overall commander of both the northern and southern task units; the northern unit was normally led by the commander of the assigned cruiser, but Newport News was in dock for maintenance.Grey, Up Top, p. 165-6 In mid-February, the forward gun mount malfunctioned again, which left the turret operational but unable to rotate.Grey, Up Top, p. 166 On 1 March, the destroyer withdrew for maintenance, returning to operations ten days later.Grey, Up Top, p. 168 On 23 March, Perth withdrew to Subic to conclude her tour of duty, and was replaced on 31 March by Hobart.Grey, Up Top, p. 169-70
The destroyer was awarded the United States Navy Unit Commendation for her service during the deployment. In addition to the two personnel awards for actions in response to the 18 October hit, Perths commanding officer was Mentioned in Despatches, and 22 personnel received Naval Board commendations.
Second deployment On 19 September 1968, Perth departed from Sydney to replace Hobart in the Vietnam warzone.Grey, Up Top, p. 189 En route, a training exercise with RAAF aircraft revealed that one of the radars and both identification-friend-or-foe units had defects, which were repaired in Subic. Perth relieved her sister ship on 29 September, and after exercising with the Seventh Fleet, deployed to the gunline on 5 October. Four days later, the destroyer sailed north to relieve as leader of the northern Sea Dragon unit, as that destroyer was experiencing faults with her gun turrets and targeting computer.Grey, Up Top, p. 190 The next day, Perth and were joined by the battleship , with the battleship taking command of the unit and the Australian destroyer was reassigned back to the southern force. On 21 October, a day after rejoining the northern Sea Dragon unit, the destroyer observed the return of 14 North Vietnamese prisoners-of-war.Grey, Up Top, p. 191