Remembering the war in New Guinea
Australian naval campaigns (Photographs)
Module name: Campaign history (Australian perspective)
This page was contributed by Mr Damien Fenton (Australian War Memorial)

AWM 301318 (Australian War Memorial) The County-class heavy cruiser, HMAS Shropshire, enters Sydney Harbour, late 1943. The Shropshire had been commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in June that year as a replacement for HMAS Canberra (sunk in the battle of Savo Island, 9 August 1942) and joined Task Force 74 in October. Thereafter the Shropshire saw extensive service in the South-West Pacific and later took part in the destruction of the Japanese battleship Yamashiro during the battle of Surigao Strait (25 October 1944) in the Philippines.
AWM 017059 (Australian War Memorial) Australian sailors preparing HMAS Arunta’s torpedo tubes for action while on escort duty during the landings at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, 22 April 1944. Commissioned in April 1942 the Tribal-class destroyer HMAS Arunta saw extensive service throughout the South-West Pacific. In one of her more notable actions the Arunta sunk the Japanese submarine RO-33 just off Port Moresby on 29 August 1942.
AWM 301686 (Australian War Memorial) The RAN sloop HMAS Warrego at anchor, early 1943. Commissioned in August 1940 the Warrego combined extensive surveying work with patrol and escort duties from October 1942 until the end of the war. Given the often outdated or non-existent pre-war knowledge of New Guinea’s coastal waters, hydrographic surveys were an essential part of the Allied naval effort in the area and were largely carried out by sloops and auxiliary craft of the RAN.
AWM 077971 (Australian War Memorial) A Fairmile motor launch, ML802, glides across Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, December 1944. This launch and its compatriot, ML827, operated in conjunction with the Australian 5th Division on New Britain. Thirty-five of these wooden-hulled patrol craft were built in Australia during the war and they gave invaluable service during the later stages of the New Guinea campaign.
AWM 075269 (Australian War Memorial) LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicles and Personnel) are lowered over the side of HMAS Manoora during the landings at Alexishafen, New Guinea, August 1944. Originally fitted out as an armed merchant cruiser the Manoora was converted to an LSI (Landing Ship, Infantry) in late 1942 and as such could carry 1,250 troops, 20–22 LCVPs and 3 LCMs (Landing Craft, Mechanised).
AWM 065881 (Australian War Memorial) The LSI HMAS Westralia off the coast of New South Wales, 1944. The Westralia, like the Manoora, was originally commissioned into RAN service as an armed merchant cruiser before being converted to an LSI in May 1943. Thereafter the Westralia served with the 7th Amphibious Force transporting troops from Australia to New Guinea, helping to train American and Australian infantry in amphibious assaults and taking part in actual amphibious operations, until the end of the war.
AWM 076777 (Australian War Memorial) Depth charges explode in the wake of the Grimsby-class Sloop, HMAS Swan, during a training exercise off Madang, New Guinea, October 1944. The RAN made a major contribution to anti-submarine warfare operations in the South-West Pacific Area. In the course of escorting countless convoys and carrying out seemingly endless patrols at least seven Japanese submarines were destroyed by ships of the RAN during the Pacific War.
AWM 075751 (Australian War Memorial) An Australian Bathurst-class corvette, HMAS Colac, on convoy duty off the coast of New Guinea, September 1944. The Bathurst corvettes were the workhorses of the RAN in the South Pacific campaign carrying out escort, patrol and minesweeping duties to ensure the security of the Allied supply chain from Australia to New Guinea. Altogether 56 ships of this class were built in Australian shipyards during the Second World War but there never seemed to be enough to meet demand.
AWM P00782.009 (Australian War Memorial) Sailors enjoying refreshments on the seaman’s mess deck of HMAS Castlemaine, a Bathurst-class corvette, 1944. Cramped living conditions, a complete lack of privacy and the torrid climate of the tropics combined to ensure that life on board was anything but comfortable.
AWM 077166 (Australian War Memorial) The RAN air-sea rescue launch HMAS Lauriana at anchor in Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, November 1944. Air-sea rescue was another vital function carried out by the RAN in the New Guinea theatre. Operating under RAAF command RAN launches like the Lauriana saved the lives of many Allied aircrew forced to “ditch” in the coastal waters of New Guinea.
AWM 017223 (Australian War Memorial) The Rolls Royce 2-pounder gun barrel of a RAN Fairmile motor launch is cooled down by one of it’s crew during strafing operations on Japanese positions on the north coast of New Guinea, June 1944. At least four Fairmiles were based at Madang at this time and took part in bombardment missions alongside RAN corvettes and sloops throughout May and June. Such missions were of great value in supporting the advance of those Allied ground forces operating in coastal areas.
AWM ART22766 (Australian War Memorial) Roy Hodgkinson, RAN ships paste Japanese posts, 1944, crayon and charcoal, 64 x 50.6 cm, Australian War Memorial ART22766.
AWM ART22824 (Australian War Memorial) Dennis Adams, Dive bombers attackjing, fire from an Oerlikon, 1943, oil on canvas (linen), 60.6 x 50.8 cm, Australian War Memorial ART22824.
AWM ART23824 (Australian War Memorial) Roy Hodgkinson, Bos'n's mate (Able Seaman John Burke), 1944, coloured crayons, 51.8 x 40 cm, Australian War Memorial ART23824.