The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (PA846) Able Seaman Raymond Wadrop, HMAS Goorangai, Second World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (PA846) Able Seaman Raymond Wadrop, HMAS Goorangai, Second World War.

PA846 Able Seaman Raymond Wadrop, HMAS Goorangai
Accidentally killed 20 November 1940
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 16 March 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Able Seaman Raymond Wadrop of the Royal Australian Navy.

Ray Wadrop was born on 18 August 1910 in Adelaide. He was well known as a swimmer in the Port Adelaide district, where he was an active member of the Ethelton Amateur Swimming Club. He also taught children and adults how to swim and gave lessons in lifesaving skills, and was credited for "elevating many of them to first-grade ranks" in the South Australian Amateur Swimming Association. He was married to Beatrice and was also a member of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve.

Wadrop was called up for active duty in September 1939 following the outbreak of war, and was posted to HMAS Goorangai. This vessel had been a fishing trawler in peacetime, but when the war started she was taken over by the Navy Board and fitted out for minesweeping. David McGregor, also a member of the Naval Reserve, had captained her in peacetime and was called up to the rank of Warrant Officer to remain captain of the Goorangai in her new role.

In early November 1940 a British ship and an American freighter were lost in quick succession in Bass Strait to German mine-laying operations. HMAS Goorangai was one of a number of minesweepers sent to locate and destroy the mines. After two weeks on that operation the minesweeper returned to Queenscliff, but a rising storm sent the ship to the safer harbour of Portsea.

As the Goorangai passed in darkness through the dangerous rip at the mouth of Port Philip Bay she was hit by an outbound merchant ship and torn almost in half. A crewman on the ship that hit the Goorangai reported: "In the short time it took me to run along the promenade deck to the rail by the bridge the Goorangai had disappeared. There was not a sound but the crash of water." In that moment in between, some eyewitnesses heard men calling for help, but could do little for them.

Floatation devices were thrown out into the darkness and lifeboats deployed immediately, but despite a long search no survivors or bodies were found. The minesweeper had sunk almost immediately with all hands still on board.

Over the following weeks diving operations recovered the bodies of five of the crew. The remaining 19, including that of Ray Wadrop, were never recovered, and the wreck of the minesweeper was blown up to clear the channel.

After 15 months of war, HMAS Goorangai was the first vessel of the Royal Australian Navy to be lost in the Second World War, and the first surface vessel of the RAN to be lost in wartime at all.

The names of Ray Wadrop and the crew of HMAS Goorangai are listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, along with around 40,000 others from the Second World War. There is no photograph of Wadrop in the Memorial's collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Able Seaman Raymond Wadrop, and all of those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.