HMAS Voyager (II) Dinner
Mr Matthew Anderson PSM, Director of the Australian War Memorial
Distinguished guests, ladies, gentlemen and HMAS Voyager survivors
We have just read the names of the 82 members of HMAS Voyager II (including the dockworker) who lost their lives, about 20 nautical miles from here, on that fateful night of 10 February 1964.
We acknowledge the survivors here tonight from both VOYAGER and MELBOURNE and the event that changed their lives – and those of their loved ones - and continue to reverberate to this day.
And as we say at the Memorial every night, we also honour those here who have served, those still serving, and the families that love and support them.
82 men lost.
232 survived.
50 percent were aged between 17-19, and many were on their first time at sea.
The survivors lost a quarter of their shipmates in a matter of minutes.
It has been said this was Australia’s worst peacetime disaster.
I would like to reflect on the term ‘peacetime’. In my experience of the Royal Australian Navy, you are always in one of two states: at war, or preparing for war.
In 1964 we were in the midst of the cold war, and Australia’s focus was on South East Asia.
Voyager had just come out of refit, and Melbourne was also recently out of the dock.
It was the first time in 6 months either ship had worked in close company with another.
It was a moonless night but the skies were clear.
Recovering Fleet Air Arm aircraft from Albatross, both ships were only running navigation lights.
Why?
Because they were preparing for war.
For the current serving members of the RAN here this evening, I’d like to paint a picture of the operating tempo of the RAN at the time.
The RAN’s contribution to the Far East Strategic Reserve (FESR) (a joint military force of British, Australian, and New Zealand armed forces, conceived as a forward defence point protecting interests in South East Asia from communist threats) included an annual visit from an aircraft carrier: Melbourne. Voyager was usually involved in these deployments.
Established in the 1950s, FESR became particularly important in the early 1960s with the Confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia over the creation of the Federation of Malaysia. As early as 1961, Indonesia had threatened to block the right of free passage through the waters of the Indonesian Archipelago.
The period of the disaster also coincided with Australia’s early commitments to the Vietnam War: the arrival of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) in July and August 1962 – by February 1964 we had more than 200 soldiers in Vietnam; and in August 1964 the RAAF sent a flight of Caribou transports to the port of Vung Tau.
But with regard to the Melbourne and Voyager they too had been busy throughout this period.
1959 Exercise FOTEX, a weapon training period designed to provide an opportunity for Commonwealth ships on the Far East Station to work up their weapon efficiency prior to Exercise SEA DEMON, a challenging SEATO exercise, involving 27 surface ships, three submarines, naval and land based aircraft from member nations.
1960 SEATO Exercise SEA LION involved more than 60 ships and 20,000 sailors, representing all eight SEATO members
1961 Commonwealth Maritime Exercise JET 61 in the Indian Ocean, 24 February-10 March 1961, which saw 25 warships from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, India, Ceylon and Pakistan participating.
Again, this is the backdrop – the operational tempo or battle rhythm – as to why HMAS Melbourne with HMAS Voyager as its Rescue Destroyer or Plane Guard were 20 miles away, off the coast of Huskisson in the East Australia Training Area.
In preparing for tonight, I read the Royal Commission Reports – both of them – to understand what happened that night. Such was the magnitude of the loss, and the shock to both the Navy and to Australia – the loss of HMAS Voyager is the only event in Australia’s history that has been the subject of two Royal Commissions.
I have listened to historical podcasts, watched youtubes, spoken to historians, retired Admirals and young officers.
And yet, it’s fair to say, while we know what happened that night, we can never, conclusively, know why, because Captain Roberts, his Navigator and the Officer of the watch were all killed in the collision.
But if the survivors can take any comfort from the event, it’s that the lessons were learned – the hardest possible way – on that fateful night on 10 February 1964.
Changes have been made to prevent a similar occurrence.
RAN procedures were created for challenging another ship that was seen to be manoeuvring dangerously, or which had transmitted an unclear manoeuvring signal.
Rules for escort vessels operating with Melbourne were developed and promulgated.
Among other instructions, these rules banned escorts from approaching within 2,000 yards of the carrier unless specifically instructed to, and stated that any manoeuvre around Melbourne was to commence with a turn away from the carrier.
The new rules were applied to all ships that sailed in concert with the carrier, including those of foreign navies. Of course the Melbourne’s collision with the USS Frank E Evans in 1969 proved once again the life and death nature of effective bridge watch keeping.
I spoke with LEUT Bryce O’Hara, currently ADC to the Minister of Defence and, without prompting, he could speak to the lessons learned of the Voyager disaster and its echoes to bridges of HM Australian Ships to this very day.
Government has just concluded a Defence Tribunal Inquiry into medallic recognition of those killed or wounded in service (including for families of the deceased) and Committee Member, Rear Admiral James Goldrick told me was in part to address the unfinished business of both the Voyager disaster and the Blackhawk crash of 1996 and the failure to provide due recognition to those killed and injured.
But speaking of recognition, tonight we remember and pay tribute to the remarkable acts of heroism on that dark night.
The Imperial George Cross and the Australian Cross of Valour are our nation’s highest former and current awards for bravery outside combat.
The George Cross was instituted by King George VI in wartime Britain during the Blitz. So moved was the King by the courage and sacrifice shown by civilian and uniformed alike that he created the George Cross to sit beside its military counterpart, the Victoria Cross.
This book, For Gallantry contains the profiles of Australians from all walks of life, who have been recognised for actions of outstanding physical and moral courage.
Among them: a tram conductor who sacrificed his life to warn others as his tram hurtled out of control; a Chief Petty Officer who remained with his trapped young seamen, giving them comfort even as their ship sank to the sea floor; a farmer who used his body to earth a high voltage current to save the life of a young child; a geologist and a police constable who braved the terrible aftermath of terrorist bombings to help the injured and dying; prisoners of war who died rather than betray their ideals; a dental student who went to the aid of a swimmer during a frenzied shark attack.
These are all stories that demonstrate that Australians do not need to go to war to display astonishing acts of bravery.
I acknowledge Rhonda Jones here tonight, daughter of CPO Jonathan ‘Buck’ Rogers, and present her with this small gift that chronicles the gallant company kept by her father. We are honoured to preserve his medals, and tell his story, in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial.
Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers joined the Royal Navy in 1938 when he was 18. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for coolness and leadership while serving as coxswain of Motor Torpedo Boat 698 in actions off Dover on the nights of 23 March and 23 May 1944. After the war he came to Australia and joined the RAN.
On the night of the disaster, Rogers was one of more than 50 men trapped in darkness in a compartment of the sinking forward section. He took control and tried to bring calm. Not everyone would be able to get through a small escape hatch; being a large man, he had no chance at all. “He was more intent on getting the younger chaps out first,” said a survivor. The forward section sank about ten minutes after the impact. Rogers was heard leading his remaining doomed comrades in a prayer and a hymn during their final moments.
Rogers was posthumously awarded the George Cross, “for organising the escape of as many as possible and encouraging … those few who could not escape … to meet death alongside himself with dignity and honour”.
Midshipman Kerry Francis Marien was born on 7 May 1944 at Wyong, NSW. He grew up in southern Sydney, and was educated at Marist Brothers College at Kogarah. He joined the RAN College, at Jervis Bay in January 1960, graduated and was promoted to midshipman in 1963. He undertook training in the aircraft carriers HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Sydney before joining Voyager, for further training, in early January 1964.
After the collision, Marien managed to get clear of the aft section and into one of Voyager’s inflatable life rafts. On seeing other survivors in difficulty in the water around him, he chose to re-enter the water to render assistance.
The last person to see Midshipman Marien alive reported that he swam up to him and asked whether he needed any help. On replying that he did not, he saw Marien swim in the direction of the severed forward part of the ship, which it is thought he may have entered. The forward section sank soon after and Midshipman Marien was not seen again. His body was never recovered and he was one of the 82 men from Voyager listed as missing or killed that night.
In recognition of his gallantry in attempting to save life at sea Midshipman Kerry Francis Marien was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal Second Class (Bronze) on 19 March 1965. His medal is on display here in the museum at HMAS Creswell.
Electrical Mechanic (Electronics) First Class William Joseph Condon was awarded the Albert Medal for Gallantry in saving life at sea, remaining at his post to the end in the sinking ship, holding the emergency lantern to show others the path to the escape scuttle and losing his life.
The awards were listed in the 19 March 1965 issue of the London Gazette, along with one George Medal, five British Empire Medals for Gallantry, and three Queen's Commendations for Brave Conduct for Voyager personnel.
On 4 December 2015, it was announced that the support centre for the Canberra-class amphibious assault ships would be named after the CO of HMAS Melbourne Captain Robertson.
Every night at the Memorial’s Last Post Ceremony we honour one of the nearly 103,000 Australian women and men who gave their lives for us, for our freedoms and in the hope of a better world.
When Naval personnel are being honoured, we recite this verse of Binyon’s Ode For The Fallen
They have no grave but the cruel sea,
No flowers lay at their head,
A rusting hulk is their tombstone,
Afast on the ocean bed.
But on this point, and on this night, I would add one caveat – they do have a grave other than the cruel sea– and to quote the French philosopher Andre Malroux:
‘The most beautiful grave is in the memory of the living.’
Tonight we honour those who lost their lives on HMAS Voyager and the survivors.
We honour them with our memory; that most beautiful of graves.
Lest we forget.