HMAS Yarra (U77)

HMAS "Yarra" (U77), the second ship to bear that name, was a "Grimsby" class sloop of the Royal Australian Navy that served during World War II. "Yarra" was laid down by the Cockatoo Island Dockyard at Sydney, New South Wales on 24 May 1934, launched on 28 March 1935 by Mrs Parkhill, wife of Archdale Parkhill, Minister for Defence, and commissioned on 21 January 1936.

inking

Early on 4 March 1942, "Yarra", commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert William Rankin RAN, was escorting a convoy near Tjilatjap in the Indian Ocean. "Yarra" was attacked by the Japanese cruisers "Atago", "Takao", and "Maya", which were accompanied by two destroyers of Japanese Destroyer Division 4: "Arashi" and "Nowaki". Commander Rankin ordered the convoy to scatter and ordered "Yarra" to turn and engage the enemy. The sloop was able to engage the Japanese ships for over an hour and a half, before she sank with the loss of 138 of the 172 aboard at the time ("Yarra" had rescued survivors from the Dutch ship "Parigi" the day before). Of the 34 survivors, 13 were rescued by Dutch submarine "K-XI" five days after the sinking, while 21 either died on the liferafts or were never seen again.

Australian War Memorial historian Daniel Oakman wrote that the defence mounted by the Yarra was "widely regarded as one of the bravest acts in Australian naval history".Fact|date=August 2008

References

*"Warships of Australia", Ross Gillett, Illustrations Colin Graham, Rigby Limited, 1977, ISBN 0-7270-0472-7

External links

* [http://www.navy.gov.au/w/index.php/HMAS_Yarra_%28II%29 Sea Power Centre Australia - HMAS Yarra (II)]
* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/22/1082616262661.html The mighty minnow that took on a Japanese fleet]

ee also

*List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy
*List of Royal Australian Navy ships