HMAS Sydney (R17)

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Sydney and HMS Terrible.

An aircraft carrier travelling at slow speed. Naval personnel in black uniforms are lined up on the forward half of the flight deck, while propeller aircraft with folded wings crowd the back half.
HMAS Sydney arriving in Port Melbourne in 1949
History
Australian Navy
NamesakeCity of Sydney
BuilderHM Dockyard Devonport, England
Laid down19 April 1943
Launched30 September 1944
Commissioned16 December 1948
Decommissioned30 May 1958
Recommissioned7 March 1962
Decommissioned12 November 1973
Reclassified
  • Training ship
  • (22 April 1955)
  • Fast troop transport
  • (7 March 1962)
Motto"Thorough and Ready"
Nickname(s)
  • Vung Tau Ferry
  • (as fast troop transport)
Honours and
awards
FateSold for scrap in 1975
Badge
A ship's badge. A naval crown sits on top of a black scroll with "SYDNEY" written in gold. This is atop a yellow, rope-patterned ring, in which a red anchor is centred. Below the ring are a stone axe and a nulla nulla sitting on top of a boomerang. At the bottom of the badge is a black scroll with "THOROUGH AND READY" written.
General characteristics as aircraft carrier
Class and typeMajestic-class aircraft carrier
Displacement
  • 15,740 tons (standard)
  • 19,550 tons (deep)
Length
Beam80 ft (24 m)
Draught25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion
Speed24.8 knots (45.9 km/h; 28.5 mph)
Complement
  • 1,100 (peace)
  • 1,300 (war)
  • Both include Fleet Air Arm personnel
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 2 × 227Q
  • 1 × 293M
  • 1 × 960/281BQ
  • 1 × 961
Armament30 × Bofors 40 mm guns (18 single mountings, 6 twin mountings)
Aircraft carriedUp to 38 aircraft
NotesTaken from:[1][2]
General characteristics as fast troop transport
TypeFast Troop Transport
Displacement
  • 14,380 tons (standard)
  • 19,550 tons (full load)
Boats & landing
craft carried
  • 6 × LCM Mark VI
  • (1968 onwards)
Complement
  • 544 core
  • Increased to 1,000 when required
Armament4 × Bofors 40 mm guns (4 single mountings)
Aircraft carried4 × Wessex helicopters (occasionally embarked)
Notes
  • Other characteristics as above
  • Taken from:[1][2]

HMAS Sydney (R17/A214/P214/L134) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built for the Royal Navy and was launched as HMS Terrible (93) in 1944, but was not completed before the end of World War II. The carrier was sold to Australia in 1947, completed, and commissioned into the RAN as Sydney in 1948.

Sydney was the first of three conventional aircraft carriers[a] to serve in the RAN, and operated as the navy's flagship during the early part of her career. From late 1951 to early 1952, she operated off the coast of Korea during the Korean War, making her the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion, and the only carrier in the RAN, to see wartime service. Retasked as a training vessel following the 1955 arrival of her modernised sister ship, HMAS Melbourne, Sydney remained in service until 1958, when she was placed in reserve as surplus to requirements.

The need for a sealift capability saw the ship modified for service as a fast troop transport, and recommissioned in 1962. Sydney was initially used for training and a single supply run in support of Malaysia's defence policy against Indonesia, but in 1965, she sailed on the first voyage to Vũng Tàu, transporting soldiers and equipment to serve in the Vietnam War. 25 voyages to Vietnam were made between 1965 and 1972, earning the ship the nickname "Vung Tau Ferry".

Sydney was decommissioned in 1973, and was not replaced. Despite several plans to preserve all or part of the ship as a maritime museum, tourist attraction, or car park, the carrier was sold to a South Korean steel mill for scrapping in 1975.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Janes68 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Cassells164.5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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