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The Royal Australian Navy ('''RAN''') is the Naval Branch of the Australian Defence Force . Established in 1909, the RAN was formed out of the '''Commonwealth Naval Forces''', the small navy of Australia after federation, which consisted of the colonial navies of the new Australian states. The Royal Navy continued to provide Blue Water defence in the Pacific until World War Two, when expansion of the RAN saw the acquisition of aircraft carriers, and other large surface vessels. Today the RAN is one of the largest naval forces in the Pacific region, and has undertaken operations in support of military campaigns and peacekeeping missions worldwide. HISTORY See Also: Military history of Australia Formation See Also: Colonial navies of Australia Prior to the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia, each self-governing colony in Australia retained its own naval force. These usually consisted of naval gunboats for coastal defence of harbours and rivers. The Royal Navy continued to provide blue water defence of Australia, as it had since 1788. After Federation of Australia in 1901 , the Commonwealth Naval Forces was formed. The Commonwealth government paid for the Royal Navy to continue providing blue water defence. A growing number of people, among them Captain William Rooke Creswell , the director of the Commonwealth Naval Forces, demanded an autonomous Australian navy, financed and controlled by Australia. In 1909 Creswell represented Australia at the Imperial Conferences, convened to settle the question of naval defences, and won his campaign for an Australian Navy. His name lives on as the name of base, HMAS ''Creswell'', the site of the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay . The first Australian warship, the Destroyer HMAS ''Parramatta'' , was launched at Govan in Scotland on Wednesday 9 February 1910 and its sister ship HMAS ''Yarra'' , was launched at Dumbarton in Scotland on Saturday 9 April 1910 . Both ships were commissioned into the Royal Navy on Monday 19 September 1910 and sailed for Australia. They arrived at Port Phillip on Saturday December 10 1910 an event that was marred by the death of Engineer Lieutenant W. Robertson, RN. Robertson suffered a heart attack 8 miles outside Port Phillip Heads whilst onboard HMAS Yarra and drowned. In October 1911 King George V fixed his signature to the approval for the Royal Australian Navy and the ships now officially received the prefix "His Majesty's Australian Ship" (HMAS). The manpower of the fleet stood at four hundred officers and men and, for the next two years, ships were built for the fledgling navy. On Saturday 4 October 1913 the first Fleet Review of the Royal Australian Navy took place, the Battle Cruiser HMAS ''Australia'' , the cruisers HMAS ''Melbourne'' and HMAS ''Sydney'' , the protected cruiser HMAS ''Encounter'' and the torpedo boat destroyers HMAS ''Parramatta'', HMAS ''Yarra'' and HMAS ''Warrego'' , entered Sydney Harbour . World War One In 1914 , the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, bringing the whole British Empire into war, including Australia. The war was greeted with enthusiasm in Australia, and over 200,000 troops were deployed to the Middle East for campaigns in Gallipoli , Turkey . RAN ships helped provide naval cover for the ambitious landings on the Turkish beaches, and the Australian Submarine AE2 broke the blockade of the Dardenelles to harass Turkish shipping. The RAN also contributed, under the command of the Royal Navy in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The first RAN victory of the war occurred when the Cruiser , HMAS ''Sydney'' sank the German light cruiser, ''Emden'' off the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean . RAN ships also played a part in capturing German colonies in the Pacific. World War II Australia declared war on Nazi Germany, days after the United Kingdom's declaration of war in September 1939 . At the onset of war, the RAN numbered two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, five destroyers, three sloops and a variety of support and ancillary craft. From mid- 1940 , the RAN took part in the Battle Of The Mediterranean against Fascist Italy , with the Leander Class Cruiser Light Cruiser HMAS ''Sydney'' sinking the Italian cruiser, '' Bartolomeo Colleoni '' and helping to sink ''Espero''. In September the County Class Heavy Cruiser HMAS ''Australia'' sank a Vichy French destroyer while taking part in Operation Menace , off West Africa. Losses There was Axis Naval Activity In Australian Waters throughout the war. In November 1941 , ''Sydney'' was sunk with the loss of all hands (645 officers and men) after a Battle with the German auxiliary cruiser '' Kormoran '', off the coast of Western Australia . After the Japanese attacks on the Allies in December 1941, the RAN redeployed its larger ships to home waters to protect the Australian mainland from Japanese attack. At the Battle Of Sunda Strait , in March 1942 , the RAN suffered the loss of another Leander class vessel, HMAS ''Perth'' . The RAN played a key role in the Battle Of The Coral Sea , which averted a Japanese attack on Port Moresby . The most significant enemy naval attacks in Australian waters occurred in May and June 1942, when Japanese Submarines Attacked Sydney And Newcastle . The RAN's biggest single ship loss of the war was that of the sister ship to ''Australia'', HMAS ''Canberra'' at the Battle Of Savo Island , in August 1942. At the Battle Of Leyte Gulf , in October 1944 , HMAS ''Australia'' became the first Allied ship to be hit by a Kamikaze . The ship survived that and several other suicide attacks, although many crew members were killed. Overall, more than 30 ships were lost in the war, the costliest in RAN history. Post war Following World War II, the RAN reduced its surface fleet but continued to expand in other ways, acquiring two Royal Navy Majestic class aircraft carriers then under construction (HMS ''Majestic'' and HMS ''Terrible'') to build up a Fleet Air Arm. At this time, the RAN also began to move away from commissioning British designs; the last major British design used was the Type 12 Frigate , which formed the basis of the "River" class frigates. When it was decided that the RAN should commission a destroyer armed with Guided Missiles , the obvious British design was the "County" Class ; however, the RAN had reservations regarding the Gas Turbine propulsion, the Seaslug missile system, and being able to adapt the design to Australian needs. So, the Australian government chose the Steam Turbine powered ''Charles F. Adams'' Class Destroyer , armed with the Tartar missile as the basis for its ''Perth'' class, the first major US warship design chosen for the RAN. By the mid-late 1960s, the RAN was at the zenith of its operational capabilities; it was capable of despatching a full Carrier Battle Group in support of major operations by having in service an aircraft carrier, three large area defence destroyers of the ''Perth'' Class , six modern "River" Class Frigates and four ''Oberon'' Class Submarines . Aircraft carriers See Also: Aircraft Carriers of the Royal Australian Navy Roles in post-war conflicts With the retreat of British forces west of the Suez Canal in the 1960s, the RAN began to take a more defensive role, and in co-operation with the United States, allied though the ANZUS treaty. The RAN saw service in many of the world's post war conflicts including Korea , Vietnam , and the Indonesian Confrontation . RAN ships also served in the first Gulf War , and later in the 2003 Invasion Of Iraq . RAN Ships in the Vietnam War
RAN TODAY The Fleet Today's fleet consists of around 60 vessels including frigates, submarines, patrol boats and auxiliary ships. The RAN today is one of the most modern in the Pacific, tasked with the ability to defend the home waters, and undertake operations in farout locations. Current deployments of the navy include: contributions to the multinational force in Iraq ; support for the United Nations mission in East Timor ; and a "regional assistance mission" with New Zealand in the Solomon Islands . The RAN has two primary bases for its fleet;
In addition, there are two other ports which are home to the majority of the RAN's minor war vessels;
Ships of the Royal Australian Navy See Also: Current Royal Australian Navy ships RAN has 5 main classes of vessels in the fleet: |
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