H.M.A.S. VoyagerPrint Page

The stained glass window was donated by surviving members of HMAS Voyager in memory of their shipmates who lost their lives during the collision with the HMAS Melbourne. 

The Melbourne–Voyager collision, was a collision between two warships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN); the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the destroyer HMAS Voyager. 

On the evening of 10 February 1964, the two ships were performing manoeuvres off Jervis Bay. Melbourne's aircraft were performing flying exercises, and Voyager had been given the task of plane guard, and was positioned behind and to port (left) of the carrier in order to rescue the crew of any ditching or crashing aircraft. After a series of turns effected to reverse the courses of the two ships, Voyager ended up ahead and to starboard (right) of the carrier. The destroyer was ordered to resume plane guard position, which would involve turning to starboard, away from the carrier, then looping around behind. Instead, Voyager began a starboard turn, but then came around to port. The bridge crew on Melbourne assumed that Voyager was zig-zagging to let the carrier overtake her, and would then assume her correct position. Senior personnel on Voyager were not paying attention to the manoeuvre. At 20:55, officers on both ships began desperate avoiding manoeuvres, but by then a collision was inevitable.

Melbourne struck Voyager at 20:56, with the carrier's bow striking just behind the bridge and cutting the destroyer in two. Of the 314 aboard Voyager, 82 were killed, most of whom died immediately or were trapped in the heavy bow section, which sank after 10 minutes. The rest of the ship sank after midnight. Melbourne, although damaged, suffered no fatalities, and was able to sail to Sydney the next morning with most of the Voyager survivors aboard – the rest had been taken to the naval base HMAS Creswell. Two Royal Commmissions were held into the incident. 

Location

Address:	Nelson Road , St Mark`s Chapel, HMAS Cerberus, 3920
State:	VIC
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -38.365678 Long: 145.190872 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Window
Monument Theme:	Disaster
Sub-Theme:	Maritime

Dedication

Source: MA