Slinger Wood asked me on which date was HMAS Perth (I) sunk. I told Slinger that the Royal Australian Navy sea power ship's history site has the HMAS Perth (I) as being sunk at around 0025 hours on 1 March 1942; and the Australian War Memorial online encyclopedia has the sinking taking place at around 12.25am on 1 March 1942.
Well, what do the archives say?
Whilst there are several documents at the National Archives of Australia relating to the sinking, none are available to be viewed online.
However, the RAN service card of the ship's captain, Captain Hector M. L. Waller, DSO and Bar, is available, and does record the date he perished with the ship.
It's available in the National Archives of Australia as item [ NAA: A6769, 5220053 ]
The file has seven pages, here is page 2 (click on picture for enlargement):
We note he lived in Port Melbourne, and entered the RAN college at the age of 13 years.
On the reverse of the card, page 3, we see the saddening notation at the bottom right hand corner:
"Missing with HMAS Perth 1st March 1942
Presumed killed in action 1/3/42"
So, the record shows that HMAS Perth (I) was sunk on 1 March 1942.
Here is Captain Waller's entry on the Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour:
Hector Macdonald Laws Waller DSO & BAR
- Rank
- Captain [Capt]
- Unit
- HMAS Perth
- Service
- RAN
- Conflict
- 1939-1945
- Date of Death
- 1 March 1942
- Source
- AWM146 Roll of Honour cards, 1939-1945 War, Royal Australian Navy
Lest We Forget.
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