7 December 1941
Japan attacked British and US outposts in Malaya and Hawaii on 7 and 8 December 1941. During that time, very few Australian ships were serving in Australian waters. Australian apprehension of Japan had grown after Britain had declared war on Germany in September 1939. However, Australia’s strategic planners believed that the best defence of Australian interests lay in contributing to the defeat of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy in Europe.
At this time, Australian Navy, Air Force and Army units were deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, in Britain and in the Middle East respectively. They had remained committed to the fighting in Europe and the Middle East, while Japan remained only a potential threat.
The Allies formed the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) command area to coordinate defence against Japan in January 1942. However, with insufficient resources and a lack of combined training, it was unable to prevent the Japanese advance. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) struggled to protect Australia’s economic and communications links to the world. They sought to develop some level of offensive seaborne capability.
December 1941 found the Navy’s cruisers spread around the world, and they made haste to return to Australian waters. Only the newly refitted Perth and the antiquated light cruiser Adelaide were close to home, already serving on the east coast. The service was reeling from the sinking of Sydney in November 1941. The heavy cruiser Australia returned from the Indian Ocean in December 1941. It became the flagship of Anzac Squadron, based in Nouméa, in February 1942.
HMAS Canberra had likewise been serving in the Indian Ocean. It sailed in January 1942 to act as convoy escort to the Malaya/Java theatre and New Guinea. Hobart had been serving with a British squadron in the Mediterranean, and sailed for Fremantle in the middle of December.
Australia’s smaller ships contributed to:
- evacuations,
- minesweeping,
- and convoy escort duties.
The Australian-built Bathurst-class corvettes also came into their own. HMA Ships Wollongong and Bendigo assisted the sloop Yarra in rescuing soldiers from a burning British troopship. Japanese aircraft sank the two capital ships of Force Z, the Royal Navy’s last-minute attempt to bolster naval defences at Singapore. HMAS Vampire was part of the force’s destroyer escort. With HMS Thanet, Vampire staged a gallant but futile defence against a superior Imperial Japanese Navy force.
The Japanese advance in December 1941 found the RAN and its allies with too many tasks to carry out. There were also too few ships to do them which left Australia under threat of Japanese attack. In the months following the initial shock, however, a capable combined force was to emerge from the maelstrom.