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17 Volume 73 Number 1
15 February 2021
would have been in the way. However, James Rin-
grose was on board with his own theories about
wreck positions gleaned from his own vague fish-
ermen sources. They met a Russian ship on the
way and picked up at sea the Russian official ob-
server (this cut out red tape of visa applications
for him to admitted to Britain saving time) and
headed over to the Barents Sea. Some time was
spent calibrating the equipment on board with the
two new masts. The search was able to begin on
May 12th at 2030 with the first side scan sonar
sweep.
Arguments between Ringrose and the real experts
were inevitable. John Clark from OSA was in
charge and overruled Ringrose on where to start
looking, preferring Obermans teams’ predictions
based on serious technical analysis and Keith’s
notes and research material. It wasn’t long before
John Clarks decision was vindicated. At 1421 the
following day a large trace was made on the port
side with the sonar scan. Dammtor turned for a
second run and found the same large object, it
was a large shipwreck. But was it HMS Edinburgh?
Only inspection by the Remote Operated Vehicle
(ROV) would decide, but the weather turned foul.
After a two day wait for calmer water the ROV
Scorpion was launched and descended on the
trace. At first the TVs showed an incessant snow-
storm of silt with virtually zero visibility. Eventual- HMAS Melbourne was the lead ship of the Majestic
ly this cleared and the control room was filled with
experts staring intently at the monitors when the
large shape of an enormous warship loomed out
of the inky blackness. Eagerly comparing the
wreck’s features with that of the Belfast they
looked for the ships crest attached to the bridge
but the bridge was destroyed and lying beside the
wreck. A lattice like structure came into view by
the motor cutters and was recognizable, quickly
followed by the cutter itself. There was no longer
any doubt. HMS Edinburgh had been found!
The wreck was marked by three aqua buoy tran-
sponders submerged and easily activated by radio
waves from the recovery ship. The ships position
72 N by 35 E was kept a close secret and radio
silence maintained till they made first land call at
Tromso. On May 18th, the ship sailed into Tromso
and Keith was telephoned at home and given the
news. He was ecstatic, not only at the news of the
find, but also that Edinburgh was just 3.5 miles
from where his research material had predicted it
would be! Further good news was that the wreck
lay on its port side with the bomb room filled with
gold uppermost and a gaping torpedo hole just 20
feet away which would be of great assistance to
the divers. Another fear had been that a fuel tank
adjacent to the bomb room would be filled with
diesel fuel but it wasn’t. It was completely drained.
All Keith needed now was to go and get the Gold.
To be continued in the next issue:
Melbourne–Voyager Collision
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Melbourne%
E2%80%93Voyager_collision#
he Melbourne–Voyager collision, also referred
T to as the "Melbourne–Voyager incident" or
simply the "Voyager incident", was a collision be-
tween two warships of the Royal Australian Navy
(RAN); the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21)
and the destroyer HMAS Voyager (D04). On the
evening of 10 February 1964, the two ships were
performing manoeuvres off Jervis Bay, when Voy-
ager sailed under Melbourne's bow. She was cut in
two and sunk, and 82 of her crew killed.
Two Royal Commissions were held to investigate
the incident. The first studied the circumstances of
the collision, while the second focused on claims
by a former Voyager senior officer that the de-
stroyer's captain was unfit for command. It is the
only time in Australian history that two Royal
Commissions have been held for a single incident.
class of aircraft carriers. She was laid down for the
Royal Navy on 15 April 1943 at Vickers-
Armstrong's' Naval Construction Yard in Barrow-in
-Furness, England, and launched on 28 February
1945. Melbourne underwent her annual refit from
16 September 1963 to 20 January 1964, with
command handed over to Captain John Robertson
in early January.
HMAS Voyager was the first of three Australian-
built Daring class destroyers. The first all-welded
ship built in Australia, Voyager was laid down by
Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney on 10 Octo-
ber 1949, launched on 1 May 1952, and commis-
sioned into the RAN on 12 February 1957. Captain
Duncan Stevens was appointed commanding of-
ficer at the end of that year.
Collision
Voyager and Melbourne were both sent to Jervis
Bay for post-refit trials, with the two ships arriving
on 9 February. During the day of 10 February the
ships operated independently, or exercised with
the British submarine HMS Tabard. That evening,
while 20 miles SE of Jervis Bay, Melbourne was
http://www.noabc.com/