Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday marked the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the HMAS Parramatta II. The Parramatta II was built at the Cockatoo Island dockyards. It was 81 metres long and 11 metres wide—not much bigger than the Manly ferry. In 1941, Parramatta II's main mission was known as the 'Tobruk ferry run'. It would accompany other ships that were bringing supplies in and taking wounded men out of Tobruk. These operations occurred at night in an attempt to avoid the German ships patrolling the area. On 27 November 1941, on a very dark night, the Parramatta II was escorting a crucial ammunition ship on its way to resupply the garrison at Tobruk. At around 1 am, there was a bright flash of lightning. A German submarine caught sight of both the ammunition ship and the Parramatta II and fired two torpedoes aimed at the sinking of the ammunition ship. It hit the Parramatta II, which sunk just three minutes later. Of the 161 men on board, 137 lost their lives that night. The supplies made it to the besieged Rats of Tobruk.

Harold Moss, the final survivor of the sinking of HMAS Parramatta II, passed away in 2011. Russell Jardine, Bruce Richens and many other dedicated members of the Parramatta subsection of the Naval Association of Australia continue to hold an annual memorial, and I have been privileged to attend many of those over the years. The memorial site for HMAS Parramatta II is in a shady green patch on the banks of the Parramatta River. Yesterday the community gathered to commemorate the lives lost in service to their country.