He commanded the destroyer HMS Vivacious during the Dunkirk evacuation, later commanded HMS Eglington before returning to Australia in 1941 with his DSC and served in Navy Office until commissioning the new destroyer, HMAS Warramunga (I), in 1942. DechaineuxĬaptain Emile Frank Verlaine Dechaineux was born in Launceston, Tasmania on 3 October 1902 and entered the RANC in 1916.Īt the outbreak of World War II the then Commander Dechaineux was serving at the Admiralty, having gone to England for a staff course. Vice Admiral Collins died on 3 September 1989. He retired from the Navy in 1955 and served as Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand until 1962. He was promoted Rear Admiral in 1947, Vice Admiral in 1950 and was knighted in 1951. His distinguished career continued after the war. He recovered from his injuries, resumed his command and attended the Japanese surrender in 1945. On 21 October 1944, while HMAS Australia (II) was taking part in the allied landings in the Philippines, Commodore Collins was severely wounded in a suicide attack by Japanese aircraft. He was the first RANC graduate to command the Australian Squadron, hoisting his Broad Pendant as Commodore in HMAS Australia (II) in 1944. For his part in this action, Captain Collins was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). The Colleoni was sunk and the Bande Nerre withdrew damaged. On 19 July 1940, the then Captain Collins was in command of the cruiser HMAS Sydney (II) in the Mediterranean Sea when Sydney (II) engaged two Italian cruisers, Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni Delle Bande Nere, off Cape Spada in Crete. Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins was born at Deloraine, Tasmania on 7 January 1899, entered the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as one of the original entry in 1913, saw service in two World Wars and was First Naval Member and Chief of Naval Staff during the Korean War.
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