HMAS Yarra II
Australian War MemorialAt 6.30 am on 4 March 1942, the lookout in Yarra sighted a Japanese heavy cruiser squadron, each armed with ten 8-inch guns and two destroyers.
Lieutenant Commander Rankin ordered the ships of convoy to scatter, placing his ship between them and the enemy, and prepared to engage. Yarra was outgunned and out-ranged. The enemy ships were faster, yet they kept fighting even as the convoy was overwhelmed and sunk. Yarra, shattered by numerous hits, was the last to go down.
Soon after 8.00 am, Rankin ordered that the ship be abandoned. Minutes later he was killed when an 8-inch salvo hit the bridge. Leading Seaman R. Taylor, manning the last remaining gun, kept on firing until he too was killed, and the Yarra's guns fell silent. Yarra’s end came after close-range shelling by two Japanese destroyers. Only 13 of HMAS Yarra's 151 crew survived.
Accession number: AWM 016263
