HMAS Arunta was the first of the three Tribal Class Destroyers built in Australia during the Second World War. She was named after an Aboriginal Tribe in Central Australia. The Australian Tribal Destroyers have been described, aptly, by a former captain of HMAS Warramunga, Commander John Alliston, as follows: -
‘Whichever way you looked at a Tribal Class Destroyer, she was not just handsome; she was beautiful. The balance between hull and superstructure and the proportions of her two funnels were perfect. Added to this, the strong clipper bow and a graceful sheer running back to the break of the fo’x’sle and you have a word picture that does not do justice to the actuality of the best looking destroyer ever built.”
The photo of Arunta coming alongside Shropshire for refueling while traveling from Hollandia to the Phillipines in October 1944 while part of a large naval fleet moving to cover the landing of Leyte Gulf which fulfilled the promise of General Douglas McArthur to return to the Phillipines, illustrates the appearance of a magnificent Tribal Warrior as described by Commander Alliston.
Following her commissioning in March 1942, Arunta had an active role in the war against Japan until victory in August 1945. She served in the waters of the South Pacific and Coral Sea, in Timor, New Guinea, the Solomons, the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), the Dutch East Indies, the Phillipines and Borneo. She was a proud and happy ship. She was the only Australian built ship to single handedly sink an enemy submarine. She was part of the U.S. 7th fleet which destroyed a Japanese fleet in the battle of Surigao Strait a few days after the landing at Leyte Gulf. During that battle, she fired her four torpedoes at a Japanese battleship.
After the war Arunta was engaged in peacekeeping activities at Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces, at Korea and later she joined the British Commonwealth Strategic Reserve based at Singapore. She also served in home waters and in the Pacific area.
Arunta was finally de-commissioned in December 1957 and was placed in operational reserve. She had traveled a total mileage of 357, 273 since commissioning including 184,368 miles on war service. In 1968 she was sold for scrap iron to a Formosan (Taiwanese) Company. On Wednesday 12 February 1969 she was taken in tow by a Japanese Tug TOKO Maru for the long voyage to Formosa, but on Thursday 13 February 1969 she buried herself some 70 miles off Sydney Harbour. The Sydney Sun of Saturday 15 February published a photo of Arunta just before she disappeared into the ocean depths. The photo was under the heading “A Ship Dies” with a sub-heading “HMAS Arunta – They said that she would never make it.”
The story of the dignified and honourable burial of the Tribal Warrior, illustrates the proud spirit of Arunta and the close bond between the ship and her former crew. Shortly before the commencement of the tow, a number of former crewmembers, with permission, inspected Arunta for the last time. The movement of the ship at sea caused the cleats to become ineffective and the stop cocks were displaced. The seawater entered causing the ship to founder. As a result the dignified and honourable burial at sea brought to a close the life of a proud ship.
A true Tribal Warrior. (Author – Ray Northrop)
