7. The Long Voyage North To New Guinea

In August 1944, HMAS Lolita and HMAS Leilani received orders to proceed to New Guinea. At the time, both vessels were being refitted at the Sayonara Slipway at Rushcutters Bay. Lolita was there for a number of weeks, being fitted with new Ford V8 engines with ‘Vosper’ conversions. (142) Additional fuel tanks were installed to increase her range.

Lolita had been repainted. Gone was the navy ‘grey’, replaced with a new black hull and yellow superstructure. She was said to look very smart in the new colours with her varnished interior woodwork. Seaman Blunt found her to be ‘very comfortable’ and a ‘reasonably good sea boat’.

After the usual trial, Lolita picked up her outfit of stores which the crew managed to stow in all the ‘odd corners’ of the boat. The crew was increased to eight including a telegraphist/signaler to handle the recently installed radio equipment and a trained ‘mechanic/stoker’ to maintain the engines.

Lolita was a beautiful looking craft being 55 feet (16.76m) long with a beam of 12 feet [3.66m] and draft of only 3½ feet [1.07m] - she was fitted with twin engines and small balanced twin rudders. Accommodation was fairly good with a tiny cabin and toilet and washbasin forward, a good large galley, a saloon with a table and lockers and bunks for four, then up steps to a large wheelhouse/bridge deck with controls and engines underneath and accessible for major work through large hatchways though normal access was through a small door on the aft side and headroom in the engine room was only sufficient to crouch. Aft of the bridge deck were steps leading down to a passage with a full bathroom to starboard (later to be filled with extra fuel tanks) a small cabin to port and a large double cabin aft used by the skipper. Duplicate controls were fitted on a flying bridge over these cabins and more fuel tanks were under the aft deck. Our armament was the same as Marynong (143) with the addition of a 1/2 inch [12.7mm] ‘Vickers’ machine gun on the flying bridge (144) - this was my particular toy but our first skipper did not like it being used as it made a very loud noise close to his ear.

According to my father’s memoir, Lolita’s destination was to be Madang via Port Moresby and Milne Bay – a distance of some 3,000 nautical miles (5,555km) – a daunting voyage for a small former pleasure cruiser.

However, the Navy had found that by the time other small vessels had steamed (a nautical expression) such long distances, the engines needed a major overhaul. To overcome this, the Navy decreed that such vessels would be towed most of the way – if not all the way. It was believed this was to be the first major tow over such a long distance of such a small craft, and the Navy was ‘feeling its way’.

We had a number of wooden blocks secured about 4 feet (1.2m) apart all around the boat just below the gunwale; grooves were cut in the blocks and a 4 inch (100mm circumference) wire inserted in the blocks and held in place by steel strips screwed into the blocks and over the wire. The wire terminated at each end in a large eye splice complete with thimble and just below the deck at the bow.

We set off for Brisbane (145) at the end of an 80 fathom [146 metres] heavy wire towing hawser with a section of chain in the middle and astern of H.M.A.S. ‘Yandra’, an ex-coastal trader taken over by the Navy and fitted out as an anti-submarine vessel. Generally, the trip was uneventful but we found that, as our craft veered and yawed from side to side in the seaway, our rudders, without our engines directing propeller wash on to them, were rather ineffective and our towing bridle kept slewing round the boat cutting into the blocks, tearing off the forward 2 or 3 on each side and chafing through half of the strands on the steel strips. We did get to Brisbane and posed quite a problem to the authorities.

We had new blocks fitted, a new bridle made and fitted but this time with wires spliced into it and secured to cleats on the shoulders of the boat. By this time ‘Leilani’ had caught up with us and we were told that both craft were to be towed by [HMAS] Yunnan, an armament store ship loaded with explosives and bound for Townsville which was to be our next port of call. New tow lines were made up with a 20 fathom [36 metres] section of manila rope in the middle and our tow line was 20 fathoms shorter than Leilani's.

Yunnan was of about 8,000 tons and with a full load of explosives would have at least made a loud bang if she had been torpedoed. Naturally she did not wish to linger and we set off for Townsville at 15 knots - well beyond the normal speed of both Leilani and ourselves. Outside Moreton there was the usual strong and unpleasant South East wind which had been blowing for some days and had worked up an uncomfortable sea with short steep waves. These did not affect Yunnan but gave us a hard time. Once again, we veered from side to side in spite of our wheel being manned continuously and our two towlines criss-crossed as we were first on one quarter of Yunnan and then on the other. Periodically we would pick up a wave and shoot it like a surfboat with Leilani doing the same and coming within a couple of feet before dropping off her wave. It was certainly exciting. After dropping off the wave the boat would slow down until the towline would tighten with a terrific jerk - in spite of the weight of the line we would often have it out of the water for 20 to 30 seconds at a time. Eventually the towline parted in the middle of the manila section when we were about 100 miles [160km] from Townsville. The Yunnan did not wish to linger and pass another line, so it was decided that she would leave us and we would proceed under our own engines after recovering our part of the broken line. Manhandling the heavy wire and rope proved a very difficult and exhausting job on the wildly heaving fore deck in the half light of dawn. Eventually we had it all aboard and proceeded on our way with Yunnan and Leilani going on further.

Once again, our towing bridle had been severely damaged and we spent some weeks in Townsville whilst the expert’s heads were scratched deciding what to do with us. Whilst we were in port we visited Magnetic Island, went swimming from the beaches and attended dances and other (rare) entertainment in town.

In mid-November 1944, there was an exchange of ‘Minute Papers’ (147) within the Department discussing the transit of Lolita to New Guinea. When Lolita had sailed from Sydney, it was decreed she was ‘not to be towed across the Coral Sea’ and consequently, the Naval Officer-in-Command (NOIC) Townsville had built a cradle for her to be shipped aboard a suitable cargo ship. It was found possible to ship her onboard the troopship MV Duntroon, but due to her size she would be carried in the cradle on the forward hatch. However, Duntroon was first sailing for Cairns and Lolita would have to be off-loaded into the water while Duntroon took on cargo. There would then be no means at Cairns, to lift Lolita back onboard as Duntroon’s derricks were insufficient. Despairing of locating a suitable ship to carry her, NOIC Townsville proposed to sail Lolita in company with HDML 1327, via the Great North East Channel. In anticipation of approval to do so, Lolita was readied to sail the following Wednesday, ‘if such a course were approved’.

It was agreed that we should proceed under our own power and we had an uneventful trip to Cairns where we stayed for a couple of weeks.

At Cairns on 28 November 1944, Commander Ross of Lolita, submitted a list of necessary repairs. The gear boxes for the Ford V8 engines required oil top ups every 8 hours, the port engine generator was possibly burnt out, the temperature gauge was defective, oil was leaking past the spark plugs and the vessel was ‘making considerable water’, possibly caused by the ‘strain of the towing’, and the throttle controls required adjustment. (148)

The very next day, the Engineering Officer at the Fairmile ML base (149) forwarded the list of ‘defects’ to the Base Engineering Officer with a critique of the ‘Vospers’ (the Ford V8 engines with their Vosper conversions) fitted to Lolita. The nub of his submission was that at 25 ton displacement, the engines in Lolita were not suitable for the vessel, and when driven at high revs to maintain a reasonable speed, they would need ‘continuous maintenance’ and were liable to fail ‘rapidly and will be most unreliable’. His recommendation was clear – ‘it is strongly recommended she be despatched to a Southern Base for re-engineering’ and sent as ‘deck cargo’. (150)

A week later, the NOIC of Cairns base, requested instructions from the Secretary of the Naval Board in Melbourne regarding the ‘destination of HMAS Lolita in view of the Engineer’s report’. The following was included in his request:

Since Cairns is the last refitting port for small vessels before departure for New Guinea area, it is a matter of some concern whether HMAS Lolita should be sent north on completion of repairs or else sailed to a southern port for use as a local harbour craft. (151)

By mid-December, the NOIC Cairns was directed that Lolita was to be retained at Cairns and that ‘suitability for service in the New Guinea area is at present under consideration’. (152) On 29 December 1944, it was decided Lolita and another vessel, Lucy Star would be ‘despatched to Townsville’ in view of the ‘reduction in status of Cairns’.

In the meantime, unaware of the engineering issues and consideration of Lolita serving in New Guinea, the crew passed their time visiting local sites and attractions:

I had a trip to Green Island with its displays of coral and to Kuranda with its beautiful park and railway station almost covered in ferns - also on this trip I saw the Barron Falls which were a magnificent sight with a lot of water passing over them and thundering down. Whilst berthed in the river it was fascinating to see the big black Catalina flying boats commencing or finishing their patrols. Usually they needed a long take off and it was most unusual to see a flying boat suddenly round a bend in the river and take off out to sea or sometimes the other way and following up the river to gain height.

For some reason we were ordered back to Townsville and on the way received radio instructions to investigate and sink a floating mine. Quite a sea was running and we had to stand off a fair distance in case it blew up so we had a lot of target practice and I finally sank it with a burst from my 1/2 inch [12.7mm] machine gun.

Signals were exchanged regarding the speed at which the engines had been run on the passage from Townsville to Cairns, and the speed at which they should be run, and on 3 January 1945, a Minute Paper of the Department of the Navy (153) recorded details of the engines that had been fitted to Lolita in Sydney before her voyage north. At the time, it had originally been decided as general policy that Channel Patrol Boats would be fitted with diesel engines of the ‘Gardner make’ but in the case of Lolita and Leilani, such engines could not be fitted as they would require extensive alterations and the hull was ‘too light’. As a result, an order was placed for a pair of alternate engines to be imported through Lend Lease. But due to ‘complications’, they had not arrived. In lieu, engines of ‘any reputable make’ were ordered from the Admiralty and as a result, the Ford V8s with ‘Vosper’ conversions were recommended and in due course a number were delivered. A pair were installed in Lolita, which were being found to be unsuitable.

The time has arrived, when all the ‘Luxury’ type of pleasure craft should be superseded by boats built for hard usage, and at present 45 boats of the 75 foot Trawler class are under construction as general purpose boats, 9 of which have not been allocated.

But Lolita was not ‘superseded’, and again, Seaman Blunt takes up the story:

After spending some days at Townsville, we set off north under tow of a minesweeper. All went well until just South of Cooktown we had the usual trouble with the towing bridle chafing nearly through and we had to drop the tow - this time our towing vessel the ‘Alfie Cam’, an old steam trawler had the task of recovering the towline. (154)

We set off for Cooktown under our own power - the steep breaking seas were on our beam and we rolled dreadfully dipping alternate gunwales in the water but with a sigh of relief we entered the Endeavour River and berthed at Cooktown.

We stayed at Cooktown for two days and found it a real ghost town. It had been established last century as a port for the Palmer goldfields and at that time there was a permanent population of some thousands and an itinerant population of many more but when we were there the population was only about 200 and only two of the towns more than fifty hotels were operating. There were a lot of derelict buildings in town. All supplies were brought up from Cairns by ship which called monthly - periodically the beer supplies at the pubs were exhausted when the boat was delayed through bad weather. We went to the pictures in a ramshackle old hall and on the way back to the boat were chased down the main street by a herd of wild pigs.

We sailed from Cooktown under our own power again and the trip to Thursday Island was fascinating - navigation was difficult owing to the need to keep within known channels with large tides and sometimes unpredictable currents. We found it easier to proceed at night as you are always in sight of one or often more lighthouses and their lights are dependable. An examination of the most up to date chart available at that time showed many areas had only been charted by Matthew Flinders.

There was a delay at Thursday Island as both Commander Ross and the ‘Mate’ had medical issues and were invalided back to Sydney. The replacement commander was a Lieutenant John Trim of the Naval Reserve. Seaman Blunt said he was a ‘most capable and outstanding individual’. Blunt was promoted to ‘acting Mate’ and Leading Seaman. (156)

The crew found it fascinating to see so many pearling luggers manned mostly by Thursday Island natives who were most efficient at handling the boats. Tides were over 20 feet (6.1m) and presented some problems in getting on and off the Lolita which was berthed at the T shaped wharf at the main island. At times it was necessary to climb up or down the mooring lines and there were many near misses.

The waters near the island abound with fish and, at night, they are attracted to lights shining in the water. Frequently the crew would shine their powerful Aldis signalling light into the water and watch all kinds of fish swimming near and under the boat and wharf. One night a shoal of ‘Long Tans’, like large Garfish, came around the boat and one of our crew jumped into the dinghy and started baling in fish and water. There were so many, another crew member jumped into the dinghy to bail out the water and leave the fish. They finished with the dinghy half-full of fish which was sent to the local hospital next morning.

The authorities once again decided that we should save our engines and proceed under tow. This time our towing craft was a 60 foot [18.2 metres] long tug of the American Small Ships Section exactly the same as those the U.S. authorities had wanted me to skipper earlier. It was rather frustrating to say the least. The tow through the Torres Strait islands was fascinating and we stopped overnight at a small village North West of Port Moresby. This was our first contact with New Guinea natives and it was interesting to see how clean and well laid out the village was. Some of the men were hollowing out a large tree to make a dugout canoe but they were using modern steel axes instead of their old stone-age implements. Next day we went on to Port Moresby for a quick stop and on to an overnight stop at another small village some 50 or 60 miles [80 to 96km] down the coast. The water was quite shallow and it was necessary to keep one of the crew up the mast to warn of coral niggerheads which abounded and were only just below the surface. Again, this was a clean well laid out village but it had been hit by American dollar culture and the natives all wanted steep payment for any souvenirs. The tug later dropped us near Samarai Island and from there we were on our own and proceeding under our own power. It was quite a change and we all enjoyed the responsibility and felt so much better.

A day or two at Milne Bay was enough to introduce us to their intense heat and the regular afternoon downpours - we were glad to be on our way again. We next called at the American base at Langemak where I managed to borrow an American jeep and go for my first drive since getting my licence quite a while ago. I found the jeep very powerful and, with such a short wheelbase and light responsive steering, it was essential to concentrate very hard and see that I returned it in one piece and none the worse for wear. Whilst at Langemak we acquired the usual uniform of cape groundsheet and army hat - this was so much better than the normal sailors gear in the regular downpours and made picture shows, all outdoors sitting on cocoanut logs, so much better but sometimes the noise of the rain on our capes and hats drowned out the sound. On later returning to Sydney one of the joys was being able to go to a picture show or theatre inside a building which had a lid (roof) on top and so one was not worried about the rain. Our final run was to our destination, Madang, where we were welcomed by the local naval staff and promptly given a lot of work. This was mostly patrol work but we all enjoyed the change from sitting around or being at the end of a towline.

One day some of us were taken to an adjacent island in a native outrigger canoe and fitted with a large sail. In spite of several of us sitting out on the outrigger it was mostly well out of water and we roared along at 20 knots or more - quite exhilarating.

It appears Lolita arrived at Madang on or about 9 April. (157) Before Lolita would sail further north to Wewak, the hull needed to be cleaned of weeds and adjustments were required to the engines. Blunt confirmed Lolita was therefore directed to the small repair base at Alexishafen, approximately 15km north of Madang. (158)

Alexishafen, on the shore of Sek Harbour, was the location for the first Catholic Mission Station established by Societas Verb Divini (Society of the Divine Word) in the Madang province by German missionaries in 1905. The mission became an extensive gathering of schools, carpentry and mechanical workshops, a sawmill and an extensive fleet of fishing vessels. (159) In 1942, the missionaries and other Europeans abandoned the mission and the area was subsequently occupied by the Japanese.

Following the capture of Madang by the allied forces in March 1944, the Australian 30th Battalion continued up the coast in the direction of Alexishafen.

The road had been well mined by the retreating Japanese, resulting in casualties to Australian troops. The battalion entered Alexishafen on 26 April 1944, where there was evidence of the enemy's retreat. Large quantities of stores, many of which were undamaged, had been abandoned. By the capture of Madang and Alexishafen, the Allies had possession of two first-class, deep, well-sheltered harbours. (162) Little remained of the extensive mission station.

By mid-June 1944, men of the US 91st Naval Construction Battalion had arrived to commence reconstruction works and establish a ship repair base. By early August the number of Construction Battalion (CB) personnel had swelled to over 250. With the construction works complete, the last CBs departed the area on 7 October 1944. In late December, a ‘CB battalion detachment’ arrived to ‘roll up the base’. (163) As the harbour and facilities were useful to the Australian forces, the Australian Navy continued to use the base.

142 This is a standard V8 engine commonly used in trucks that was converted by Vosper and Company of Portsmouth, UK for marine use. See Beaudesert Times (Queensland), 18 July 1941, p.1, See also NAA: MP138/1, 603/246/6400: Lolita – Sinking due to explosion in engine room 13/6/45, p.11

143 Two large depth charges aft with a number of smaller ones in various positions around the deck amidships and the main armament was a .303 inch Vickers machine gun set up in the middle of the foredeck. From Blunt memoir.

144 The Navy Ship Record Card held by Sea Power Centre – Australia, identifies Lolita was fitted with ‘2 x .303 Vickers’ machine guns. However, Vickers also manufactured a .50 calibre (1/2 inch) machine gun that was also acquired by the RAN. The heavier caliber machine gun referred to by John Blunt, may have been fitted to provide greater fire power for operations in New Guinea. The Record Card may not have been updated.

149 The base had been established to maintain the Fairmile ML class of high speed motor launches.

154 Alfie Cam had been launched in 1919 in Cardiff, Wales as Asama, operated in Australian waters from 1928, renamed Alfie Cam in 1929 and requisitioned and operated as an auxiliary minesweeper by the RAN during World War II. She was returned to her owners after the war and was scrapped in 1953. Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Alfie_Cam

157 NAA: AWM78, 387/1: Coastal Craft [ML] Administration, New Guinea: Reports of Proceedings., March Report dated 4 April 1945, p.2

158 NAA: AWM78, 387/1: Coastal Craft [ML] Administration, New Guinea: Reports of Proceedings., May Report dated 4 June 1945, p.2

6 - THE LONG VOYAGE NORTH TO NEW GUINEA