HMAS CANBERRA

Date1928-1932

Object number00036204

NameCap tally

MediumCloth

DimensionsOverall: 30 x 1210 mm

ClassificationsClothing and personal items

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from John B Kiley

Terms

DescriptionThis HMAS CANBERRA cap tally belonged to John Berchmans Kiley and was stored in his ditty box. Tallies are attached around a sailor's cap and identify the ship in which they serve.HistoryJohn Berchmans Kiley was born on 29 January 1910 and joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1925. He began his naval service on HMAS TINGIRA, a ship for boy sailors moored at Rose Bay in Sydney, where he trained for 15 months. He served on HMAS SYDNEY for around 12 months before joining HMAS HMAS MELBOURNE on its last voyage to England in 1928, returning home on the new HMAS AUSTRALIA in the same year. John undertook four years of training at HMAS CERBERUS studying a range of gunnery courses. Kiley reached the rank of Leading Seaman, and to his great disappointment was invalidated out of the navy around 1932 due to respiratory illness. The County class heavy cruiser HMAS CANBERRA was launched in Scotland in 1927 and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy the following year. Prior to World War II the cruiser remained in and around Australia's home waters conducting occasional cruises to New Zealand and New Guinea. When World War II broke out in September 1939, CANBERRA continued to serve in home waters, patrolling and escorting ships across the Tasman Sea. In 1940 it was transferred to the Indian Ocean escorting troopships and convoys from Fremantle to Colombo and Cape Town. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, CANBERRA escorted troopships to Malaya and Java theatres of war and supported the landing of American troops at Guagcanal and Tulagi in 1942. On 9 August 1942 two torpedoes struck the starboard side as well as over 20 salvos of 8-inch gunfire. Survivors were taken on board US Ships PATTERSON and BLUE, although of the 819 serving personnel 193 were lost. SignificanceThis cap tally is part of a collection of personal effects belonging to John Berchmans Kiley. It is an important historical record of the daily life of a boy sailor in the Royal Australian Navy in the early 20th century.