Sing Sing ceremony performed at HMAS Tarangau
Date1960s
Object numberANMS1464[059]
NamePhotograph
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 101 × 150 mm
Copyright© John Withers
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from John Withers OAM
DescriptionSing Sing ceremonies regularly occurred at Manus Island on the site HMAS Tarangau. Gatherings held to display culture, dance and music, Sing Sing's drew in neighbouring Sepik, Buka and other Papua New Guinea communities, each event planned in conjunction with Naval base personnel and featuring one community at a time.
In 1967 John Withers was posted for a year as a radio operator to shore base HMAS Tarangau Papua New Guinea. HMAS Tarangau (1950-1974) served as a refuelling and stores point for RAN vessels travelling to South East Asia. It was also a communications outpost, and a base for Attack class patrol boats. Withers' satirical editorial style through the Tarangau Telegraph allows for a unique perspective on regular base operations, social activities, and RAN news of the day.HistoryOn 23 August 1967 John Withers was posted for a year as a radio operator to HMAS Tarangau Papua New Guinea. Situated adjacent to Manus Island on Lombrum Point Los Negros Island, Tarangau was commonly referred to as Manus Island base, due to its proximity to the largest of the Admiralty Islands. During World War Two Manus Island was home to one of the largest US Naval bases in the Pacific, in 1944 over 200 vessels laying anchor in Seeadler Harbour.
HMAS Tarangau was commissioned on 1 April 1950 and served principally as a refuelling and stores point for RAN ships travelling between Australian and South East Asia. Tarangau was also a communications hub for the region, and a base for a new fleet of Attack class patrol boats. Those posted to Tarangau had to work in the often challenging tropical weather conditions, with average daily temperatures of 27 degrees and monsoonal downpours common in both wet and dry seasons. Members from local Indigenous communities were regularly hired as contract labourers at the base, often at times when a visiting supply ship needed to be unloaded. By 1971, more than 1,600 people lived at HMAS Tarangau, and it evolved into a satellite community, with electricity, water, food supplies, a postal service and a hospital. John recalls his work at HMAS Tarangau:
It was administration traffic, people going on posting or whatever, reports and everything the captain has to fill out, sign and file with Navy office. We used to have a radio sked each day with the various islands around the coconut plantation managers. They were still pseudo coast watchers left over from the War. Once we got a report in from one of them that he'd seen a submarine in the bay. We had no Australian submarines in the area so we did a check with the Air Force; it was a Russian submarine! They tracked him all the way down the Queensland coast, but he had been spotted right up there at the top in New Guinea.
The wireless office was down at one corner, the transmitting station was a mile away up the hill. It was surrounded on three sides by water like a headland, and occasionally the crocodiles would come out of the water at night and bask on the warm concrete. If you’d been up to the transmitting station on your pushbike and came back at night time the operator would open the door and by the shaft of light you could see two or three crocodiles, and you would have to pedal like mad to dodge around them to get inside the gates! But usually they were too docile enjoying the warmth to chase you or anything like that.
(On uniform) We had our own plastic sandals, because everything else rotted in the steamy weather, a pair of shorts and a wide -brimmed straw hat with the tally band on it. That was the local dress of the day.
In 1948, a PNG division of the RAN was formed, with many recruits trained at HMAS Tarangau:
We had several of the Papua New Guinea Navy as communicators in the office. They didn't have anywhere near the security clearance level that we had. So there was one part of the office that was all screened off - locked doors - they couldn't go in there but they had quite a few of them on the patrol base. In the 12 months I was there we got five patrol boats at two monthly intervals.
(Source: See Volunteer Oral History Project Archive for full interview)
HMAS Tarangau operated for 24 years, decommissioning a year prior to Papua New Guinea Independence in 1975. Lombrum Naval Base evolved in its wake, as a base for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) and home port of the PNGDF Pacific Class Patrol Boat. In 2001 the Manus Regional Processing Centre was established at Lombrum, and evolved to be one of Australia’s contentious offshore immigration detention facilities. The centre was formally closed on the 31 October 2017, however many detainees were subject to ongoing strict processing measures at other offshore centres and on the Australian mainland.
John Aaron Russell Withers joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a 20 year old on 12th January 1962. He travelled from Herberton in far North Queensland to Brisbane to enlist, and then on to HMAS Cerberus - RAN recruit training depot in Victoria. Here he underwent training in the communications branch as a radio operator. This involved studies in Morse code, typing, flag waving, flag recognition, speed printing, and cryptography. On the 4th December 1962 Withers was promoted to Ordinary Radio Operator and posted to HMAS Voyager.
On the 31st January 1963 Withers deployed on board Voyager as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve (FESR). This trip saw Voyager call in to Singapore, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), Hong Kong, Japan, and the Philippines – in addition to exercises in the South China Sea. Voyager returned to Australia in August 1963 and underwent a six month refit at Williamstown. The ship sailed for Sydney late January 1964, with an intended return to the FESR as Australia’s representative for the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games. On the way to Sydney Voyager was engaged in exercises with aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne off the coast of Jervis Bay.
Wither’s survived the fatal collision between Voyager and Melbourne on the night of the 10th of February 1964. Voyager was acting as plane guard to Melbourne during aircraft exercises, when a junior training office in command of Voyager decided to change course and pass in front of Melbourne’s bow. Voyager was not travelling fast enough to cross, and 82 of Voyagers sailors were lost in the subsequent collision. Following the accident, Withers was given seven day survivors leave and no formal counselling.
Withers was deployed to HMAS Stuart from 1964 to 1965. Stuart was designated to carry out acceptance trials on the Navy’s newly installed top-secret IKARA anti-submarine missile and torpedo. The IKARA was missile carried, and designed to be fired up to 15 kms from the ship, the torpedo released to search and target a submarine. Trials were conducted on the Barrier Reef off Lady Elliot Island. Withers was later posted to HMAS Hobart (1969), and deployed on Hobart's third trip to Vietnam.
Withers also saw shore based placements at HMAS Penguin (1965) and HMAS Albatross (1968). After four vessel and three shore postings, John Withers signed off from the RAN on the 11 January 1971 at the age of 29.SignificanceJohn Withers' collection of material on HMAS Tarangau provides a unique perspective on the day to day life at the lesser known offshore RAN base. HMAS Tarangau operated from 1950-1974, following on from a greater US Naval presence in Manus Island, and preceding Independence in Papua New Guinea. The base served as a port of supplies for RAN vessels travelling to South East Asia, a patrol boat base, and a greater communications outpost in the region.
The Tarangau Telgraph newspaper self-published by Withers and the communications team at HMAS Tarangau covers day to day news at the RAN base. The paper also features social notices and AAP news sections on foreign affairs. Withers' satirical editorial style leads to an interesting take on life at HMAS Tarangau, and what it was like serving in the RAN during the 1960s. The design and illustrations included in each edition of the Tarangau Telegraph - for cartoons and quiz sections - are unique to studies of independent publications produced within the RAN during this period.
Withers' photographs of Sing Sing ceremonies carried by Indigenous Papua New Communities at HMAS Tarangau are valuable sources detailing the interplay of various differing groups on Manus Island.