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TL;DR
Bluewater vessel, Australian Daring.
Overview:
The first of the Australian Daring-class destroyers ordered in 1946, HMAS Voyager was laid down in 1949 at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard. Of the three completed Australian Darings, Voyager was the only one built to the same general design as the British Darings, though with modifications for the Australian climate and the integration of a Limbo ASW mortar at the stern. Construction was protracted because of labour and material shortages, and it was launched in 1952 to great fanfare. It was completed and commissioned only in 1957, and after a trialing period of about a year was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve. Despite tensions in Asia, Voyager did not see any action. It returned to Australia in late 1958 where it underwent a refit, before then participating in the SHOP WINDOW demonstration to parliament and the media off Sydney. Afterwards it served again in the Far East Reserve, once again participating in naval exercises.
In the middle of 1959 it returned to Australia, where it underwent a refit that replaced its STAAG AA guns and added a new radar amidships. It along with its newly built sisters were then attached together to the flagship HMAS Melbourne, before being sent back to the Far East Reserve. There they participated in various large scale naval exercises with SEATO and port visits. The Australian ships, especially Voyager, liked to empty their accounts during visits to Hong Kong buying cheap goods. For the next 3 years it went through the standard cycle of serving in the Far East Reserve with Melbourne, returning for refitting and leave, and then back to the Far East Reserve. In August 1963, it underwent its final refit, which lasted until January 1964. It seems its bridge superstructure AA guns were removed this time. On the 6th of February it and Melbourne left for workup exercises before their typical deployment to Asia. On the 10th of February during close range flight exercises with poor visibility, Voyager inexplicably ended up moving directly in front of Melbourne and ended up being sliced in two by the larger ship. 82 men including the captain and most of the bridge crew were killed, the largest loss of life for the navy during peacetime. The incident spawned 2 royal commissions, a first in Australian history, to investigate the incident. The first laid blame to the crew of both ships, but the second exonerated the crew of Melbourne and placed some blame on the captain of Voyager for being medically unfit. Its British sister HMS Duchess was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy as a replacement. Only 5 years later Melbourne would be involved in a similar collision with an American destroyer, and once again blame was primarily put on the destroyer.
Specifications:
Armament:
3x2 4.45-inch (113mm) QF Mk. V in UD Mk. VI mounting
2x2 40mm Bofors QQF Mk. X in STAAG Mk. II mounting (later replaced with 2x Mk. V mounts)
1x2 40mm Bofors QQF Mk. XI in Mk. V mounting
1x5 533 TT
1x3 305mm Limbo ASW MortarDisplacement:
2800 tons standard
3600 tons fullLength: 120m
Beam: 13m
Draft: 3.89m
Propulsion: 2 English Electric geared steam turbines with 2 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 54 000 hp, driving 2 shafts
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Range: 3700nmi (at 20 kts)
Crew: 320
Systems:
Mark VI fire director with Type 275 FCR
3x Type 262 FCR (reduced to 1x after removal of STAAGs)
Type 293Q search/FC radar
Type 978 navigation radar
American(?) search radar fitted amidships ~1959
Images:
Sources:
https://seapower.navy.gov.au/history/units/hmas-voyager-ii
https://www.navy.gov.au/about-navy/history/history-milestones/hmas-voyager-hmas-melbourne-collision
Images:
[HMAS Voyager | A fine view by the RAN of HMAS Voyager closin… | Flickr]
[HMAS Voyager | A view of the destroyer at Garden Island's Fi… | Flickr]
https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE1914714
HMAS VOYAGER at sea – Works – collections.sea.museum/
https://navyhistory.au/shop/hmas-voyager-ii-as-built-1957
HMAS Voyager (ll) Archives - Naval Historical Society of Australia