On 4 March 1942, in the Indian Ocean south of Java, HMAS Yarra was escorting a small convoy bound for Australia when it encountered an overwhelming Japanese force of cruisers and destroyers.
Facing impossible odds, Yarra‘s commanding officer ordered the ship to place herself between the enemy and the vulnerable merchant vessels under her protection. Outgunned by the thirty 8-inch guns of the Japanese cruisers, Yarra fought with extraordinary courage until she was overwhelmed and sank.
Of the ship’s company, 138 officers and sailors lost their lives, including every officer on board. Only 13 survivors remained, enduring five harrowing days adrift at sea before they were rescued by chance by a Dutch submarine.
The sacrifice of HMAS Yarra stands as one of the Royal Australian Navy’s finest examples of courage, duty, and selfless devotion in the face of certain defeat.