Robert William Rankin
Robert William Rankin (born June 3, 1907 in Cobar, New South Wales , † March 4, 1942 off Java ) was a naval officer in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II .
Life
Robert William Rankin was the second of the three children of Francis John Rankin and his wife Florence May, nee Harvey. He attended a public elementary school and began his military training in 1921 at the Royal Australian Naval Academy in Jervis Bay Federal Territory . In addition to his school activities, the young cadet successfully played rugby under the nickname Oscar . He completed his training in 1924 with honors in engineering and mathematics. Meanwhile, the midshipman ( naval cadet promoted), he began his active service on the light cruisers HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Melbourne .
Between 1926 and 1928, Rankin served in the UK with the Royal Navy to further his training. In 1927 he attended the Officer Candidate Course at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich ( London ). He was one of the six graduates of his class whose thesis was honored by the Admiralty. After further training in Portsmouth , Rankin was commanded in 1928 on the newly commissioned heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra . Robert Rankin returned to the new Australian Marine back home, where he in August 1929 Lieutenant ( Lieutenant was promoted).
The talented and scientifically interested young officer decided to specialize in hydrology and transferred to the research vessel HMAS Moresby . Apart from several longer stays on land, Rankin worked on the ship to map sea areas around Australia and New Guinea until February 1938 . In August 1937, the young officer reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander (roughly equivalent to: Kapitänleutnant ). His subordinates described him as a passionate and hard-working officer, but criticized his weak leadership.
Robert William Rankin married Mary Glennie Broughton, a 25-year-old nurse, on October 4, 1937. The couple later had a daughter.
In March of the following year Rankin went as part of an exchange program to England again to the Home Fleet and served on the survey ship used as minesweepers HMS Gleaner . As a result of the outbreak of the Second World War, the Australian officer was assigned to the repair ship HMS Rescue after a further training course on the frigate HMS Dryad in December 1939 , where he fulfilled the function of first officer. The auxiliary ship was used in both the Mediterranean and the South Atlantic . Rankin received a rather mediocre rating for his work as a commanding officer and returned to Australia in September 1941.
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In the following months, Rankin took part in research and fact-finding missions. After the outbreak of the Pacific War he was transferred to the sloop HMAS Yarra , where he was intended as the successor to the previous commander Sir Hasting Harrington. One of the first combat missions led the warship to the besieged Singapore , where the last Allied supply convoy was escorted. On February 5, 1942, Japanese planes attacked the convoy repeatedly, with the fully loaded troop carrier RMS Empress of Asia caught fire and had to be abandoned. The Australian sloop was able to save men in 1804. Rankin was commended by the previous commanding officer for his work in organizing the rescue operation.
Robert William Rankin was given command of the Yarra on February 11th . After the lost battle in the Java Sea , the small warship was given the task of escorting a convoy from Batavia to Tjilatjap . Since this port was about to be occupied by the Japanese, the convoy continued with the destination Fremantle in Western Australia . In the morning hours of March 4th, the unit was formed by far superior Japanese units. In order to divert the fire of the Japanese heavy cruisers and destroyers from the convoy, Rankin placed his ship between the attackers and the convoy, had a fog curtain put up and opened the battle with an artillery attack. Despite the desperate act, the convoy could not escape and was sunk by the Japanese.
After the Yarra had been hit several times, ordered Robert Rankin, the scuttling and the disembarking crew. Shortly afterwards, the bridge received a direct hit that killed the captain. Of the 151 crew members, only 13 were rescued.
Honors
The Australian Navy named the sixth and final Collins-class submarine after Robert William Rankin. The HMAS Rankin was launched in 2001 and entered service on March 29, 2003.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rankin, Robert William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian captain in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 3, 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cobar, New South Wales, Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 4, 1942 |
| Place of death | before Java , today Indonesia |