Attacks on shipping around Australia from 1940 to 1945

Australia Station

During World War II, the Australia Station was a very large maritime command. It stretched from the equator to Antarctica, and from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It included Australia, the Territory of New Guinea and the surrounding waters.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) had been responsible for the Australia Station since 1913. During World War II, the RAN was primarily responsible for defending the Australia Station against Axis forces.

Merchant navy

A merchant navy is a nation's commercial shipping and crews. Allied and Axis countries involved in the war had merchant ships, such as cargo ships and passenger liners.

Merchant navies were important during the war because their ships transported:

• raw materials, such as coal and iron ore
• fuel
• food and other supplies
• troops and military equipment.

Unfortunately, merchant ships were easy targets for the enemy because they were:

• generally smaller, slower and less manoeuvrable than naval ships
• often travelling alone
• usually unarmed
• not armoured or designed for warfare
• sometimes carrying combustible or explosive cargoes
• highly visible at sea due to coal-fired smoke and spark trails
• crewed by civilians, not trained troops.

Merchant seamen received extra pay during the war because they worked at risk of attack from enemy aircraft, ships and submarines. Sea mines also posed a threat of sinking.

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Strategic situation

Any war depends on personnel and supplies reaching the right destination. During World War II, both sides sought to disrupt supply by controlling access to shipping routes and sinking merchant ships.

Attacking merchant ships was a deliberate tactic for both Allied and Axis forces that caused the following effects:

• The enemy diverted military forces to protect shipping.
• Military forces tasked with protecting shipping or hunting enemy raiders could not be used in direct attacks.
• Sea mines would damage ships and shut down harbours, ports and shipping lanes, disrupting shipping.
• Loss of cargoes could lead to shortages; for example, loss of iron ore would reduce steel production and the manufacture of military supplies.
• Uncertainty about the location of enemy raiders and submarines restricted shipping.
• The psychological effects of attacks would affect the overall war effort.

Operational orders to 2 German pocket battleships, Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland (renamed Lützow in 1940), summarise the strategy:

disruption and destruction of enemy merchant shipping by all possible means … Enemy naval forces, even if inferior, are only to be engaged if it should further the principal task … Frequent changes of position in the operational areas will create uncertainty and will restrict enemy merchant shipping, even without tangible results. A temporary departure into distant areas will also add to the uncertainty of the enemy. If the enemy should protect his shipping with superior forces so that direct successes cannot be obtained, then the mere fact that his shipping is so restricted means that we have greatly impaired his supply situation. Valuable results will also be obtained if the pocket battleships continue to remain in the convoy area.

[Gill, GH (1942), Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, Vol 1, Ch 3, p 79.]

While the war in Europe seemed far away to most Australians, the German command aimed to:

• disrupt Australian supplies to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US)
• divert Australian forces from combat to protecting domestic shipping and the coastline.

Likewise, the Japanese command aimed to:

• isolate Australia from the US
• disrupt communications and supply lines between Australia and the US.

Enemy naval vessels in Australian waters

German raiders

German auxiliary cruisers or surface raiders were an important part of the Kriegsmarine (German navy).

The raiders disguised themselves as merchant ships from neutral countries by sailing under a false name and flag. This allowed them to get close enough to merchant ships to launch an attack.

Heavily armed with torpedoes, the guns on raiders were often hidden. Many had aircraft armed with bombs or torpedoes. They also laid explosive mines at sea. Later in the war, German raiders were equipped with radar and more modern guns.

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Japanese submarines

Japanese submarines were most active off Australia's east coast, in the Torres Strait and across northern Australia. They torpedoed ships and laid sea mines.

Some Japanese submarines carried aircraft that were launched when the submarine surfaced. The planes were carried in large, sealed hangars on top of the submarine and would move up a ramp to launch. The aircraft carrier submarines were very large.

During the war, 35 large Japanese submarines operated in Australian waters. In total, they made 80 attacks and sank 25 ships. Most ships were sunk off the east coast of Australia.

Japanese submarine activity around Australia peaked in 1942 and 1943.

Three midget submarines launched from a large submarine in 1942 made a bold attack on Sydney Harbour.

Only one Japanese submarine was sunk by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The corvette HMAS Deloraine sank the IJN submarine I-124 west of Darwin on 20 January 1942. The submarine sank to the seafloor with the loss of its 80 submariners. (In North Borneo's Sandakan Harbour in October 1945, the crew of Deloraine also captured a Japanese Shinyo suicide launch.)

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Defence of Australian shipping

The Australian Government introduced restrictions on photographing ships and convoys, and on media reporting of their schedules and routes. This was to prevent the enemy from using shipping information.

Australia's Navy, Army and Air Force all played a role in protecting ships within the Australia Station.

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Naval operations

The RAN protected Australia's merchant navy by:

• organising shipping into convoys
• tasking RAN ships and aircraft to escort convoys
• minesweeping and disposal
• reconnaissance patrols
• degaussing ships.

Degaussing neutralises a ship's magnetic field to prevent it from setting off magnetic sea mines.

The RAN defended harbours in Australia's main ports using:

• anti-submarine loops
• anti-submarine sonar (ASDIC)
• fixed anti-submarine booms
• sea mines
• searchlights.

Submarine loops were magnetic underwater mechanisms that alerted a shore watcher to the possible presence of submarines.

RAN minesweeping units operated in major shipping ports. Adelaide, Albury, Brisbane, Darwin, Fremantle, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Port Kembla and Sydney all had minesweeping units.

Minesweepers were usually converted merchant ships. At various times:

• 20th Minesweeping Flotilla on the east coast comprised HMA ships Swan, Yarra, Doomba and Orara
• 24th Minesweeping Flotilla 24 in Darwin comprised HMA ships Deloraine, Lithgow, Katoomba, Warrnambool and Townsville.

In 1939, the RAN established a network of intelligence personnel called the coastwatchers. The coastwatchers on mainland Australia were recruited to spot and report suspected enemy activity.

By December 1940, the RAN had armed 157 merchant vessels with anti-aircraft guns and staffed them with naval gunners. The armed merchant ships were called defensively equipped merchant ships (DEMS).

In 1940, the RAN also introduced convoys for merchant ships on certain shipping routes. By 1942, all merchant ships travelled in convoys. RAN ships and RAAF aircraft escorted them for extra safety.

The RAN also created armed merchant cruisers for escort duty and coastal defence. HMA ships Manoora, Kanimbla and Westralia were converted passenger ships commissioned into the RAN.

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Army operations

Coastal defences installed at many points around Australia included:

• anti-aircraft guns
• anti-ship guns
• landing obstacles along beaches, such as barbed wire
• searchlights.

Coastal batteries were generally staffed by Army personnel, although some were staffed by auxiliary service personnel and other volunteers.

Members of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) staffed many searchlight stations.

Members of the Volunteer Air Observer Corps (VAOC):

• spotted and reported enemy aircraft movement over Australia.
• reported enemy movement at sea.

The sinking of SS William Dawes off the coast of Tathra in 1942 was well recorded because it was spotted from land. A young VAOC air observer, Lorna Stafford, was in a high vantage point built by her brick-making father. She phoned her headquarters in Moruya after the first explosion. Lorna's actions were credited with the rapid rescue of the surviving crew.

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Air Force operations

Adding to coastal defences, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operated aircraft near coastal ports, including bombers and torpedo bombers.

RAAF aircrews:

• provided air cover for convoys
• patrolled for enemy aircraft and vessels.

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Axis activity on the east coast

German raiders and Japanese submarines were active off the east coast of Australia in coastal waters from Queensland down to Tasmania, in the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea.

German raiders operating along the east coast included Komet, Michel, Orion and Pinguin. The raiders were supported by a naval supply ship such as Kulmerland.

North of Norfolk Island on 18 June 1940, the crew of Orion captured MV Tropic Sea as a prize. The Norwegian cargo ship was carrying 8,000 tons of wheat from Sydney to the United States via the Panama Canal. A German prize crew tried diverting Orion's cargo to France. When a British submarine, HMS Truant, stopped Tropic Sea in the Bay of Biscay in September 1940, the Germans scuttled the ship. Truant rescued the imprisoned Norwegian ship captain and his wife and dropped them off at Gibraltar.

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German raiders did not sink any Allied naval vessels or merchant ships in this region during the war. However, they did lay many sea mines in eastern and southern coastal waters:

• between Newcastle and Sydney in New South Wales
• off Wilson's Promontory and Cape Otway in Victoria 
• in Banks Strait and off Hobart in Tasmania
• in the Spencer Gulf near Adelaide, South Australia.

Between 1940 and 1943, sea mines laid by German ships in Australian waters sank 6 merchant ships and damaged another. One mine washed ashore in South Australia and killed 2 men who were trying to dispose of it.

No merchant ships were sunk by German surface action in this area.

SS Robert J. Walker was the only ship in the Pacific region to be torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. U-862 was patrolling around Australia from Jakarta. Off Bermagui, it struck Robert J. Walker twice on 25 December 1944. The ship sank the next day, and HMAS Quickmatch located and rescued the survivors.

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From 1942 to 1945, Japanese submarines made 60 attacks on shipping off the coasts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. In total, they sank 24 vessels and damaged another 10.

From mid July to early August 1942, 3 long-range submarines from Kure (I-9, I-10 and I-11) patrolled the coast with orders to attack merchant shipping. Between Jervis Bay and the Victorian border, submarine I-11 sank:

• George S. Livanos, a Greek freighter, off Jervis Bay on 20 July 1942
• SS Coast Farmer, a US freighter, off Jervis Bay on 21 July 1942
• SS William Dawes, a US cargo or 'Liberty ship', off Tathra on 22 July 1942.

The submarine I-11 also shelled SS Coolana north-east of Eden on 26 July 1942, but the Australian cargo ship escaped unharmed.

Some attacks by Japanese submarines missed or caused no damage. Others were reconnaissance flights by planes launched from large aircraft-carrier submarines.

Japanese submarines also laid many sea mines in Australian waters:

• near Darwin
• in the Torres Strait
• off the east coast.

Sea mines laid by Japanese submarines did not cause the loss of any Allied naval vessels or merchant ships in Australian waters.

Near-miss for SS Katoomba

Merchant seaman George Ringer served on SS Katoomba during the war. He later described a submarine encounter near Fremantle after Katoomba had left the safety of its convoy.

when we got around the corner into the Great Australian Bight, so help me Bob, there was a Japanese submarine there waiting. Obviously they were waiting for all these 30 ships to come round and had they got in amongst them it would've been tremendous loss of life and loss of shipping because they wouldn't be able to miss them. When we got around the Bight we – it was I reckon about towards dusk … We were a coal burner. The SS Katoomba could do about I suppose top speed about 18 knots … we were going … about 15 knots. Now underwater a submarine can only do about 10 or 12 knots but on the surface could perhaps do about 20. So anyway, obviously, this submarine was trying to catch us, so she surfaced and chased us. And the first knowledge that there was a submarine chasing us was she opened fire on us from about half a mile away and 'Wang!' A shell came screaming – you've got no idea what a shell sounds like going past. Action stations! Everyone's got a job to do. So this is where I was going in the gun crew so … I'm passing up shells to them – when, as I say fading light, when the submarine would fire, it'd be a big flash of flame and then you'd hear that through the ship. It didn't hit our ship but how they missed it I still don't know. And you'd have the whiz of the shell going past. Our gunners'd fire off back. We had 6-inch gun … a flash of flames and … they gave us cotton wool to put in our ears. So we're firing back. This went on for about 12 hours at least. And firing all the time to one another you know, and I'm sure we never hit them and I know they didn't hit us … We wirelessed back to Fremantle to tell them that there was a submarine … which saved their bacon.

[George Ringer, 17 Nov 2003 interview, Australians at War Film Archive]

Sinking of SS Iron Crown

Iron ore and other mined minerals were important wartime materials for manufacturing military ammunition, weapons and vehicles. Ships carrying cargoes of raw ore were targeted by both the Allies and the Axis forces as a way to harm their enemies.

During World War II, BHP's Newcastle site was one of the largest integrated steelworks in the British Empire. Three of BHP's bulk carriers – SS Iron Crown, SS Iron Chieftain and SS Iron Knight – were sunk in 1942 and 1943.

On 4 June 1942, a Japanese submarine I-27 torpedoed Iron Crown near Gabo Island in the Bass Strait. Carrying a heavy load of manganese ore, the ship sank in less than a minute, killing 38 of its crew. The merchant ship SS Mulbera rescued 5 survivors.

Merchant seaman George Fisher served as a deck boy on SS Iron Crown during the war before later joining the RAN. In 2003, he described the sinking of his ship:

Rumour went around the ship that … there was a submarine … we knew that Sydney harbour had been raided by those 3 midget submarines … So we were aware there were submarines … I hadn't been in a situation and you don't sort of realise … what it's going to be like or what happens and it happens in a split second … There was no warning. None at all … It was a torpedo. It's just an enormous explosion … we were very heavily laden; it was like a rock in the water … I'm led to believe, and it's true I'm sure that there were two ships, the worst to be on was an iron ore carrier or an oil tanker given the wartime situation under attack … So we were gone, no doubt, about a minute from the impact. We had no lifeboats. We never had time. She was gone … I was the last one … I got the jacket on … ran along the deck and stuff was coming down, sliding down the deck and … something hit me, and I went down on the deck but I certainly got up quick smartly and over the side …But I got caught in the suction and the life jacket saved me … I thought I'd had it … 'cause it was like being in a washing machine, there was iron ore and everything and the water was all … red iron ore … the boat went down and I must have been dragged down with it, with the suction but the life jacket … pulled me up to the surface … there was the four of us … We finally … got onto this structure … part of the wireless operator's cabin, it was timber and it kept us partly afloat. It saved us floundering in the water and swimming … one of the chaps as I mentioned, he had a broken collarbone … some debris kept him afloat and he survived. … (my friend) Jimmy Murdoch … on the Iron King … said 'That … they were just looking to', and he said, 'You were just wham and you were gone', he said. 'Just a huge explosion.' They never thought there were any survivors.

[George Fisher, 27 May 2003 interview, Australians at War Film Archive]

Dangers of a convoy

Merchant seaman Phil Orchard served on MV Tienza and MV Ettrick during the war. The merchant ships carried wheat across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. He later recalled the convoys and the loss of other ships:

All the lights are closed and the rest of it, and if the escort sees a light coming from your ship, he's likely to fire on it. I don't blame him. And some things you hear, you know. You hear a ship going down and their Morse starts to slow down. The water's coming in and the machinery stopped and it's an awful feeling

[Phil Orchard, oral history interview on 1 May 2013, Anzac Portal.]

Newspaper reports

Australian newspapers widely reported attacks on merchant ships, so readers knew how frequently they occurred. While attacked merchant ships were rarely named, newspapers often published survivors' names and hometowns.

Incidents close to home provided sensational news that alarmed many Australian readers, especially those living on the coast.

Attack on the Dureenbee

On 3 August 1942, Japanese submarine I-175 torpedoed an unarmed fishing boat, Dureenbee, off the coast of Moruya, New South Wales.

In Sydney on 4 August, The Sun reported an attack that killed and injured the crew of an Australian trawler. The next day, it published details of the incident with photos of crew members. On the third day, it reported the subsequent death of one seriously injured crew member. Follow the newspaper story:

• 'Sub shells trawler near coast', The Sun, 4 August 1942, p 1.
• '"Don't like murder," says captain', The Sun, 5 August 1942, p 3
• 'Death of third victim in cruel Jap attack', The Sun, 6 August 1942, p. 7.

Rival Sydney newspaper, the Daily Mirror, published a photo of the badly damaged trawler – 'Battered Victim of Japanese Submarine'.

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Submarine attack 'in some force'

On 1 May 1943, US General Douglas MacArthur issued a communique about Japanese submarine attacks that was published in Australian newspapers.

In Sydney, The Sun published 'Jap Subs Attacking Off Australia' with an extract from MacArthur's statement:

Australia–The enemy has launched a submarine attack in some force in the waters east of Australia. Details will be given as soon as their release will not assist in his [the enemy's] operations. This will somewhat delay their chronological daily recording in the communique.

A week later, on 8 May 1943, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the Japanese submarine attacks on merchant ships. Across 6 articles, the newspaper did not name the 5 attacked ships or the dates of each incident, but it quoted many of the survivors:

• 'Five vessels sunk in Australian waters toll of submarine attack'
• 'Australian crew's ordeal in rough sea'
• 'Entire crew of U.S. ship saved'
• 'Naval vessel rescued survivors'
• 'Norwegian ship sank quickly'
• 'Enforced wait for clothes'.

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Axis activity in the Indian Ocean

Five German raiders operated in the Indian Ocean during the war: Komet, Kormoran, Orion, Pinguin and Thor.

Pinguin was one of the most successful raiders before it was sunk in May 1941.

Pinguin and its captured auxiliary minelayer Passat laid minefields around Victoria that sank:

• British ship SS Cambridge off Wilson's Promontory on 7 November 1940
• US freighter MV City of Rayville off Cape Otway on 8 November 1940.

After laying the minefields, Pinguin made the first Axis attacks on shipping in the Indian Ocean. It successfully attacked and sank:

• British freighter SS Nowshera in the Indian Ocean on 20 November 1940
• British freighter SS Maimoa off Fremantle on 21 November 1940
• British freighter SS Port Brisbane in the southern Indian Ocean on 30 November 1940.

It also attacked and captured the British cargo ship SS Port Wellington on 30 November 1940.

German forces in the Indian Ocean and off the coast of Western Australia sank 4 merchant ships and damaged one other.

Japanese submarines made 7 attacks on shipping in the Indian Ocean, sinking 3 ships.

Defensively equipped merchant ships (DEMS) repelled 2 Japanese submarines, causing the submarines to break off their attacks.

The last Axis attack on Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean happened on 6 February 1945. The German U-boat U-862 sank an unescorted US ship, SS Peter Silvester, south-west of Fremantle, Western Australia. The ship was travelling from Melbourne to Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), carrying US Army supplies and mules for Burma. Only 33 of 175 people on board survived. It was not the ship's first attack. Peter Silvester escaped an attack from Japanese submarine I-19 in April 1943.

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Sinking of the HMAS Sydney

On 19 November 1941, HMAS Sydney intercepted the German raider Kormoran off Carnarvon in Western Australia.

The Kormoran was disguised as the Dutch freighter Straat Malakka. When challenged by Sydney, the German ship could not prove its identity. Following a battle, Sydney sank with the loss of its entire crew of 645 men. Of Kormoran's 393 crew, 78 died.

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Sinking of MV Koolooma

The cargo and passenger ship MV Koolama was operated by the Western Australian Government during the war. It had transported reinforcements and supplies to Ambon in January 1942 and helped to evacuate civilians from Darwin in late January 1942.

On 20 February 1942, the day after the first bombing of Darwin, a Japanese reconnaissance flying boat attacked MV Koolama off Cape Londonderry in Western Australia. At the time, the ship was carrying Army trucks, earthmoving equipment, 91 passengers and 89 crew from Fremantle to Wyndham.

After the attack, the ship beached at Calamity Bay.

The crew evacuated everyone and received emergency assistance from Catholic priests and monks, and First Nations people, at the Kalumburu Catholic Mission and the Old Drysdale River Mission. The survivors had a very long walk to Old Drysdale River Mission, about 120 km away.

The ship's captain and a skeleton crew managed to sail the damaged Koolama to Wyndham. Koolama was unsalvageable and sank at its berth, where it rests today.

The Koolama incident was a notable wartime event.

Rulhieres Bay, in the Kimberley region, was renamed Koolama Bay in honour of the merchant ship and the Kwini people who helped the passengers and crew reach safety.

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Sinking of HMAS Yarra and convoy

On 4 March 1942, the Australian sloop HMAS Yarra was escorting a convoy of merchant ships from Batavia (now Jakarta) to Fremantle in Western Australia. In the Indian Ocean, south of Java, the Japanese navy attacked Yarra with a heavy cruiser force.

Yarra's captain, Lieutenant Commander Robert Rankin, positioned the ship between the Japanese and the merchant convoy and raised a smokescreen. Then his gun crew opened fire on 3 Japanese cruisers and 2 destroyers.

Despite being outgunned, the Yarra's crew continued to fight until their ship sank. For their bravery, the ship's company at the time of the sinking received a retroactive Unit Citation for Gallantry on 4 March 2014.

Of the 151 men on board Yarra, 138 died, including Lieutenant Commander Rankin. The Dutch submarine K XI rescued 13 survivors from Yarra after they had spent 5 days at sea in a life raft.

In total, more than 400 people died as a result of this action.

German attacks on Narau

The island of Narau was an Australian territory during World War II.

The Orion and Komet attacked merchant ships at Narau in December, sinking 5. This included the New Zealand liner, RMS Rangitane.

Both ships unloaded around 500 prisoners on Emirau Island who had been captured from sunken merchant ships, including many from the Rangitane. The prisoners were rescued in an Australian-led mission.

Komet made a second attack on Nauru on 27 December 1940. The Germans shelled the island's phosphate plant and dock. Australia sent warships to Nauru and installed artillery to protect the phosphate. The damage to the island disrupted phosphate fertiliser production, which was important for agriculture.

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Casualties and losses

Numbers on ships sunk or damaged can be difficult to ascertain. It will depend on the area and time included, and the type of attacker. Different sources may give different figures.

These figures on ship losses and casualties only include:

• attacks on merchant ships or RAN ships on merchant duty in the waters of the Australia station
• attacks on such ships by German surface raiders, U-boats or mines
• attacks on such ships by Japanese submarines, submarine planes or mines.

Japanese

Japanese submarines:

• sank 35 ships in Australian waters
• damaged 9 ships
• laid numerous minefields
• attacked targets on land
• carried out observations and reconnaissance

The Japanese also:

• lost one submarine and 175 Japanese submariners
• sank one RAN ship on convoy escort duty, the HMAS Yarra

German

German surface raiders and submarines:

• sank 7 merchant ships and captured 2 through surface action
• sank 9 ships with mines
• sank 2 and damaged one with a submarine
• sank one RAN ship, HMAS Sydney
• rescued and took prisoner many survivors from sunken Allied merchant ships
• unloaded around 500 prisoners from merchant ships on Emirau Island
• captured 2 merchant ships, the Storstad and the Tropic Sea.

Source: Lewis, T (2025), Australia's coastal war.

Australian

It is difficult to give a final number of deaths and casualties from Axis activity in Australian waters. Casualty numbers differ by source, region and what is included.

The Australian War Memorial has identified 520 merchant seamen who died from Axis attacks. The number injured is unknown. The Australian official history of the war gives a figure of 200 merchant seamen's deaths around Australia.

Figures from the Seamen's Union of Australia show that the fatality rate among members of the union was 8.5%. This is a much higher casualty rate than Australia's fighting services.

RAN fatalities from Axis submarine and raider attacks are estimated at:

• 645 men on the HMAS Sydney – sunk by the German raider Kormoran
• 19 from the Kuttabul – sunk by Japanese midget submarines.

The HMAS Yarra was sunk by the Japanese navy while on convoy duty, with 138 deaths.

The hospital ship AHS Centaur was sunk by a Japanese submarine with the loss of 268 lives from 332. Only 64 survived. Casualties on the Centaur were both civilian and military.

It is estimated that at least 104 RAAF members were killed during sea patrol and anti-submarine operations.

The entire crew of around 80 men on the Japanese submarine I-124 were killed when it was sunk by HMAS Deloraine. German casualties on the Kormoran were 78.

Effects of losses on Australia

Axis attacks on Australian shipping resulted in substantial loss of life, cargoes and ships. Overall, attacks did not significantly disrupt shipping, affect supply or dampen the Australian war effort.

The most significant effect was that Australia needed to deploy important military assets – ships, guns, aircraft and military personnel – to protect shipping. This meant that they could not be used for combat or defence in other operations or regions.

Having merchant ships travel in convoys reduced shipping efficiency. It is estimated that 7.5% to 22% less tonnage was transported each month.

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Commemoration

The HMAS Sydney Memorial was dedicated in Geraldton, Western Australia, on 18 November 2001. Geraldton also has a memorial plaque for the Kormoran crew.

A memorial plaque for the loss of HMAS Sydney was added to the mast of HMAS Sydney at Bradleys Head Naval Memorial in Sydney.

The names of the crew of the Kormoran and the Sydney are inscribed on the Laboe Naval Memorial in Germany.

The Australian War Memorial's Commemorative Roll includes the names of 386 civilians who died during World War II or as a result of their service. But many more Australians served and died on Allied merchant ships.

The Survivors Memorial outside the Australian War Memorial in Canberra commemorates the service and sacrifices of Australian civilian seamen on merchant ships in all parts of the world during both World Wars.

The Merchant Navy Memorial on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra commemorates the contributions of the Australian Merchant Navy during both world wars.

The Northern Territory Memorial stands in Adelaide River War Cemetery and commemorates the men of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Merchant Navy who lost their lives in the south-west Pacific region during World War II and have no known grave.

The wreck of Japanese submarine I-124 is a designated war grave protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act. A memorial plaque for the crew was erected at Dripstone Cliffs in Darwin.

In Australia, Merchant Navy Day is commemorated on 3 September.

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