Master of the guns
17 February 2010 By LS Paul McCallum
Sir John Augustine Collins was born on January 7, 1899, in Deloraine, Tasmania and, in 1913, at just 14 years of age, was one of the first cadet midshipmen to join the newly-opened RAN College, based at Geelong, Victoria.
Upon graduating in 1916, Acting SBLT Collins was sent to England to serve with the Grand Fleet at war with Germany. It was during this service that he specialised in gunnery and, in 1923, was awarded the CMDR Egerton Memorial Prize for the highest score in practical gunnery.
Upon his return to Australia he held various appointments as Gunnery Officer, including the appointment of Squadron Gunnery Officer.
Collins spent time as the CO of HMAS Anzac (destroyer), completed a naval staff course and spent two years at Admiralty War Plans. When World War II broke out he was Assistant Chief of Staff at the Navy Office and took on the second post as Director of Naval Intelligence.
In 1939 he returned to sea in command of HMAS Sydney (II) and took station in the Mediterranean Sea. Collins’ gunnery expertise came to light as Sydney sank the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni and pursued her sister ship Giovanni Delle Bande Nere who, due to greater speed, was able to escape.
Among other achievements in the Mediterranean, Sydney was the first vessel to make her way through the heavily mined Straits of Otranto. She sank the Italian destroyer Espero and took part in several other engagements, including the Battle of Calabria.
It was for his command of HMAS Sydney that then-CAPT Collins was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Subsequent appointments as Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, China, and Commodore Commanding the British Far Eastern Squadron, which was based on Java, saw him awarded the honour of Commander in the Order of Oranje Nassau by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
In 1943 CDRE Collins returned to England to assume command of the cruiser HMAS Shropshire (I), a gift from the British Empire to replace the lost HMAS Canberra (I). Under Collins’ command, Shropshire took part in many Pacific campaigns and, in June 1944, Collins was promoted to the rank of Commodore 1st Class and given command of the Australian Squadron, then operating as a task force with the US 7th Fleet.
It was during the American landings at Leyte in the Philippines on October 21 that CDRE Collins, embarked in his flagship HMAS Australia (II), was wounded when a Japanese dive bomber struck and severely damaged the bridge, killing CAPT Emile Dechaineux and 30 others on board.
After being evacuated back to Australia, CDRE Collins was made an Officer of the US Legion of Merit for his work in the South Pacific.
Recovering from his injuries, he was briefly appointed Naval Officer-in-Charge Fremantle before resuming command of the Australian Squadron in July 1945. On board HMAS Shropshire, Collins entered Tokyo Bay for the Japanese capitulation and was aboard the USS Missouri for the signing of the Instrument of Surrender.
After the war, CDRE Collins attended the Imperial Defence College in England when he was informed that he and CDRE Harold Farncomb were to be promoted to the rank of RADM, thus becoming the first graduates of the RAN College to attain flag rank.
In 1948, RADM Collins was appointed First Naval Member of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board and Chief of the Naval Staff, a post he retained until he retired on February 23, 1955. In 1951 he was awarded a KBE.
VADM Collins swallowed the anchor in 1955 and was appointed High Commissioner to New Zealand until his final retirement in 1962. He passed away in Sydney in 1989 aged 90.
Related Stories
- HMAS Sydney (II)
- Master of the guns
- Sir John Augustine Collins
- Submarine Names
- Vice Admiral J.A. Collins
