German and Japanese naval activity in Australian waters was relatively quiet at the beginning of World War 2, with a dramatic increase following Pearl Harbour in 1941. Japanese submarines began a campaign in Australian waters in the first half of 1942, bound for the Top End. Four Japanese submarines conducted a mine laying mission in areas surrounding Darwin and the Torres Strait Islands between January 12 - 18 , 1942.
On this day 80 years ago (January 20, 1942), HMAS Deloraine (pictured), Katoomba, Edsall and Lithgow contributed to the sinking of one of these submarine, I-124. This was the first Japanese submarine to be sunk in Australian waters. The attack on the submarine came after an unsuccessful torpedo attack on USS Trinity in the Beagle Guff, 74km west of Darwin.
Throughout the war, Deloraine was tasked with protecting ships from submarines. Immediately following the 1-124 submarine sinking, the Deloraine protected ships travelling from Darwin to Thursday Island. From July, she continued these escort services down in Sydney protecting merchant ships between Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane and New Guinea.
From 1945 to 1948, Deloraine began minesweeping activities along the NSW coast and around New Britain (island of New Guinea), until finishing up at Fremantle. She was eventually sold for scrap to the Delta Shipping Co. in Hong Kong on August 8, 1956.
