HMAS Warrego (D70) - Operational History

Operational History

During the early part of the destroyer's career, Warrego operated in Australian waters. At the start of World War I, Warrego was assigned to the Australian force tasked with neutralising German colonies in the region, along with finding and destroying the German East Asia Squadron. On the night of 11 August 1914, Warrego and sister ship Yarra were tasked with entering Simpson Harbour at Rabaul to find and lure the German ships into the guns of the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, but found no ships in harbour. During late August and early September, the destroyer escorted the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to New Britain, and was involved in the landing of troops at Kabakaul to capture a nearby wireless station. Apart from a brief docking in Sydney, Warrego remained in the New Guinea area until 5 February 1915, when she was reassigned to patrols along the east coast of Australia. In October, she sailed to Borneo, and carried out patrols in the region until August 1916.

In October 1917, Warrego and her five sister ships were assigned to the Mediterranean. Based at Brindisi, the destroyers were assigned to anti-submarine patrols of the Adriatic. Warrego and HMAS Swan fought at the Second Battle of Durazzo in October 1918. At the end of the war, Warrego was briefly deployed to the Black Sea before sailing to Gibraltar. The ship earned two battle honours for her wartime service: "Rabaul 1914" and "Adriatic 1917–18".

The six destroyers, accompanying the cruiser Melbourne, arrived in Darwin on 26 March 1919: Warrego had to tow Parramatta and Yarra into harbour, as they ran out of fuel. On 20 July, Warrego was placed in reserve. Warrego was briefly recommissioned from 17 January to 23 August 1920 for the visit of the Prince of Wales to Australia, then recommissioned again on 27 March 1928 for training purposes.