Looking back at October 31, 1941
A party including the Wollongong Mayor paid a 'mysterious' visit to the minesweeper that bore the name of the city.
It had an air of mystery because the Mercury's front page story doesn't mention where the ship was docked at the time.
It certainly wasn't in Wollongong because Mayor AW Lee said he would try and arrange for the ship to visit that city.
It was wartime, so perhaps there was some policy where the location of a ship was not printed in case it gave information to the enemy.
The story did note that the ladies of the visiting party were impressed with the officers' quarters, especially the fittings, which were "beautiful specimens of the cabinet makers' art".
The visitors were also shown the locations of the two radios that the people of Wollongong had donated to the ship.
The article finished by stating, if the ship was called into battle that it would do Wollongong proud and that "the honour of the ship and town would not suffer".
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
