John Augustine Collins
| John Augustine Collins | |
|---|---|
Captain John Collins in 1943
|
|
| Born |
7 January 1899 Deloraine, Tasmania |
| Died | 3 September 1989 (aged 90) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Royal Australian Navy |
| Years of service | 1913–1955 |
| Rank | Vice-Admiral |
| Commands held |
Chief of Naval Staff (1948–55) HM Australian Squadron (1944, 1945–46) Task Force 74 (1944–45) HMAS Shropshire (1943–44) China Force (1942) HMAS Sydney (1935–37, 1939–41) |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) |
| Other work | High Commissioner to New Zealand (1956–62) |
First World War
Second World War
Vice-Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, KBE, CB (7 January 1899 – 3 September 1989) was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) officer who served in both World Wars, and who eventually rose to become a vice admiral and Chief of Naval Staff. Collins was one of the first graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College to attain flag rank. During the Second World War, he commanded the cruiser HMAS Sydney in the Mediterranean campaign. He led the Australian Naval Squadron in the Pacific theatre and was wounded in the first recorded kamikaze attack, in 1944.
John Augustine Collins was born in Deloraine, Tasmania, in 1899. In 1913, at age 14, Collins joined the first intake to the RAN College. He became a midshipman in January 1917, in time to see war service while attached to the Royal Navy.
In the early Second World War, Collins commanded HMAS Sydney in the Battle of the Mediterranean.Sydney led Allied ships which sank an Italian cruiser, Bartolomeo Colleoni, in the Battle of Cape Spada, in July 1940. For this action he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
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