Melbourne–Evans Collision
The ''Melbourne''–''Evans'' collision was a collision between the light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the destroyer of the United States Navy (USN). On 3 June 1969, the two ships were participating in SEATO exercise Sea Spirit in the South China Sea. Around 3:00 am, when ordered to a new escort station, ''Evans'' sailed under ''Melbourne''s bow, where she was cut in two. Seventy-four of ''Evans''s crew were killed. A joint RAN–USN board of inquiry was held to establish the events of the collision and the responsibility of those involved. This inquiry, which was believed by the Australians to be biased against them, found that both ships were at fault for the collision. Four officers (the captains of ''Melbourne'' and ''Evans'', and the two junior officers in control of ''Evans'' at the time of the collision) were court-martialled based on the results of the inquiry; while the three USN officers were found guilty, the RAN officer was cleared o ...
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