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USS Frank E. Evans Collides with HMAS Melbourne

June 3, 1969

1969-06-03_USS_Frank_E._Evans_(DD-754)_post_collision
1969-06-03_USS_Frank_E._Evans_(DD-754)_post_collision
U.S. Navy SH-3 Sea King helicopters from the USS Kearsarge (CVS-33) join search-and-rescue operations over the wreckage of the USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) while the USS Everett F. Larson (DD-830) stands ready to offer assistance, June 2, 1969. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

During a nighttime SEATO naval exercise in the South China Sea, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans collide. The Evans is cut in two and its bow quickly sinks. Of the over 270 crewmen aboard the Evans, 74 are killed. There are no reported deaths aboard the Melbourne.1

Jack Sweetman, American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775–Present, (3rd edition; Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002), 234; “USS Frank E. Evans: Disaster in the South China Sea,” June 12, 2006, http://www.historynet.com/uss-frank-e-evans-disaster-in-the-south-china-sea.htm (link is external) (accessed 4/16/14).