Royal Commission on the Loss of HMAS Voyager

Announced by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 13 February 1964, who insisted on a judicial inquiry rather than a naval board of inquiry. Sir John Spicer, Chief Judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court and a former Attorney-General, was appointed sole Royal Commissioner under the Royal Commissions Act, with power to sit with assessors; Menzies reported the appointment formally to the House on 25 February 1964. It inquired primarily into the immediate causes of the collision and the circumstances leading up to it, and also into the suitability of the ships for the exercise and the rescue and treatment of survivors. The Letters Patent are dated 14 February 1964.

1. 25 June 1964Hearings concluded.
2. 26 August 1964Report tabled in Parliament.
3. 15 September 1964Menzies made a statement to the House of Representatives on the Government's action on the report.

Hearings ended on 25 June 1964 and the report was tabled on 26 August 1964 (the date it was signed was not found). Spicer found that the collision was primarily caused by Voyager's bridge staff failing to keep an effective lookout, and criticised Melbourne's captain, John Robertson, and two of his officers; Robertson resigned from the Navy in September 1964. Continued criticism of the inquiry led to a second royal commission in 1967. The Parliamentary Handbook gives 26 August 1964 as the date the final report was presented.

• Causes of the Melbourne–Voyager collision
• Suitability of the ships for the exercise
• Search, rescue and treatment of survivors

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Some dates or links for this organisation are not fully confirmed. Corrections are welcome.