HMAS Bonthorpe

Last updated
HMS Bonthorpe (middle) passing between the Queen Mary and HMAS Korumba. (Photo credit: Horatio J. Kookaburra, photo taken by Gage Roads) HMS Bonthorpe passing the much larger Queen Mary and HMAS Korumba..jpg
HMS Bonthorpe (middle) passing between the Queen Mary and HMAS Korumba. (Photo credit: Horatio J. Kookaburra, photo taken by Gage Roads)

History
NameBonthorpe [2]
Owner
  • Western Australian Trawling Company
  • Albany Tug Company
OperatorCh/Skpr Wallace James Naas, RCN - 26 Jun 1918 - 15 Feb 1919
Laid down1917
Completed6 Jun 1918
FateWrecked in 1959
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgAustralia
NameBonthorpe
Commissioned5 February 1940
Decommissioned17 February 1945
IdentificationTR-8
FateSold in 1948
General characteristics
Class and typeMinesweeper
Tonnage273 gross tonnage [3]
Displacement
  • 85 tonnes (Standard)
  • 248 tonnes (Full load)
Length125.5 ft (38 m) [3]
Beam28.5 ft (9 m) [3]
Draught13.41 ft (4.09m)
Depth12.7 ft (4 m) [3]
Speed10 knots
Crew20 (2 officers and 18 sailors)
Armament
HMAS Bonthorpe commemorative marker HMAS Bonthorpe commemorative marker, Palm Beach Jetty, August 2019.jpg
HMAS Bonthorpe commemorative marker

HMAS Bonthorpe (TR-8) [4] was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. She was launched in 1917 by Collingwood Shipbuilding Company at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. Bonthorpe was owned and operated by Albany Tug Company. [3] On 5 February 1940, Bonthorpe was requisitioned by the RAN for use as an auxiliary. She was decommissioned on 17 February 1945 and was reconverted to a trawler before becoming stranded at Cairns Inlet, Queensland in 1959.

Contents

Operational History

In 1917, construction of the HMAS Bonthorpe began in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. Her construction was completed on 26 June 1918, and she was accepted into the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that same day. [4] She was sold again in 1920 as the trawler Bonthorpe by the Western Australian Trawling Company, and sailed from Fleetwood, England to Sydney. She was sold again to the Albany Tug Company and converted into a tug based at Fremantle, Western Australia. She would continue as a tug until she was acquired by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in early 1940. [4] On 5 February, 1940, she would be commissioned by the RAN as the HMAS Bonthorpe, (TR-8) and would become a minesweeping trawler. [4]

During the war, Bonthorpe was based in Fremantle and operated along the Western Australia coastline. She was decommissioned on 17 February 1945, and was laid up at Careening Bay, Garden Island, as part of the Reserve Fleet before being sold in 1947-48. [5]

On 3 October 1950, Bonthorpe was damaged after being hit by Cooramba, when the latter broke from her mooring during a 75-mile-per-hour (121 km/h) gale. [6] She was later sold to M. Bern & Co in 1954. In 1959, she became wrecked at Cairns Inlet, Queensland, Australia. [4]

Citations

  1. ↑ Kookaburra, Horatio J. (29 July 2015), Ca 1940: Auxiliary minesweeper HMAS BONTHORPE passes troopship QUEEN MARY and oiler HMAS KURUMBA off Western Australia - Graeme Andrews Collection. , retrieved 3 April 2024
  2. ↑ "Details of the Ship". Plimsoll ShipData. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Llyods Reigister" (PDF). Plimsoll ShipData. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Minesweeping Trawler TR 8 - For Posterity's Sake". www.forposterityssake.ca. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  5. ↑ "Navy News, February 8, Vol 42, No. 2, p.2" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania), Wednesday 4 October 1950, p.5". Mercury. 4 October 1950. Retrieved 8 August 2010.

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References


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