The Illawarra Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that serviced the south coast of New South Wales, Australia from 1858 to the early 1950s. It was formed through the amalgamation of the General Steam Navigation Company, the Kiama Steam Navigation Company and the Shoalhaven Steam Navigation Company, each of whom serviced parts of the south coast with their respective vessels. After merging, the new company held a near monopoly in regard to shipping on the south coast, and their fleet visited every significant port between Sydney and the border of Victoria. The company transported both passengers and a range of produce, including livestock, and hence it became known as the 'Pig and Whistle Line': it was said that ships would wait an hour for a pig but not a minute for a passenger.
The Iosif Stalin-class passenger ship was a two-ship class of large turbo-electric powered passenger ships, operated by the Soviet Baltic Sea Shipping Company (BGMP). The ships were taken over by the Soviet Navy during World War II and used as transport vessels. The class was named after Joseph Stalin.
HMAS Doomba was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) warship of World War II. Built for the Royal Navy around the end of World War I as the Hunt-class minesweeper HMS Wexford, the ship only saw two years of service before she was decommissioned in 1921 and sold to the Doomba Shipping Company. The vessel was renamed SS Doomba, converted into a passenger ship, and operated in the waters around Brisbane until 1939, when she was requisitioned by the RAN for wartime service. Serving first as an auxiliary minehunter, then an auxiliary anti-submarine vessel, HMAS Doomba was purchased outright by the RAN in 1940, and served until early 1946, when she was sold and converted into a linseed oil lighter. Doomba was scuttled off Dee Why, New South Wales in 1976.
Jamnagar was a 576 GRT coaster which was built in 1924 for Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar. In 1941 she entered service with the Royal Indian Navy. In 1944, she was sold into merchant service before being requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Bulbul. In 1947, she was sold into merchant service and renamed Hellenic Bulbul. The name Hellenic Bee had been allocated but she ran aground and sank before the proposed name change could be implemented.
Deneb was a 1,080 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1923 as Rhenania by Nüscke & Co, Stettin for German owners. She was sold in 1924 and renamed Marth Halm In 1927, she was sold to Finnish owners and renamed Bore VII. She ran aground in 1936 and was declared a total loss. In 1937, she was sold to Germany, repaired and renamed Götaälv. In 1938 she was sold and renamed Bernhard Schulte. In 1941, she sank off the Lofoten Islands but was salvaged and repaired.
HMAS Uki (FY.80) was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. Laid down at Lithgows, Port Glasgow, Scotland in 1923, Uki was owned and operated by the Sydney-based North Coast Steam Navigation Company. On 3 November 1939, Uki was requisitioned by the RAN for use as an auxiliary.
HMAS Narani was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. Narani was requisitioned from the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company as auxiliaries. The 381-ton vessel was armed with a 12-pounder 12cwt QF gun, a 20mm Oerlikon cannon, a .303-inch Vickers machine gun, and four Type D depth charges, and was commissioned into the RAN on 11 June 1941.
HMAS Durraween (F93) was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. The ship was built as a trawler by Collingwood Shipbuilding Company at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, and launched in 1918 as Seville. The ship served briefly in the Royal Canadian Navy during the last months of World War I, before being laid up and sold to a British company. In 1928, she was sold to Sydney-based fishing company and operated in Australian waters until she was requisitioned by the RAN in mid-1940 for use as an auxiliary minesweeper during World War II. Durraween operated in the Bass Strait as part of Minesweeping Group 54, and was responsible for clearing mines laid by German merchant raiders, and then later operated around the Torres Strait. She was returned to civilian service after paying off in late 1945, and was broken up in 1952.
HMAS Goolgwai was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1919 by Collingwood Shipbuilding Company at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada as Almeria. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1928, and was requisitioned by the RAN on 3 September 1939. She was returned to her owners in 1945 before being wrecked near Malabar, Sydney on 29 May 1955.
HMAS Korowa was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1919 by Cochrane and Sons Ltd at Selby as Edward McGuire. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1937, and was requisitioned by the RAN in September 1939. She was returned to her owners in 1945 before being scrapped in 1954.
HMAS Olive Cam was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1920 by Cook, Welton & Gemmell at Beverley as Nodzu. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1929, and was requisitioned by the RAN on 3 September 1939. She was returned to her owners in 1946 before being wrecked near Green Cape Lighthouse, Eden, New South Wales on 2 November 1954 with the loss of three lives.
HMAS Paterson was a wooden auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1920 by T.F. Morrison, Sinclair & Company at Balmain. The ship operated as a coastal steamer and was requisitioned by the RAN in 1941. She was returned to her owners on 26 November 1945 before sinking near The Entrance, New South Wales on 11 June 1951.
HMAS Mary Cam was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1918 by Ritchie, Graham & Milne, Whiteinch at Glasgow as Joule. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1928, and was requisitioned by the RAN on 5 October 1939. She was returned to her owners after the war and was later scrapped in 1957.
HMAS Terka (FY.98) was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. The ship was launched as Sir Dudley de Chair in 1925 as one of the three ships used to supply the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and from 1928 operated by the Adelaide Steamship Company until she was requisitioned by the RAN in December 1940. She sank while at her moorings at Madang, New Guinea on 26 March 1945 and was abandoned.
HMAS Allenwood (FY18) was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1920 by Ernst Wright at Tuncurry, New South Wales, Australia as Allenwood for Allen Taylor and Co. Ltd. The ship operated along the east coast of Australia, and was requisitioned by the RAN on 27 July 1941. She was returned to her owners in 1946 before being wrecked near Norah Head on 14 September 1951.
HMAS Medea was an auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1942 until 1946. Built in 1912 for the Ocean Steam Ship Co. she was sold to the Straits Steam Ship Co. in 1925. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939 and converted into an auxiliary minesweeper and named HMS Circe. She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1942 and renamed HMAS Medea until she was returned to her owners in 1946. She was sold and was scuttled off Sydney on 20 January 1948.
HMAS Mercedes was an auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1942 until 1946. Built in 1913 for the Ocean Steam Ship Co. she was sold to the Straits Steam Ship Co. in 1925. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939 and converted into an auxiliary minesweeper and named HMS Medusa. She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1942 and renamed HMAS Mercedes until she was returned to her owners in 1946. She was sold and was scuttled off Sydney on 23 January 1948.
Thuringia was an 11,251 GRT ocean liner that was built in 1922 by Howaldtswerke, Kiel, Germany for the Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt AG, Hamburg. In 1930, she was renamed General San Martin. In 1934, she was chartered by Hamburg-Südamerikanische Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft and sold to them in 1936. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in 1940 and served until 1945 as a barracks ship, and then as passenger ship during the evacuation of civilians from the Baltic.
HMAS Mallina was a 3,213 GRT cargo ship built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast in 1909 as Mallina for the Australian United Steam Navigation Company for the Rockhampton to Sydney cargo route. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1914, as a store carrier and collier. She was returned to her owners in 1915. She was sold in 1935 to Machida Shokai Kisen Kaisha, Japan and renamed Seiko Maru, before being sold to Kita Nippon Kisen Kaisha and renamed Siberia Maru No. 3, which was later shortened to Siberian Maru. While steaming in the Sulu Sea, Philippines on 24 September 1944, she was attacked by American aircraft of Task Force 38 and sunk with the loss of 158 of the 2,382 people on board.
HMAS Marrawah was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during the Second World War. She was launched in 1910 by Van Vliet & Company of Hardinxveld in The Netherlands. Her engines were fitted in Glasgow. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1910, and was requisitioned by the RAN on 12 December 1941. In 1943, she was transferred under the control of the US Army small ships section and allotted pennant number S-178. She was returned to her owners after the war, sold to Riverside Dock & Engineering Company and hulked. Her hulk was scuttled by the Royal Australian Air Force off Sydney on 10 May 1951.
Australia (RAN)