The Bathurst-class corvettes were a class of general purpose vessels designed and built in Australia during World War II. Originally classified as minesweepers, but widely referred to as corvettes, the Bathurst-class vessels fulfilled a broad anti-submarine, anti-mine, and convoy escort role.
HMAS Kurumba was an oil tanker operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1919 to 1946.
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.
HMAS Goorangai was a 223-ton auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built in 1919 for the Government of New South Wales, then sold in 1926 to the fishing company Cam & Sons. The trawler was requisitioned for military service following the outbreak of World War II, converted into a minesweeper, and assigned to Melbourne. She was sunk in an accidental collision with MV Duntroon in 1940, becoming the RAN's first loss of World War II, and the first RAN surface ship to be lost in wartime.
HMAS Bermagui was a 402-ton auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.
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 Bonthorpe 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. 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.
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 built in 1919-20 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 Kianga was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during the Second World War. She was launched in 1922 by R. J. Lucey at Narooma. The ship operated as a coastal cargo steamer and was requisitioned by the RAN in 1941. She was not returned to her owners and was scuttled off Sydney Heads.
HMAS Wato (W127) was a tug boat operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. During World War I she was operated by the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. She later operated as a tug boat for the Adelaide Steam Tug Company before being requisitioned by the RAN. She was scrapped in 1955.
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.
HMS Suva was an Armed boarding steamer of the Royal Navy during World War I. She was also commissioned briefly into the Royal Australian Navy before being returned to her owners. She was sold in 1928 and renamed Sirius and sold again in 1929 and renamed Bohol. An Imperial Japanese air raid on Manila in 1942 during the Second World War sank her.
HMAS Toorie was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.
HMAS Samuel Benbow was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1918 by Hall, Russell & Company, Aberdeen. She was a Strath class trawler admiralty design. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1929, and was requisitioned by the RAN and commissioned on 5 September 1940. She was returned to her owners after the war.
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