A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
HMAS Geranium was an Arabis-class sloop built in Scotland and launched in 1915. The ship was operated by the Royal Navy as a minesweeper from 1915 until 1919, when she was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for use as a survey ship between 1919 and 1927. The ship was decommissioned in 1927 and scrapped during 1932, with the remains scuttled in 1935.
HMAS Manoora was an ocean liner that served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was built in Scotland in 1935 for the Cairns to Fremantle coastal passenger run for the Adelaide Steamship Company. She was requisitioned by the RAN for naval service in 1939. Manoora was initially converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC), operating primarily in Australian, New Guinea, and Pacific waters, with deployments to Singapore and the Bay of Bengal.
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.
HMAS Bungaree was an auxiliary minelayer of Royal Australian Navy (RAN), serving during World War II. The ship was built as a cargo vessel for the Adelaide Steamship Company by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Dundee, and launched in 1937. The ship operated in Australian waters and was requisitioned by the RAN in October 1940. Decommissioned on 7 August 1946 and returned to her owners on 5 November 1947, she was sold in 1957 and renamed Dampier. She was then sold in 1960 and renamed Eastern Mariner and while operating in South Vietnamese waters she struck a mine on the Saigon River and was sunk on 26 May 1966. She was salvaged by a Japanese company and subsequently scrapped in 1968.
Falie is a 33.4-metre (110 ft) ketch that traded for many years in Australian waters. Originally built in 1919/1920 as a speculation by her builder, rigged as a schooner and named Hollands Trouw after the shipyard where she was built, she was purchased by the Spencer's Gulf Transport Company, renamed, and used for coastal trading in South Australia. The vessel was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as HMAS Falie during World War II, serving first as an examination vessel primarily patrolling the Port of Sydney, Australia, then as an armed stores ship.
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.
MV Duntroon was a passenger motor ship built for the Melbourne Steamship Company, that saw military service as a troopship between 1942 and 1949. She was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, and entered service in 1939.
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 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 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 Koolonga was a 4,260 gross register tons cargo ship built by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company, South Dock Sunderland, England, in 1914 and bought by McIlwraith, McEacharn Line Pty Ltd, Melbourne and named SS Koolonga. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy on 6 August 1914, as a collier and supply ship. She was returned to her owners in late 1915. She was sold in 1937 to Madrigal & Company, Philippines and renamed Paz. She was sunk during the Second World War at Manila Bay in December 1941 and was later salvaged by the Imperial Japanese and renamed Hatsu Maru. While at anchor in Manila Bay, Philippines on 13 November 1944, she was attacked by United States Navy carrier aircraft and was sunk.
Yandra was a 990-ton coastal steamer built by Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen in 1928 for Coast Steamships for service in the Australian state of South Australia. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy in June 1940 during World War II for conversion to a minesweeper and anti-submarine vessel and was commissioned on 22 September 1940 as HMAS Yandra. She returned to civilian service in 1946. She ran aground during dense fog onto South Neptune Island on 25 January 1959 and was subsequently written off.
HMAS Orara was a coastal passenger and cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1907 and sunk by a mine in China in 1950. She spent most of her career in the fleet of the North Coast Steam Navigation Company (NCSNC) of New South Wales. In the Second World War she was an auxiliary minesweeper and depot ship in the Royal Australian Navy.
HMAS Toorie was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.
HMAS Tolga was an auxiliary minesweeper which served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.
HMAS Tambar 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 resold to her former owners after the war.
South Coast Shipyard was a shipbuilding company in Newport, California. To support the World War II demand for ships South Coast Shipyard built: minesweepers, Torpedo Boats, Submarine chasers, & Air-sea rescue boats. South Coast Shipyard was opened in 1938 by Walton Hubbard. After World War II the shipyard continued to build ships for the US Navy till 1955. The shipyard was located at 2300 Newport Boulevard, Newport, California. The shipyard closed in 1963.
Australia
Australia