HMAS Air View (923)

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History
Naval Ensign of Australia.svgAustralia
Name: HMAS Air View
Operator: Royal Australian Navy
Ordered: 4 March 1944
Builder: Fellows & Stewart, Wilmington, California
Commissioned: 20 November 1944
Decommissioned: 30 September 1946
Fate: Transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1949
Air Force Ensign of Australia (1948-1982).svg
Name:02-109
Operator: Royal Australian Air Force
Acquired: 1949
Fate: Sold to private owners, 1985
Status: Undergoing restoration, 2012
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: Miami-class air-sea rescue boat
Displacement: 23 long tons (23  t)
Length: 63 ft (19 m) o/a
Beam: 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Draught: 4 ft (1.2 m)
Propulsion: 2 × 630 hp (470 kW) Hall-Scott Defender V12 petrol engines
Speed: 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph)
Endurance: 14.5 hours
Complement: 7 or 8
Armament: 2 × twin .50 cal. M2 Browning machine guns

HMAS Air View (923) was a Miami-class 63-foot Air-Sea Rescue Boat that was operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II, and later by the Royal Australian Air Force.

Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the USA to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to Motor Torpedo Boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II these rescue boats, armed with light anti-aircraft guns for self-defense, saw extensive services with the British Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces.

Royal Australian Navy Naval warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force, called the Commonwealth Naval Forces. Originally intended for local defence, the navy was granted the title of 'Royal Australian Navy' in 1911, and became increasingly responsible for defence of the region.

Royal Australian Air Force Air warfare branch of Australias armed forces

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), formed in March 1921, is the aerial warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It operates the majority of the ADF's fixed wing aircraft, although both the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy also operate aircraft in various roles. It directly continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, space surveillance, and humanitarian support.

Contents

Design

The Miami class rescue boats were wooden-hulled, and powered by two 630 hp (470 kW) Hall-Scott Defender petrol engines giving a top speed of 31.5 knots. They were armed with two twin .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns mounted either side of the bridge. The crew comprised one officer in command, a coxswain, two engineers, two seamen and one or two radio operators. [2]

Hall-Scott Motor Car Company was an American manufacturing company based in Berkeley, California. It was among the most significant builders of water-cooled aircraft engines before World War I.

M2 Browning heavy machine gun

The M2 Machine Gun or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed toward the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge. The M2 uses the much larger and much more powerful .50 BMG cartridge, which was developed alongside and takes its name from the gun itself. It has been referred to as "Ma Deuce", in reference to its M2 nomenclature. The design has had many specific designations; the official US military designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It is effective against infantry, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles and boats, light fortifications and low-flying aircraft.

Service history

Air View was one of a class of twenty boats ordered on 4 March 1944. [1] They were all Model 314 boats, designed by the Miami Shipbuilding Corporation, of Miami, Florida, but built at a number of shipyards in California. [3] Air View was built by Fellows & Stewart in Wilmington, California, as hull C-26683 [4] and arrived at Sydney aboard the MV Laponia in June 1944, and was commissioned on 20 November 1944. [1]

Air View was stationed in and around Sydney until September 1945, when she sailed for Darwin, and subsequently operated in the Torres Strait into 1946. [5]

Darwin, Northern Territory City in the Northern Territory, Australia

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory of Australia, situated on the Timor Sea. It is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, with a population of 148,564. It is the smallest, wettest and most northerly of the Australian capital cities, and acts as the Top End's regional centre.

Torres Strait strait which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea

The Torres Strait is a strait which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately 150 km (93 mi) wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland. To the north is the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres, who passed through the Strait in 1606.

Air View was placed into reserve on 30 September 1946, and in 1949 she was one of thirteen RAN rescue boats transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force, [1] and renamed 02-109. She was stationed at Neutral Bay in Sydney, and in Townsville, Queensland. [6] [7]

Townsville City in Queensland, Australia

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a population of 173,815 as of the 2016 Australian census. Considered the unofficial capital of North Queensland by locals, Townsville hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state. It is in the dry tropics region of Queensland, adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef. The city is also a major industrial centre, home to one of the world's largest zinc refineries, a nickel refinery and many other similar activities. The Port of Townsville is also being expanded to allow much larger cargo ships from Asia and the world's largest passenger ships to visit. It is an increasingly important port due to its proximity to Asia and major trading partners such as China.

Queensland North-east state of Australia

Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland. The state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres (715,309 sq mi).

The boat was sold by the RAAF to private owners in 1985, being the last of her class still in service. In 2011 the boat was acquired by a Melbourne based scuba-diving training company and is undergoing restoration. [8] [9]

Melbourne City in Victoria, Australia

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Its name refers to an urban agglomeration of 2,080 km2 (800 sq mi), comprising a metropolitan area with 31 municipalities, and is also the common name for its city centre. The city occupies much of the coastline of Port Phillip bay and spreads into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. It has a population of 5 million, and its inhabitants are referred to as "Melburnians".

Air View is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dunn, Peter (2008). "Air-Sea Rescue Boats, RAN, during WW2". Australia at War. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Thompson, R.H.J. (November 2011). "Fairmile class patrol boats and kin ships: a brief history" (PDF). The Fairmile Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Buhler, Jean E. (July–October 2008). "Development of the Miami 63-foot Aircraft Rescue Boat" (PDF). The Northern Mariner . Picton, Ontario: Canadian Nautical Research Society. XVIII (3–4): 173–184. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  4. ↑ Colton, Tim (2013). "Fellows & Stewart". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "AWN78 Reports and proceedings HMA Ships and Establishments: HMAS Air View" (PDF). Australian War Memorial. December 1944 – June 1946. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  6. ↑ "ca. 1972–73: RAAF crash boat 02-109".
  7. ↑ "1960: RAAF ASR depot opposite submarine base".
  8. ↑ "International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers". iantd.com.au. 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Air View comes to Melbourne, August 2012". blog.aquability.com.au. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Air View (HV000574)". Australian National Maritime Museum. 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
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