HMAS Westralia (F95/C61) was an auxiliary cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Scottish shipbuilder Harland and Wolff and completed in 1929, Westralia was operated by the Huddart Parker company until 1939, when she was requisitioned for service with the RAN as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). Fitted with guns and commissioned in early 1940, Westralia was initially used to escort convoys in the Pacific and Indian oceans. In November 1940, the largest mutiny in RAN history occurred aboard the ship, with 104 men charged.
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.
The Tuncurry was a wooden carvel screw steamer built in 1903 at Cape Hawke in the Australian state of New South Wales, that was wrecked when she sprang a leak whilst carrying explosives, cement, whiskey, jam and other general cargo between Sydney and Brisbane. She was lost off Barrenjoey Head, Broken Bay, New South Wales on 22 October 1916.
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 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 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 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.
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.
The North Coast Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that operated in Australia, formed as the Grafton Steam Navigation Company in 1855. The company was later renamed the Clarence & Richmond River Steam Navigation Company before being renamed in December 1888 as the Clarence, Richmond & Macleay River Steam Navigation Company.
HMAS Waree (W128) was a tug boat operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She operated as a tug boat for the Waratah Tug and Salvage Company before being requisitioned by the RAN in 1942, and operating in northern Australia and Papua. She sank on 17 October 1946 off the New South Wales coast while sailing to Sydney from Thursday Island.
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.
Australia
Australia
