HMAS ''Horsham'' (J235/M235), named for the city of

Horsham, Victoria Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 Census, Horsham had a population of 2 ...

, was one of 60 ''Bathurst''-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN).

Design and construction

In 1938, the

Australian Commonwealth Naval Board The Australian Commonwealth Naval Board was the governing authority over the Royal Australian Navy from its inception and through World Wars I and II. The board was established on 1 March 1911 and consisted of civilian members of the Australian ...

(ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate.Stevens, ''The Australian Corvettes'', p. 1Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 103 The vessel was initially envisaged as having a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least , and a range of Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 103–4 The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled

Bar-class boom defence vessel The Bar class were a class of boom defence vessels of the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and South African Navy during World War II. Ships Royal Navy * HMS ''Barbain'' (Z01) * HMS ''Barbarian'' (Z18) * HMS ''Barbastel'' (Z276) * HMS ''Bar ...

saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a top speed, and a range of , armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with

asdic Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or ...

, and able to fitted with either

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s or

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels. Construction of the prototype did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 104 The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 (including ''Horsham'') ordered by the RAN, 20 ordered by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. Fr ...

.Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 105, 148Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 29Stevens et al., ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 108 ''Horsham'' was laid down by

HMA Naval Dockyard Williamstown Dockyard was one of Australia's principal ship building yards at Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. The Colony of Victoria decided to construct a large slipway at Williamstown to provide ship repair facilities in 1856 and the Governm ...

at Melbourne, Victoria on 26 June 1941. She was launched on 16 May 1942, and was commissioned into the RAN on 18 November 1942.

Operational history

''Horsham'' entered active service in January 1943. She was initially assigned to Fremantle as an anti-submarine patrol ship, where she remained until August 1944. The corvette was then deployed to Darwin as a survey ship, and remained there until the end of World War II. In September 1945, ''Horsham'' was present at the Japanese surrender of Timor. She continued in the survey role until November 1945, when she returned to Fremantle.

Decommissioning and fate

''Horsham'' paid off into reserve in Fremantle on 17 December 1945. She was sold for scrapping to the Hong Kong Delta Shipping Company on 8 August 1956.

Citations

References

;Books * * * ;Journal and news articles * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horsham Bathurst-class corvettes of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built in Victoria (state) 1942 ships World War II corvettes of Australia Survey ships of the Royal Australian Navy