HMAS ''Queenborough'' (G70/D270/F02/57) (originally HMS ''Queenborough'' (G70/D19)) was a Q-class destroyer that served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

(RN) and

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). Constructed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as part of the

War Emergency Programme War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...

, ''Queenborough'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in 1940 and launched in 1942, serving in the Arctic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theatres. After the war ended, the ship was transferred on loan to the RAN in exchange for an N-class destroyer, then given to Australia as a gift in 1950. ''Queenborough'' was converted to an anti-submarine frigate, and served with the RAN until 1966. During this time, she was deployed to the

Far East Strategic Reserve The British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (commonly referred to as the ''Far East Strategic Reserve'' or the ''FESR'') was a joint military force of the British, Australian, and New Zealand armed forces. Created in the 1950s and based in ...

on multiple occasions, participated in numerous fleet exercises, and took on a partial training role. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve, but reactivated in 1969 as a training ship. ''Queenborough'' remained in service for another three years, until a series of mechanical and structural faults required that she be retired, decommissioning in 1972 and being

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in 1975.

Design and construction

The sixth RN ship to be named after the town of

Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England, ''Queenborough'' was

by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne on 6 November 1940.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 157Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 92 She was launched on 16 January 1942, commissioned into the RN on 15 September, and completed on 10 December. She cost £725,000 to complete.Gillett, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 163 The main armament for ''Queenborough'' consisted of four single 4.7-inch QF Mark IX guns, two before and two aft of the main

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. Secondary weapons included a quadruple-mounting QF 2-pounder Mark VIII pom-pom located just aft of the

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

, and six single

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emp ...

s provided anti-air capability, while eight Mark VIII torpedo tubes (4 forward, 4 aft) firing Mark IX torpedoes for anti-ship engagements.

RN service

HMS ''Queenborough'' served in the Arctic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean during World War II. She was assigned to the

4th Destroyer Flotilla The British 4th Destroyer Flotilla , or Fourth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from August 1909 to July 1951. History In 1907 the Home Fleet had a large formation of destroyers called the Home Fleet Flotilla of destro ...

, which was made up of Q-class destroyers.Rohwer & Hümmelchen, ''Chronology of the war at sea, 1939–1945'', p. 347

Arctic convoys

Following commissioning, ''Queenborough'' was assigned to the British

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the Fi ...

and spent the end of 1942 and the early part of 1943 as an

Arctic convoy The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

escort. On 31 December 1942, ''Queenborough'' was one of ten ships taken by Home Fleet commander Admiral Tovey to reinforce the ships covering Arctic convoy

JW 51B Convoy JW 51B was an Arctic convoy sent from United Kingdom by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early January 1943. JW 51B came under attack ...

, following the

Battle of the Barents Sea The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the ...

. She was briefly deployed to the waters off South Africa before the 4th Destroyer Flotilla was assigned to

Force H Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place within the ...

and the Mediterranean theatre in mid-1943.

Italian landings

''Queenborough'' was involved in numerous Allied landings of the Italian Campaign. She was part of the British covering force for the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy (192 ...

on 10 July. The destroyer was involved in the leadup to the British landings at Calabria from 31 August to 3 September, including preparatory shelling of the landing site on 31 August and 2 September. A week later, she supported the United States troop landings at

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

, remaining on station until 16 September.

British Eastern Fleet

The 4th Destroyer Flotilla was ordered to depart the Mediterranean theatre and sail for the Indian Ocean in March 1944, to join the

British Eastern Fleet The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

. Near the end of March, ''Queenborough'' commenced involvement in Operation Diplomat.Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 391 Leaving

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

, on 21 March, the 18-ship fleet practiced refuelling south of

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. On 27 March, the fleet met United States reinforcements— and three escorts—with the combined force arriving back in Trincomalee on 31 March. From 16 to 24 April, ''Queenborough'' was assigned to Task Force 70 of

Operation Cockpit Operation Cockpit was an Allied attack against the Japanese-held island of Sabang on 19 April 1944. It was conducted by aircraft flying from British and American aircraft carriers and targeted Japanese shipping and airfields. A small number o ...

as one of the ships escorting aircraft carriers and USS ''Saratoga''. On her return to Trincomalee, the destroyer joined Task Force 66 for

Operation Transom Operation Transom was an attack by Allied forces against the Japanese-occupied city of Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java during World War II. Conducted by the British-led Eastern Fleet, the operation took place on 17 May 1944 and invo ...

, a carrier-based air raid on

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern border of Java island, on the Mad ...

.Rohwer & Hümmelchen, ''Chronology of the war at sea, 1939–1945'', pp. 411–12 The task force replenished from

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

at Exmouth Bay on 15 May, before attacking on 17 May. ''Queenborough'' returned to Trincomalee on 27 May. ''Queenborough'' departed Trincomalee on 15 October as part of Task Force 63, a

operation to focus Japanese attention on the west coast of Malaya as a diversion for American amphibious landings in the Philippines.Rohwer & Hümmelchen, ''Chronology of the war at sea, 1939–1945'', p. 460 The diversionary attacks, known as

Operation Millet Operation Millet was a British naval operation in World War II, the objective being the execution naval bombardment and aerial strikes on Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, on 17–20 October 1944,

, included a series of bombardments and air raids against Japanese installations and ships in

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site s ...

and

Car Nicobar Car Nicobar ( in Car language) is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands. It is also one of three local administrative divisions of the Indian district of Nicobar, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Annual rai ...

, and were intended to appear as if the Allies were preparing an invasion of Malaya. ''Queenborough'' was attached to Group 1, consisting of the battleship and her escorts, and bombarded Car Nicobar on 17 and 18 October.Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 505 Despite heavy damage to the target areas, Operation Millet failed to attract a significant reaction from the Japanese, as available resources were already en route to defend Leyte from invasion.

British Pacific Fleet

At the end of 1944, the heavily reinforced

was split into two forces, The smaller East Indies Fleet remained in the Indian Ocean, while the larger

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships ...

(BPF) was redeployed to the Pacific Ocean, to increase the British and Commonwealth presence in the war against Japan. ''Queenborough'' and the 4th Destroyer Flotilla were assigned to the latter at the end of November 1944. As part of this deployment, ship numbers and designations were changed from the British pennant system to the American hull number system to facilitate operation with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

; ''Queenborough''s pennant was changed from G70 to D19. From 23 March to 29 May 1945, ''Queenborough'' was part of the escort screen protecting British carriers as their aircraft attacked Japanese airfields in the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...

. The destroyer received five

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s for her wartime service: "Arctic 1942–43", "Sicily 1943", "Salerno 1943", "Mediterranean 1943", and "Okinawa 1945".Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 93

Transfer to RAN

Following the conclusion of World War II, ''Queenborough'' was one of three RN Q-class destroyers transferred to the RAN on loan. Another two had been loaned to the RAN since commissioning. This arrangement allowed the four N-class destroyers loaned to the RAN during the war to be returned.Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 28 ''Queenborough'' was the last ship to commission into the RAN, in September 1945, in trade for .

Frigate conversion

In early 1950, the decision was made to convert all five Q-class destroyers in RAN service to anti-submarine warfare frigates, similar to the

Type 15 frigate The Type 15 frigate was a class of British anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were conversions based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers built to the standard War Emergency Programme "utility" design. History By 1945 the wa ...

conversions performed on several

War Emergency Programme destroyers The War Emergency Programme destroyers were destroyers built for the British Royal Navy during World War I and World War II. World War I emergency programmes The 323 destroyers ordered during the First World War belonged to several different cl ...

of the RN.Cooper, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 168 A proposal was made by the Australian government to pay for the upgrade to the five on-loan vessels, at the predicted cost of AU£400,000 each. Instead, the British Admiralty presented the ships to the RAN on 1 June as gifts.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 316 The conversions were part of an overall plan to improve the anti-submarine warfare capability of the RAN, although ''Queenborough'' and the other ships were only a 'stopgap' measure until purpose-built ASW frigates could be constructed. ''Queenborough'' was the second ship to be converted, and was rebuilt as a frigate at

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

in Sydney. The modernisation began in May 1950, and despite predictions that work would finish within 18 months, ''Queenborough'' was not recommissioned until 7 December 1954.Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 67 The conversion started with the removal of the ship's entire armament. The entire superstructure was cut off, and replaced with a larger, aluminium construction.Gillett, ''Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946'', p. 33 The quality of accommodation was improved. Fuel stowage was reduced, in turn cutting the ship's range from at to at . The bridge was enclosed, and a dedicated operations room was installed, in order to coordinate the great quantity and type of data collected by the ship's sensors. ''Queenborough'' was fitted with new guns: a twin 4 inch high angle/low angle gun aft of the superstructure, and a twin 40 mm Bofors gun forward of the bridge. The reduction in gun armament was justified by the inclusion of a Limbo anti-submarine mortar.Stevens (ed.) ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p 168 The conversion resulted in a 315-ton increase in

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

.Comparison of statistics in Gillett, ''Warships of Australia'', pgs 163, 182 The ship's draught increased from to . The converted ships were formed as the 1st Australian Frigate Squadron.

Post-conversion service

As frigate

On 24 February 1955, ''Queenborough'' departed Sydney for England, to participate in

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typi ...

training with the Royal Navy. After repairs to damage sustained during the journey, ''Queenborough'' was assigned to the RN Training Squadron, attached to the Joint Anti-Submarine School in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. The ship was attached to the

6th Frigate Squadron The 6th Frigate Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1950 to 2002. History During its existence, the squadron included , Type 15, , , , and Type 23 frigates. Ships from the squadron participated in the Coronation Fleet ...

during this period. In addition to the squadron's badge depicting the

Red Hand of Ulster The Red Hand of Ulster ( gle, Lámh Dhearg Uladh), also known as the Red Hand Uí Néill, is a symbol used in heraldry to denote the Irish province of Ulster and the Northern Uí Néill in particular. However, it has also been used by other Ir ...

, ''Queenborough'' added a

red kangaroo The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, except for the more fertile areas, such as ...

design to her funnel to depict the ship's Australian allegiance; one of the earliest instances of using a red kangaroo to identify an Australian warship. ''Queenborough'' was first deployed to the

in early 1956. After returning to Darwin on 10 April, the ship was made lead vessel of the 1st Frigate Squadron. ''Queenborough'' and sister ship were sent to the Strategic Reserve at the end of January 1959. During the four-month assignment, the ships were assigned to the royal escort of for the visit of

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

to Singapore, and participated in

SEATO The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, the Philipp ...

Exercise Sea Demon. The frigate returned to Sydney on 16 May 1959. In October 1962 ''Queenborough'' together with rescued 25 survivors from the Panamanian merchant steamer ''Kawi'', which sank after being caught in a storm in the South China Sea. In December 1962, again with HMAS ''Quiberon'', ''Queenborough'' rescued the crew of SS ''Tuscany'', which had

run aground Ship grounding or ship stranding is the impact of a ship on seabed or waterway side. It may be intentional, as in beaching to land crew or cargo, and careening, for maintenance or repair, or unintentional, as in a marine accident. In acciden ...

on a reef in the South China Sea. On 8 May 1963 ''Queenborough'' collided with British submarine off Jervis Bay during anti-submarine training exercises.Lind, ''Royal Australian Navy – Historic Naval Events Year by Year'', p 241 ''Tabard''s fin and conning tower were damaged, and minor damage was inflicted to the underside of ''Queenborough'', but both vessels were able to return to Sydney unaided.Frame, ''No Pleasure Cruise'', p. 222 In September, ''Queenborough'' and sister ship ''Quiberon'' were deployed to the FESR. On 26 October, the two ships were involved in the rescue of survivors from MV ''Kawi'', The ships visited Calcutta in December, before returning to Hong Kong for Christmas. In January 1963 ''Queenborough'' was replaced as the lead vessel of the 1st Frigate Squadron by . From 31 January to 4 February, ''Queenborough'' and ''Quiberon'' were in Saigon for a diplomatic visit; they were the last RAN ships to visit Vietnam before Australia's military became involved in the Vietnam War. Following the visit of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to Australia in March and April 1963, ''Queenborough'' was stationed between Australia and New Caledonia as a precautionary air-sea rescue ship for the first leg of the Queen's departure flight. ''Queenborough'' was decommissioned into reserve on 10 July 1963.Gillett, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 183

As training ship

After spending three years in reserve, a need for expanded training capabilities saw ''Queenborough'' recommissioned on 28 July 1966 as a dedicated

(ASW) training ship. While being prepared for her new duties, the 4-inch guns and gunnery radar were removed (although the turret would remain until early 1968).Gillett, ''Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946'', pp. 162–3 An improved Type 978 radar was installed. In October 1966, ''Queenborough'' was deployed to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

on a training cruise.Forbes, ''RAN Activities in the Southern Ocean'' An Australian researcher on

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 19 ...

required a medical evacuation: as the closest Australian vessel, ''Queenborough'' changed course for the island. The ship encountered seas, winds, hail, and snow en route, and arrived in time to collect the scientist before worse weather set in. At the start of 1969, the RAN's ship designation and numbering system was changed from the British system to the US system.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 317 ''Queenborough'' was reclassified as a

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by ...

, and received the number 57 (without any prefix letter). The similarity of the new number to the "57 Varieties" advertising slogan of the

H. J. Heinz Company The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

, led to a relationship between the ship and the Australian branch of the company.Editor, ''Mystery ship'', p. 6 On 22 July 1969, ''Queenborough'' completed her 400,000th nautical mile of sailing since launching. On 16 April 1970, ''Queenborough'' was part of a 45-ship, 13-nation fleet assembled in Sydney Harbour as part of the

Australian Bicentenary The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...

celebrations.Lind, ''Royal Australian Navy – Historic Naval Events Year by Year'', pp 274–75 In June 1971, ''Queenborough'' left Sydney to visit Fiji,

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, and New Zealand. Heavy weather between Fiji and New Zealand created cracks in the bow. These were detected in New Zealand waters, with ''Queenborough'' docking in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

until 5 July for repairs.

Decommissioning and fate

''Queenborough'' was decommissioned on 7 April 1972. Tenders for purchase of the ship closed in February 1975, and on 8 April 1975 ''Queenborough'' was sold to Willtop (Asia) Ltd. The ship was towed to Hong Kong, arriving on 20 June, to be

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...

for scrap. Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March 2010, ''Queenborough'' was retroactively awarded the honour "Malaya 1957" for her service during the Malayn Emergency.

Citations

References

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