HMAS ''St Giles'' (FY86) was a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

which was operated by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(RN),

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) and the Australian shipping firms J. & A. Brown and the

Waratah Tug and Salvage Company The Waratah Tug and Salvage Company was a tug and salvage company formed in 1931 by the Adelaide Steamship Company. It took over the J & A Brown tugs at Newcastle and Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, an ...

. She was built by Ferguson Shipbuilders, Glasgow for the RN in 1919, was sold to J. & A. Brown in 1925, transferred to the Waratah Tug and Salvage Co Pty Ltd in 1931 and was commissioned into the RAN between 1940 and 1942 and 1945 and 1946 before being scrapped in 1956.

Operational history

The ship was built for the RN as the Rescue/Saint class ocean tug ''St Giles''. She entered service in 1919 and was sold to J. & A. Brown, Newcastle in 1922. She was sold in 1931 to the Waratah Tug and Salvage Co Pty Ltd, Sydney. Following the outbreak of

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ''St Giles'' was requisitioned by the RAN in 1939. She was later converted to an auxiliary anti-submarine vessel and commissioned on 15 January 1940.Gill (1957), p. 452 She was decommissioned in May 1942. ''St Giles'' was recommissioned on 23 August 1945. During her second commission she was used as a tugboat in Australian and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

waters. She was paid off from the RAN in March 1946 and returned to her owners in 1947. She continued in commercial service until she was sold for scrap and was broken up in 1956.

Notes

References

External links

Clydebuilt ships ''St Giles''
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Giles Tugboats of the Royal Australian Navy 1919 ships Patrol vessels of the Royal Australian Navy Tugboats of the Royal Navy