HMAS ''Vigilant'' (later known as HMAS ''Sleuth'' and HMAS ''Hawk'') was an auxiliary patrol boat serving with the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War. Notably it was the 120th ship built by the Cockatoo Island Dockyard and the first aluminium ship built in Australia.

History

PV ''Vigilant'' was a prototype ship designed and built at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in 1937–38. The hull and wheelhouse were constructed entirely of aluminium to save weight. As a result, the ship had a total displacement of only 106 tons. It was built for the Department of Trade and Customs, intended for use patrolling waters to the north of Australia in conjunction with the ''Kuru''. It was initially based at Townsville.

Naval service

The ship was still undergoing sea trials when it was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy in October 1940, commissioning as HMAS ''Vigilant'' on 12 November 1940. It was classed as an auxiliary patrol vessel. It was initially equipped with a 3-pounder QF gun but this was replaced with a

20 mm Oerlikon 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 emplo ...

. As well as the mounted gun, it carried a variety of light arms including a Bren light machine gun. Neptuna explosion 19 February 1942

''Vigilant'' was transferred to

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

in 1941 and was used for protecting the harbour approaches. During the Bombing of Darwin, ''Vigilant'' engaged some of the attacking aircraft with its 20 mm Oerlikon and later assisted in picking up survivors from the water in Darwin Harbour. ''Vigilant'', with a hold capacity of 7 tons, played an important role in the

Battle of Timor The Battle of Timor occurred in Portuguese Timor and Dutch Timor during the Second World War. Japanese forces invaded the island on 20 February 1942 and were resisted by a small, under-equipped force of Allied military personnel—known as ...

from May 1942 and made several supply trips to the island. During one of these supply voyages, it assisted in the search for survivors from HMAS ''Armidale''. During this time, it also resupplied corvettes operating in the Timor Sea with depth charges. HMAS ''Vigilant'' was renamed HMAS ''Sleuth'' on 17 April 1944 and HMAS ''Hawk'' on 13 March 1945. ''Hawk'' was paid off on 12 November 1945.

Post-war service

After the war, the ship was returned to the Department of Trade and Customs as PV ''Vigilant'', and served as a whaling patrol ship off Western Australia until 1965. Despite attempts to save the ship for preservation, it was scuttled off Sydney in April 1966.

Legacy

Vigilant Close in

Bentley Park, Queensland Bentley Park is a suburb of Cairns within the local government area of Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is located approximately south of the Cairns City. In the , Bentley Park had a population of 8,018 people. History Bentley Park i ...

is named after HMAS ''Vigilant''. Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March 2010, the RAN decided that, in recognition of the vessel's wartime service, future ships named HMAS ''Vigilant'' would be entitled to carry the honours "Darwin 1942–43" and "Pacific 1942–43".

Gallery

Image:Vigilant plan.jpg, General arrangement plan Image:Sleuth Castlemaine Benalla.jpg, HMAS ''Sleuth'' with the corvettes ''Castlemaine'' and ''Benalla'' off Darwin in 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigilant Patrol vessels of the Royal Australian Navy 1938 ships Scuttled vessels of New South Wales