HMAS ''Warrego'' (L73/U73), named for the
Warrego River
The Warrego River is an intermittent river that is part of the Darling River, Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, which is located in South West Queensland and in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana region of New South Wales, Aus ...
, was 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 ...
of 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).
Construction
She 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 o ...
by the
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 ...
at
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
on 10 May 1939,
launched on 10 February 1940, and commissioned into the RAN on 21 August 1940.
Operational history
''Warrego'' served during World War II as an escort and patrol vessel escorting convoys, including the
Pensacola Convoy
The Pensacola Convoy is a colloquialism for a United States military shipping convoy that took place in late 1941 as the Pacific War began. The name was derived from that of its primary escort ship, the heavy cruiser . ''Pensacola'' was official ...
,
in Australian waters and the
South-West Pacific
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
. In late January 1942 the ship was assigned to the short lived
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consists of the forces of Australia ...
.
The ship was part of the escort, led by with the destroyer and , for a convoy composed of , , , and leaving Darwin before two in the morning of 15 February for
Koepang carrying troops to reinforce
forces already defending Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
. By 11:00, the convoy was being shadowed by a Japanese flying boat that dropped some bombs without causing damage before departing. The next morning another shadowing aircraft had taken position and before noon the convoy was attacked by bombers and flying boats in two waves. After the attacks the convoy continued toward Timor for a few hours with ''Houston'' launching a scout plane seeking the enemy position. ABDA suspected the presence of Japanese carriers, an imminent invasion of Timor and a support fleet lying in wait and thus ordered the convoy back to Darwin which it reached before noon on 18 February.
''Warrego'' was in Darwin the next day when the
Japanese attacked the port and, though with a working party over the side, was one of the ships that got underway to contribute antiaircraft fire to the defense. The day after the attack, ''Warrego'' escorted the damaged ''Swan'' through
and then resumed antisubmarine patrol off the port.
''Warrego'' was escorting the Dutch ship to
Townsville when both ships were recalled to
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
in order to form a convoy to bring forces to
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range to t ...
. With , ''Warrego'' escorted ''Karsik'' and Dutch ship in the first convoy into Milne Bay on 25 June 1942 with Australian troops, American engineers and supplies for the buildup of that base in preparation for port operations and airfield construction. ''Warrego'', disguised with greenery, stood by as ''Karsik'' unloaded supplies at an improvised wharf until both sailed for Australia on 28 June. By 11 July, the sloop was back, escorting the Dutch ship with
Brigadier John Field and the
7th Brigade Group embarked as
Milne Force
Milne Force was a garrison Australian Army force formed in July 1942 during the World War II which controlled allied naval, land and air units in the region of Milne Bay, in the Territory of Papua. The force was responsible for constructing airstr ...
to protect airfields under construction. By late October ''Warrego'', , and were assisting the survey vessel in surveying a safe passage for large ships from Milne Bay to Cape Nelson in order to provide large ship support to the
Buna campaign
Buna may refer to:
Places
* Buna village, a small Bosnia and Herzegovina village at the confluence of the Buna and Neretva rivers
* Buna, Kenya, captured by Italy in the East African Campaign
* Bouna, Ivory Coast or Buna
* Buna, Papua New Guinea ...
that led to ''Karsik'' delivering tanks to Buna and the supply convoys of
Operation Lilliput
Operation Lilliput (World War II) was the name given to a convoy operation directed by G.H.Q. Operations Instructions Number 21 of 20 October 1942 for transportation of troops, weapons, and supplies in a regular transport service between Milne ...
.
The ship earned five
battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942", "Pacific 1941–45", "New Guinea 1942", "Lingayen Gulf 1945", and "Borneo 1945".
Decommissioning and fate
''Warrego'' was sold for scrapping in 1966.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*''Warships of Australia'', Ross Gillett, Illustrations Colin Graham, Rigby Limited, 1977,
External links
HMAS ''Warrego'' (II)RAN Ship Histories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrego (U73)
Grimsby-class sloops of the Royal Australian Navy
1940 ships