HMAS ''Kanimbla'' was a passenger ship converted for use as an
armed merchant cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
and
landing ship infantry 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Built during the mid-1930s as the passenger liner
MV ''Kanimbla'' for
McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co, the ship operated in Australian waters until 1939, when she was requisitioned for military service, converted into an
armed merchant cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
, and commissioned in 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 ...
as HMS ''Kanimbla''.
Initially used to board and take control of merchant vessels belonging to
Occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
and operating in Asian waters, ''Kanimbla'' led the raid to capture the Iranian port of
Bandar Shahpur in August 1941, and was present during the covert Japanese midget submarine
attack on Sydney Harbour
In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three ''Ko-hyoteki''-class midget submarine ...
in 1942. In 1943, the ship was converted into a
Landing Ship Infantry, transferred to 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 ...
, and operated throughout the
South West Pacific Theatre
The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory of ...
until the end of the war.
''Kanimbla'' was decommissioned and returned to her commercial owners in 1950. In 1961, she was sold to the
Pacific Transport Company and renamed ''Oriental Queen''. The ship operated as a liner throughout the Pacific and to Japan until 1973, when she was
broken up for scrap.
Construction
![MV Kanimbla](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/MV_Kanimbla.jpg)
The ship was laid down as motor vessel (MV) ''Kanimbla'' for
McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co by
Harland & Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the Wh ...
,
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
.
[ She was launched on 15 December 1935 and completed in 1936.
The ship was named for the ]Kanimbla Valley Kanimbla may refer to:
*, several ships of Royal Australian Navy
*'' Kanimbla'' a Sydney K-class ferry
* ''Kanimbla''-class landing platform amphibious
* Kanimbla, Queensland, a suburb of the city of Cairns in Australia
* Kanimbla Valley, a valley ...
, west of Blackheath Blackheath may refer to:
Places England
*Blackheath, London, England
** Blackheath railway station
**Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England
*Blackheath, Surrey, England
** Hundred of Blackh ...
in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.[ A ]Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
ferry, launched in 1910 as '' Kanimbla'' gave up her name to the new larger vessel in 1936, and was renamed ''Kurra-Ba''.
Operational history
Pre-war
The ship arrived in Melbourne 12 June 1936 and operated a passenger service between Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
and Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
. The ship accommodated 203 first class and 198 cabin class passengers. This passenger service continued until the outbreak of World War II.[
Kanimbla carried its own broadcast radio station ( call sign 9MI), which broadcast programs to onshore listeners and other ships, as it passed along the coastline. If broadcast on ]short wave
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (10 ...
, but sometimes its programs were relayed by onshore medium wave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
stations. It was conducted entirely by Eileen Foley. It broadcast between 1936 and 1939.
World War II
Om 5 September 1939, ''Kanimbla'' was requisitioned for military service, and underwent conversion to an armed merchant cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
at Garden Island in 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 ...
.[Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 216] She was commissioned into 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 ...
as HMS ''Kanimbla'', though with a largely Australian crew, on 6 September 1939.[ The ship was initially assigned the ]pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
F23 - and later given the pennant number C78.[
''Kanimbla'' was engaged in patrolling the coasts of Asia and boarding vessels of German or ]occupied Europe
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
origin.[
On 24 August 1941, ''Kanimbla'' led a raid to capture the Iranian port of Bandar Shahpur. The ship led seven other vessels, including the gunboat , the corvette , the ]naval trawler
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to ...
HMT ''Arthur Cavannagh'', the sloop , an oil rig tugboat, and a dhow. In addition, ''Kanimbla'' carried 300 Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
troops, including Gurkha
The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India.
The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...
s and soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment
The 10th Baluch or Baluch Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. After Partition of India, independence, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army. In 1956, it was amalgamated with the 8th Punjab Regiment, 8th Punja ...
, whose task was to board and capture the German cargo ship ''Hohenfels''. ''Kanimbla'' used her armament in support of the raid, which resulted in the securing of the railhead, and the capture of eight Axis merchantmen, two gunboats, and a floating dock were captured as well as the railhead.
''Kanimbla'' was one of several Allied vessels located in Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
during the covert attack by Japanese midget submarines on the night of 31 May 1942.
She arrived back in Sydney on 2 April 1943, was converted to a Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) and commissioned into 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 ...
as HMAS ''Kanimbla'' on 1 June 1943. She received the pennant number C78.[Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 217] In this configuration, she could carry 1,280 troops, and carried up to 22 LCVPs, plus two Landing Craft Mechanised
Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...
.[Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 215]
The ship earned 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: "New Guinea 1944", "Leyte Gulf 1944", "Lingayen Gulf 1945", "Borneo 1945", and "Pacific 1945".
Post-war
''Kanimbla'' paid off at Sydney on 25 March 1949 and was returned to her owners on 13 December 1950 after being converted back by the Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company
The Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company was a ship building and maintenance company which operated the Cockatoo Island Dockyard on Cockatoo Island in Sydney, Australia between 1933 and 1992.
History
The Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company ...
[ with the ship subsequently bringing European migrants to Australia and later taking Australian tourists to Japan and other parts of Asia. In 1961, the ship was sold to the Pacific Transport Company and renamed ''Oriental Queen''.][ For the next three years, the ship was chartered to transport pilgrims between Indonesia and ]Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
.[ In 1964, ''Oriental Queen'' was chartered by a Japanese shipping company and served as a liner on the ]Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
– Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
route.[ The vessel was later sold outright to the Japanese charterer.][ ''Oriental Queen''s career ended in 1973, with the ship's sale to Taiwanese breakers for scrapping.][
]
Legacy
The suburb of Kanimbla in Cairns was named after the ship.
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
External links
Mentioned in dispatches
''London Gazette
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
'' 6 March 1942
HMS Kanimbla at uboat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanimbla
Amphibious warfare vessels of the Royal Australian Navy
World War II Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Belfast
1935 ships
Ships built by Harland and Wolff