HMAS ''Bungaree'' was an auxiliary

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...

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), serving during World War II. The ship was built as a cargo vessel for the

Adelaide Steamship Company The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...

Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company The Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Limited was a major Scottish shipbuilding company based in Dundee, Scotland that traded for more than a century and built more than 500 ships. History W.B. Thompson CBE (1837 - 1923) founded th ...

at Dundee, and launched in 1937. The ship operated in Australian waters and was requisitioned by the RAN in October 1940. Decommissioned on 7 August 1946 and returned to her owners on 5 November 1947, she was sold in 1957 and renamed ''Dampier''. She was then sold in 1960 and renamed ''Eastern Mariner'' and while operating in South Vietnamese waters she struck a mine on the Saigon River and was sunk on 26 May 1966. She was salvaged by a Japanese company and subsequently scrapped in 1968.

Construction and design

''Bungaree'' was built in 1937 for the

Gillett and Graham, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 212. by

at Dundee, and named after the Aboriginal community leader and explorer

Bungaree Bungaree, or Boongaree ( – 24 November 1830), was an Aboriginal Australian from the Guringai people of the Broken Bay north of Sydney, who was known as an explorer, entertainer, and Aboriginal community leader.Barani (2013)Significant Aborig ...

. Measuring 3043 gross register tons, the ship was long, with a beam of , and a draught of . She had a crew of 175 personnel and was powered by a triple-expansion steam engine and low pressure geared turbine producing a total 2,500 hp, which gave the vessel a top speed of 11 knots. In RAN service, the vessel was armed with two 4-inch guns, one 12-pounder gun, four 20 mm Oerlikons, and two

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s for self defence.

Operational history

The civilian merchant freighter ''Bungaree'' was requisitioned by the RAN in October 1940, and was commissioned into the RAN on 9 June 1941 after being converted into a minelayer. Following her conversion, HMAS ''Bungaree'' had a capacity of 423

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s. She was later modified to carry 467 mines. ''Bungaree'' laid her first minefield off

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 ...

in August 1941 and, as Australia's only minelayer, laid over 10,000 mines in defensive minefields in Australian and New Zealand waters during World War II. ''Bungaree'' was present in Sydney Harbour during the Japanese midget submarine attack on 31 May 1942. As the Allies moved onto the offensive the need for defensive minefields lessened, with ''Bungaree'' re-tasked as a survey ship from January 1944 and a store ship from August 1944. ''Bungaree'' was awarded the

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 ...

"Pacific 1942–43" for her wartime service.

Decommissioning and fate

HMAS ''Bungaree'' was decommissioned on 7 August 1946 and was returned to her owners on 5 November 1947. The mines she laid in Australian waters were swept by the RAN between 1945 and 1948. She was sold in 1957 to a company based out of Hong Kong and renamed ''Dampier''. In 1960 she was sold again, and renamed ''Eastern Mariner''. The vessel was lost on 26 May 1966, after striking a mine in the

Saigon River The Saigon River ( vi, Sông Sài Gòn) is a river located in southern Vietnam that rises near Phum Daung in southeastern Cambodia, flows south and south-southeast for about and empties into the Soài Rạp, which in its turn empties into the ...

, South Vietnam. The ship was later salvaged by a Japanese company and briefly renamed ''Kitagawa Maru'' before being scrapped in 1968.

Citations

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bungaree Merchant ships of Australia Ships built in Dundee 1937 ships Minelayers of the Royal Australian Navy Survey ships of the Royal Australian Navy Cargo ships of the Royal Australian Navy World War II minelayers of Australia World War II auxiliary ships of Australia Ships sunk by mines Maritime incidents in 1966