HMAS ''Doomba'' was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) warship of World War II. Built for the Royal Navy around the end of World War I as the Hunt-class minesweeper HMS ''Wexford'', the ship only saw two years of service before she was decommissioned in 1921 and sold to the Doomba Shipping Company. The vessel was renamed SS ''Doomba'', converted into a passenger ship, and operated in the waters around Brisbane until 1939, when she was requisitioned by the RAN for wartime service. Serving first as an auxiliary minehunter, then an auxiliary anti-submarine vessel, HMAS ''Doomba'' was purchased outright by the RAN in 1940, and served until early 1946, when she was sold and converted into a linseed oil lighter. ''Doomba'' was scuttled off

Dee Why, New South Wales Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Beaches ...

in 1976.

Building

The ship was built for the RN as the Hunt-class minesweeper HMS ''Wexford''. She was constructed by William Simons & Co at their shipyard in

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

, Scotland, launched in 1919, and commissioned later that year.

Operational history

The minehunter was decommissioned from the RN in 1921 and sold to the Doomba Shipping Company. After being converted to a passenger ship and renamed ''Doomba'', she entered mercantile service in 1923, and was used to carry tourists between Brisbane and

Bribie Island Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island. Bribie Island is ...

. In this role, she could carry 1,500 passengers, and was also used as a flagship for

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

s. The RAN requisitioned ''Doomba'' won 4 September 1939 and purchased in June 1940. In her service with the RAN, ''Doomba'' was first used as an auxiliary

mine sweeper Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

and later an auxiliary anti-submarine vessel. Her service during World War II earned the ship a battle honour: "Pacific 1941–43". She was decommissioned from the RAN on 13 March 1946 and sold on 3 February 1947. She was converted to a linseed oil lighter in 1947 and renamed ''Meggol''.

Fate

On 9 December 1976, ''Meggol'' was scuttled off

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doomba, HMAS 1919 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ferries of Australia Hunt-class minesweepers (1916) Minesweepers of the Royal Australian Navy Patrol vessels of the Royal Australian Navy Scuttled vessels of New South Wales World War I minesweepers of the United Kingdom World War II minesweepers of Australia