HMAS Kalgoorlie

HMAS ''Kalgoorlie'' (J192/B245/A119), named for the city of Kalgoorlie, was one of 60 ''Bathurst''-class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Design and construction

In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate.Stevens, ''The Australian Corvettes'', p. 1Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 103 The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least , and a range of Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 103–4 The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a top speed, and a range of , armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with asdic, and able to be fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels. Construction of the prototype did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 104 The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including ''Kalgoorlie'') ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and four for the Royal Indian Navy.Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 29Stevens et al., ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 108

''Kalgoorlie'' was laid down by BHP at its Whyalla shipyard on 27 July 1940. She was launched on 7 August 1941 by the wife of Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV, and was commissioned into the RAN on 7 April 1942.

Operational history

RAN service

After completing trials, ''Kalgoorlie'' was assigned as a convoy escort. Initially operating along the east coast of Sydney, the corvette was moved to Darwin in August 1942 and taken with convoys between Australia, Thursday Island and Timor. On 25 September, ''Kalgoorlie'' and sister ship evacuated the ship's company of the destroyer , which had run aground at Betano Bay two days before. In early December, ''Kalgoorlie'' was involved in the search for survivors from her sister ship , which had been sunk by Japanese aircraft on 1 December. ''Kalgoorlie'' eventually recovered 49 of the survivors.

In April 1943, the corvette returned to the east coast of Australia, still operating as a convoy escort. On 15 June, a thirteen-ship convoy heading for Brisbane and escorted by ''Kalgoorlie'' and sister ships , , , and , was attacked off Smoky Cape. The United States Army Transport ''Portmar'' and the US Navy Landing ship were torpedoed by Japanese submarine ''I-174'': the former sinking in minutes with the loss of only two lives, while 26 were killed aboard the latter ship, which survived and was towed to port. Despite attempts to locate the submarine immediately after the attack, and a multiple-day search performed by ''Kalgoorlie'', ''I-174'' escaped unharmed. This was the last submarine attack to be made on the east coast of Australia during World War II.

''Kalgoorlie'' spent the first half of 1944 as a convoy escort between Queensland and New Guinea, then joined sister ship in clearing the minefields laid by throughout the Great Barrier Reef during the early part of the war. During August and September, the two corvettes located and destroyed almost 500 mines. ''Kalgoorlie'' spent the rest of the year on convoy escort duties, before joining the British Pacific Fleet at the end of 1944. The corvette operated with the Pacific Fleet until 15 July 1945, when she arrived in Brisbane for a refit. ''Kalgoorlie'' was still undergoing refit when the war ended. After the refit, the corvette operated in New Guinea and Australian waters until early May 1946.

The corvette was awarded four battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942–43", "Pacific 1942–43", "New Guinea 1943–44", and "Okinawa 1945".

''Kalgoorlie'' paid off on 8 May 1946, and was recommissioned on the same day into the Royal Netherlands Navy as HNLMS ''Ternate''. It was scrapped in Japan in 1962.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalgoorlie
Bathurst-class corvettes of the Royal Australian Navy
Minehunters of the Royal Netherlands Navy
Ships built in South Australia
World War II corvettes of Australia
1941 ships