HMAS ''Quiberon'' (G81/D20/D281/F03) was a Q-class destroyer 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). Although built for 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 ...

and remaining British property until 1950, ''Quiberon'' was one of two Q-class destroyers commissioned into the RAN during World War II. She was passed into full RAN ownership in 1950, and converted into an anti-submarine frigate.

Design and construction

''Quiberon'' was one of eight Q-class destroyers constructed as a flotilla under the

War Emergency Programme War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

.Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 95 These ships had a standard displacement of 1,705 tons, and a deep load displacement of 2,424 tons. ''Quiberon'' was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

, and long between perpendiculars, with a beam of . Propulsion was provided by two

Admiralty 3-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power Steamship, ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although ...

s connected to Parsons Impulse turbines, which generated for the propeller shafts.Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 96 ''Quiberon'' achieved a maximum speed of during full-power trials. At , she had a range of only , but could travel at . The ship's company consisted of 8 officers and 181 sailors. The ship's main armament consisted of four

QF 4.7 inch Mk IX The 4.7 inch QF Mark IX and Mark XIIMark IX = Mark 9, Mark XII = Mark 12. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. This article covers the ninth and twelfth models of British QF 4.7 inch gun. we ...

guns in single turrets. This was supplemented by a quadruple

2-pounder pom-pom The 2-pounder gun, officially the QF 2-pounder ( QF denoting "quick firing") and universally known as the pom-pom, was a British autocannon, used as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy.British military of the period traditionally denoted s ...

, and six

20 mm Oerlikon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

anti-aircraft guns. Four depth-charge throwers were fitted, with a payload of 70 charges carried, and two quadruple 21-inch torpedo tube sets were fitted, although a maximum of eight torpedoes were carried. ''Quiberon'' was laid down by J. Samuel White and Company at their shipyard in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, on 14 October 1940. She was launched on 31 January 1942 by the wife of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

S. D. Tillard, Flag Officer in Charge,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. ''Quiberon'' was commissioned into the RAN on 6 July 1942. Although commissioned as an Australian ship, the destroyer initially remained the property of the Royal Navy. The ship was named after the Battle of Quiberon Bay, which occurred in 1759.

Operational history

World War II

''Quiberon'' first served on North Atlantic convoy escort duty, operating out of Scapa Flow. She was assigned to support the

Allied landings in North Africa Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while all ...

in October 1942. On 28 November, ''Quiberon'' attacked and sank the Italian submarine off the Tunisian coast. After this, the destroyer was assigned to "Force Q", which was based at Bône and consisted of three cruisers and two other Q-class destroyers.

Battle of Skerki Bank

Around midnight on 1 December, Force Q located and attacked an Italian convoy of four merchant ships and escorting destroyers about to the north of

Cape Bon Cape Bon ("Good Cape") is a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia, also known as Ras at-Taib ( ar, الرأس الطيب), Sharīk Peninsula, or Watan el Kibli; Cape Bon is also the name of the northernmost point on the peninsula, also known as Ra ...

. All four supply ships, carrying mostly troops and munitions, were sunk, and at 01:35 on 2 December ''Quiberon'' fired the final shot into the Italian torpedo boat which was part of the escort of another convoy. While returning to port, sister ship was torpedoed by a German aircraft: ''Quiberon'' evacuated most of the other destroyer's personnel. On 21 December, ''Quiberon'' rescued survivors from the passenger vessel ''Strathallen''.

Indian Ocean and Pacific service

In January 1943, the destroyer escorted a convoy from England to Cape Town, then made for Victoria, Australia for refit. After work was completed, ''Quiberon'' was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet, primarily as a convoy escort across the Indian Ocean. In July 1943, the ship rescued survivors from , that was sunk by U-boat ''

U-177 German submarine ''U-177'' was a Type IXD2 U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 25 November 1940, at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen, as yard number 1017. She was launched on 1 Oct ...

''. In April 1944, the destroyer was part of the carrier escort screen during

Operation Cockpit Operation Cockpit was an Allied attack against the Japanese-held island of Sabang on 19 April 1944. It was conducted by aircraft flying from British and American aircraft carriers and targeted Japanese shipping and airfields. A small number of ...

, then again in May for

Operation Transom Operation Transom was an attack by Allied forces against the Japanese-occupied city of Surabaya on the Indonesian island of Java during World War II. Conducted by the British-led Eastern Fleet, the operation took place on 17 May 1944 and invol ...

: air raids against Japanese forces occupying the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. After a brief refit in Melbourne, ''Quiberon'' resumed operations with the Eastern Fleet in August. In October, she took part in a series of fleet bombardments of the Japanese-held

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

. In mid December, ''Quiberon'' was reassigned to Australian waters as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol vessel. During early 1945, the destroyer was attached to the British Pacific Fleet. Operating from

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

, ''Quiberon'' took part in operations in support of the American seizure of Okinawa and attacks on the Japanese home islands.

Immediate post-war service

At the end of World War II, ''Quiberon'' was present at the Allied reoccupation of Singapore, and spent the period until February 1946 operating in the East Indies to help reestablish Dutch control, move troops, and repatriate prisoners-of-war.Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 97 The ship received eight battle honours for her wartime service: "Mediterranean 1942", "North Africa 1942–43", "Atlantic 1943", "Indian Ocean 1943–44", "East Indies 1944", "Pacific 1945", "Okinawa 1945", and "Japan 1945". Between 1946 and 1948, ''Quiberon'' was deployed with the

British Commonwealth Occupation Force The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was the British Commonwealth taskforce consisting of Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand military forces in occupied Japan, from 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952. At its peak, t ...

on three occasions.

Frigate conversion

In early 1950, the decision was made to convert all five Q-class destroyers in RAN service (three more had been acquired after World War II) to anti-submarine warfare frigates, similar to the

Type 15 frigate The Type 15 frigate was a class of United Kingdom, British anti-submarine warfare, anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Navy. They were conversions based on the hulls of World War II-era destroyers built to the standard War Emergency Programme d ...

conversions performed on several

War Emergency Programme destroyers The War Emergency Programme destroyers were destroyers built for the British Royal Navy during World War I and World War II. World War I emergency programmes The 323 destroyers ordered during the First World War belonged to several different cla ...

of the RN.Cooper, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 168 A proposal was made by the Australian government to pay for the upgrade to the five on-loan vessels, at the predicted cost of AU£400,000 each. Instead, the British Admiralty presented the ships to the RAN on 1 June as gifts.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 316 The conversions were part of an overall plan to improve the anti-submarine warfare capability of the RAN, although ''Quiberon'' and the other ships were only a 'stopgap' measure until purpose-built ASW frigates could be constructed.Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 67 ''Quiberon'' paid off on 15 May 1950 for conversion at

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 ...

and

Garden Island Dockyard Garden Island is an inner-city locality of Sydney, Australia, and the location of a major Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base. It is located to the north-east of the Sydney central business district and juts out into Port Jackson, immediately to th ...

in Sydney. She was recommissioned on 18 December 1957.

Post-conversion service

''Quiberon'' served in the Far East with the

Commonwealth Strategic Reserve The British Commonwealth Far East Strategic Reserve (commonly referred to as the ''Far East Strategic Reserve'' or the ''FESR'') was a joint military force of the British, Australian, and New Zealand armed forces. Created in the 1950s and based in ...

and as a unit of the Australian Fleet on the Australia Station.Gillett & Graham, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 182 The frigate made a port visit to Burma in 1959; the last RAN vessel to do so until in 2014. In October 1962 ''Quiberon'' together with HMAS ''Queenborough'' rescued 25 survivors from the Panamaian merchant steamer ''Kawi'', which sank after being caught in a storm in the South China Sea. In December 1962, again with HMAS ''Queenborough'', HMAS ''Quiberon'' rescued the crew of the SS ''Tuscany'', which had run aground on a reef in the South China Sea.

Decommissioning and fate

''Quiberon'' paid off to reserve on 26 June 1964. She was sold for scrap to the Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan on 15 February 1972, and left Sydney under tow on 10 April 1972.Gillett & Graham, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 183

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiberon (G81) Q-class destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy Type 15 frigates of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built on the Isle of Wight 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom World War II destroyers of Australia