Following

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 opposing ...

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) was required to clear

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 from the waters around Australia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

in these areas began in December 1945 and was completed in August 1948. One ship, the ''Bathurst'' class corvette HMAS ''Warrnambool'', was sunk during these operations.

History

During World War II both the Allies and Japanese laid mines in Australian and New Guinean waters. The RAN's

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 ...

, HMAS ''Bungaree'', laid almost 10,000 mines in Australian waters alone, and further mines were laid around Australian ports. Following the war Australia was legally responsible for clearing mines from its territorial waters as part of an international minesweeping effort coordinated by the Mine Clearance Board in London.Fogarty (1998), p. 123 The RAN's 20th Minesweeping Flotilla was assigned the task of sweeping Australian waters for mines. The flotilla was based at

Cairns, Queensland 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 was commanded from the sloop HMAS ''Swan''. Clearance operations began in December 1945, and were generally conducted by ''Bathurst'' class corvettes. Ships involved included HMAS ''Swan'', ''Ararat'', ''Cowra'', ''Deloraine'', ''Echuca'', ''Katoomba'', ''Lithgow'', ''Mildura'' and ''Warrnambool'' as well as harbour defence motor launches ''1323'', ''1328'', ''1329'' and general purpose vessels ''960'' and ''963''. Over 1,200 sailors were involved in the operation. Minesweeping was arduous and dangerous and the sailors involved were granted danger money of 6 d per day.Fogarty (1998), p. 124 On 13 September 1947 ''Warrnambool'' struck a mine off North Queensland which had been laid by ''Bungaree'' in November 1943 and sank shortly afterwards with four sailors killed and another 25 wounded. ''Warrnambool'' is the only RAN warship to have ever been sunk by a mine. The 20th Minesweeping Flotilla completed its task in August 1948. By this time 1,816 mines had been swept. Eleven officers and sailors were recommended for honours and awards for their role in the operation, with all recommendations being fully endorsed by Vice Admiral John Collins, the First Naval Member, Australian Commonwealth Naval Board. Some of the awards were delayed and others never granted, however, due to disagreements between the RAN and the Government over whether post-war minesweeping constituted 'operational' service.Fogarty (1998), pp. 124–125

Notes

References

* * {{Royal Australian Navy minesweeping after World War II minesweeping after World War II Aftermath of World War II in Australia

History

See also

Notes

References