On This Day

1946-1959 > Post WW2

August 24, 1946

HMS Broome (formerly HMAS Broome) was handed over to the Turkish Navy at Istanbul and renamed Alanya. In mid-April 1946 Broome had been paid off and recommissioned into the Royal Navy. On 8 May 1946 the ship sailed from Fremantle for Colombo en route to Istanbul where she arrived on 22 August 1946.

August 21, 1946

HMAS BROOME, (minesweeper), was transferred to the Turkish Navy and renamed ALANYA.

August 14, 1946

HMAS KALGOORLIE, (minesweeper), was transferred to the Netherlands Navy and renamed TERNATE.

August 10, 1946

HMAS GAWLER, (minesweeper), was transferred to the Turkish Navy and renamed AYVALIK.

August 8, 1946

HMAS TOWNSVILLE, (minesweeper), was sold out of service for breaking up.

August 7, 1946

HMAS Bungaree decommissioned on and returned to her owners on 5 November 1947. Bungaree was subsequently on-sold twice and in 1960 was renamed Eastern Mariner. Whilst operating in South Vietnamese waters she struck a mine in the Saigon River and was wrecked on 26 May 1966.

HMAS IPSWICH was transferred to the Netherlands Navy and renamed MOROTAI.

August 6, 1946

HMAS PIRIE, (minesweeper), was transferred to the Turkish Navy, and renamed AMASRA.

August 5, 1946

HMAS Rockhampton paid off into Reserve at Sydney, having steamed some 176,077 miles. She was sold as scrap to Kino Shito (Australia) Pty Ltd in January 1961.

July 30, 1946

The diesel tug HMAS EMU, was commissioned. EMU was laid down in Mort’s Dock, Sydney, and launched on 25 June 1946.

July 29, 1946

RAFA Kurumba paid off. She was sold in January 1948 to Artemis Maritime Co Inc, Panama, who renamed her Angeliki. She was later re-named Evangelos

July 17, 1946

LEUT J. F. Bell, RAN, qualified as the first officer in the RAN to be trained in ship construction. He achieved the highest marks in his course.

July 12, 1946

HMAS Cessnock paid off at Sydney. She was sold on 23 April 1947 to the Nan Chiao Shipping and Salvage Co Ltd, Shanghai, for breaking up.

July 6, 1946

HMA Ships QUADRANT and QUEENBOROUGH, (destroyers), were docked in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island. They were the first ships of the RAN to use the dock. All previous dockings were of ships of the British Pacific Fleet.

July 5, 1946

At Colombo HMA Ships Ipswich, Burnie and Toowoomba paid off and were transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy.

• Burnie was renamed Ceram.
• Ipswich was renamed Morotai. In 1949 the ship was transferred by the Royal Netherlands Navy to the Indonesian Navy and renamed Hang Tuah. In April 1958 she was bombed and sunk by an aircraft operated by forces in rebellion against the Indonesian Government.
• Toowoomba was renamed Boeroe and was removed from the effective list of the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1958.

July 4, 1946

HMA LST 3035 , ex HM LST 3035, commissioned into the RAN in Ceylon while in Walkers Graving Dock. She was later renamed HMAS Lae.
HMA LST 3017 , ex HM LST 3017, commissioned into the RAN at Trincomalee.

July 3, 1946

HMAS Lismore paid off at Trincomalee. The same day she commissioned as HNMS Batjan having steamed 191,132 miles as a unit of the Royal Australian Navy.

July 1, 1946

The landing ships tank Mark III, LST 3008, LST 3014, LST 3017, LST 3022, LST 3035 and LST 3501 were loaned to the RAN by the RN. They were designated the 10th (Australian) LST Flotilla.

June 16, 1946

The diesel tug HMAS MOLLYMAWK, was commissioned. MOLLYMAWK was laid down in Poole & Steel Ltd, Sydney, and launched on 3 May 1946.

June 14, 1946

HMAS Geraldton paid off at Colombo and on 24 August 1946 she was transferred to the Turkish Navy and renamed Antalya. After her sister ship Ayvalik (ex HMAS Gawler) was withdrawn from Turkish Navy service in 1963, Antalya was renamed Ayvalik. Jane’s Fighting Ships reported that Ayvalik was deleted from the Turkish Navy list in 1975.

HMAS Inverell Paid off at Brisbane. She had steamed 93,720 miles since commissioning.

June 8, 1946

The Dutch submarine K9 was wrecked off Seal Rocks, NSW, while under tow to the Netherlands East Indies.

May 31, 1946

HMAS DIAMANTINA, (frigate), towed ASR912 from Manus Island to Sydney.

May 25, 1946

HMAS Quality paid off into Reserve. In June 1950 the ship’s transfer to the Royal Australian Navy was made permanent. Unlike her sister ships which were converted to anti-submarine frigates in the early 1950s, Quality did not see further service and was sold for scrap on 10 April 1958 to Mitsubishi Ltd, Tokyo.

HMAS Strahan paid off into Reserve at Sydney. On 6 January 1961, without being again commissioned, she was sold to Kinoshita (Australia) Pty Ltd

May 23, 1946

HMAS Gympie paid off into Reserve at Brisbane, after having steamed over 100,000 miles. On 4 November 1947 Gympie’s sister ship, HMAS Lithgow, sailed from Brisbane with Gympie in tow for Sydney, where they arrived on 7 November. Gympie was sold on 6 January 1961 to Kinoshita (Australia) Pty Ltd to be broken up.

May 21, 1946

HMAS Launceston commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Launceston in Sydney after paying off from the RAN in mid March 1946. She sailed for Colombo in company with her sister ships Gawler and Pirie. All were destined for transfer to the Turkish Navy. As a unit of the Turkish Navy, Launceston originally bore the name Ayancik and was later renamed Hamit Naci. ‘Jane’s Fighting Ships’ reported that she was withdrawn from service in 1965.

May 16, 1946

HMAS Whyalla paid off at Brisbane. On 10 February 1947 Whyalla was sold to the Victorian Public Works Department. On 8 November 1947 the tug HMAS Reserve departed Brisbane for Melbourne with Whyalla in tow. The vessels arrived at Melbourne on 14 November. Whyalla (I) was handed over to her new owner and renamed Rip, being employed as a lights maintenance vessel. She ceased service as Rip in 1984. When the Whyalla City Council became aware that the ship was to sold as scrap, successful negotiations resulted in the Council purchasing her for $5,000. She returned to Whyalla under her own power later in 1984. Between February and April 1987, Whyalla was slowly moved up the slipway from which she was launched in 1941, and then relocated two kilometres inland and placed on permanent foundations, becoming the centrepiece for the Whyalla Maritime Museum which was officially opened on 29 October 1988. Whyalla is one of only two Bathurst Class preserved as museum ships, the other being HMAS Castlemaine in Williamstown, Victoria.