On This Day

1946-1959 > Post WW2

March 21, 1946

HMAS Bataan takes civilians to sea – a first for the RAN. It was for fundraising and civilians hato subscribe to the Commonwealth Security Loan to obtain a berth. The trips left Brisbane, Sydney and Newcastle and occurred between 21st and 31st March 1946
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March 14, 1946

HMAS Moresby paid off and on 3 February 1947 she was sold for breaking up to Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd. She was subsequently scrapped at Newcastle, NSW

March 6, 1946

HMAS Poyang decommissioned in Sydney. She was then handed over to the Ministry of War Transport in August before being returned to her owners.

March 3, 1946

HMAS TOLGA, (auxiliary minesweeper), was scuttled off New Guinea by HMAS CONDAMINE.

February 26, 1946

HMAS ADELAIDE, (light cruiser), was paid off for breaking up.

February 22, 1946

The modified River class frigate HMAS CONDAMINE, (LCDR R. J. Hodge, RAN), was commissioned. CONDAMINE was laid down in the State Dockyard, Newcastle, NSW, on 30 October 1943, and launched on 4 November 1944.

February 20, 1946

The armament store-carrier HMAS WOOMERA, was commissioned. WOOMERA was allocated to the Australian Army, and named ASHBURTON, and taken over by the RAN on 23 January 1946.

February 11, 1946

HMAS Wollongong paid off at Sydney in preparation for transfer to the Royal Netherlands Navy. Renamed Banda, she served with the Royal Netherlands Navy until April 1950 when she was handed over to the newly created Indonesian Navy, being renamed Radjawali. ‘Jane’s Fighting Ships’ reported that Radjawali arrived at Hong Kong in April 1968 for scrapping.

January 28, 1946

HMAS Benalla (I) paid off into reserve at Fremantle. Benalla (I) remained at Fremantle until 25 March 1955, when the tug HMAS Sprightly sailed for Melbourne with Benalla (I) in tow. The ships arrived at Melbourne on 4 April and Benalla (I) remained in reserve but was later transferred to Geelong. While still remaining in reserve the ship was towed from Geelong to Sydney by Sprightly, departing Geelong on 21 January 1956 and arriving at Sydney on 25 January. On 20 February 1958 Benalla (I) was sold for scrap to Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd of Tokyo.

HMAS Bowen paid off into reserve having steamed 95,651 miles on active service. Bowen was sold on 18 May 1956 to Hong Kong Rolling Mills, Hong Kong, to be broken up.

January 17, 1946

HMAS Cairns was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy at Brisbane and was renamed Ambon. She was transferred to the Indonesian Navy on 6 April 1950 and renamed Banteng

January 14, 1946

HMAS Kapunda paid off into Reserve. After being declared for disposal on 30 December 1960 she was sold for scrap to Kinoshita (Australia) Pty Ltd on 6 January 1961

January 12, 1946

The River class frigate HMAS BARWON, was commissioned. BARWON was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 31 May 1943, and launched on 3 August 1944.

January 10, 1946

HMAS Mulcra decommissioned (without fanfare) and was handed back to her owners having steamed 6896nm on war service with the RAN. Following the war Mulcra returned to trade until 1961 when she was sold by the Adelaide Steamship Company to Hong Kong buyers and renamed La Trinidad. In 1964, under Panamanian registration, she was trading as Tasanee and later as Andes and Veng-An. She was scrapped in 1976.