On This Day

1946-1959 > Post WW2

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 After her sister ship Ayvalik (ex HMAS Gawler) was withdrawn from Turkish Navy service in 1963, Antalya was renamed Ayvalik.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 ‘Jane’s Fighting Ships’ reported that she was withdrawn from service in 1965.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.

May 13, 1946

HMAS Platypus paid off into Reserve at Sydney. She was sold on 20 February 1958 to Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd, of Tokyo, Japan, for scrap. In June 1958 the Japanese salvage vessel Tukoshima Maru departed Sydney for Japan with Platypus and the former Bathurst Class minesweeper, HMAS Dubbo (I), in tow.

HMAS Adelaide paid off after service as a depot ship from May 1945

May 10, 1946

HMAS Shepparton paid off into Reserve at Brisbane. On 4 November 1947 Shepparton’s sister ship HMAS Deloraine (I) sailed from Brisbane for Sydney with Shepparton in tow. On 7 November the ships arrived at Sydney, where Shepparton remained in Reserve. On 20 February 1958 the ship was sold for scrap to Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd of Tokyo.