The Corvettes of the Royal Australian Navy were built in Australia and crewed by Australians. These ships served with distinction in all theatres of World War 2.
This booklet is a compilation of the various Corvette memorials found across Australia and a tribute to the 10,000 sailors who served on them and to the 350 or so who remain. The collection is neither a history nor a chronology of these ships, for there are numerous publications available on the subject. Rather, it is collation of the various memorials that serve to recognize the service performed by these ships and the crew who manned them during the Second World War. The author acknowledges that there may be more memorials to Corvettes than are shown in this booklet.
Many of the memorials are in the towns of the ships they were named after. There were sixty Corvettes built in Australia including four for the Indian Navy. These vessels were also known as Minesweepers but are commonly referred to as the Bathurst Class Corvettes. They performed a variety of tasks from escorting convoys, mine sweeping, ferrying troops, shore bombardment and surveying amongst a plethora of other duties.
‘In the scale of naval size, Corvettes were pygmies, but they performed like giants.’
Frank Walker.
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Video: Bathurst Class Corvettes