The End of the Line

Author

Jeffrey, Vic

Subjects

History - general

Tags

scrap

RAN Ships

HMAS Stuart II, HMAS Parramatta III, HMAS Oxley II

Publication

April 1993 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

One visitor to the Port of Fremantle in Western Australia which went virtually unnoticed was the former Royal Australian Navy destroyer escort PARRAMATTA. Towed by the diminutive tug WOOREE, the PARRAMATTA was towed into Fremantle on the evening of 11th March, 1992. Leaving two days later enroute to the shipbreakers yards in Pakistan.

PARRAMATTA was the first former Australian warship to be towed out of Fremantle bound for the scrap yards since the last three corvettes of the postwar Garden Island-based Fremantle Reserve Fleet Detachment left nearly 35 years ago. Way back on 27th November, 1957 the former RAN corvettes GLENELG, KATOOMBA and PARKES were towed out by the tug BUSTLER bound for Hong Kong where they were broken-up for scrap.

The 30 year-old PARRAMATTA was followed soon after by her sister ship, the former HMAS STUART which had been swinging around a buoy in Cockburn Sound off HMAS STIRLING for the previous eight months. STUART was towed out by the tug CTW EAGLE on 7th May bound for Singapore where she was to be broken-up for scrap.

Another former RAN unit, the submarine OXLEY was towed across from HMAS STIRLING to Australian Shipbuilding Industries on 9th March for final stripping and breaking-up. OXLEY’s “fin” had been previously removed four days later for relocation outside of the new RAN Submarine School located at Fleet Base West.