- Author
- Sullivan, John
- Subjects
- Ship design and development
- Tags
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- March 1987 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
This article has gone far longer than I intended, so I hope the editorial panel doesn’t want to cut any of it. However, I must mention the tugs of Melbourne. Maybe they are not strictly dockyard material, but they were in and out of the yard nearly every day, bringing us our ships and taking them away again. There were seven of them in those days, James Paterson (with her twin funnels), Marimba, Tooronga, Keera, Eagle, Euro and Swiftness. There was another, Sprightly, but she was laid up at one of the Harbour Trust wharves at Williamstown all the time I was there. There were also two small Harbour Trust tugs, Hume and Hovell. I was told that their wheelhouses had been made by cutting in half the wheelhouse from a larger ship which was being scrapped. Certainly, looking at them from dead ahead, the wheelhouse on one had a camber from port to starboard, whilst the other was cambered from starboard to port, so maybe the story was true.
My favourite tug was Tooronga, which originally had a completely open bridge. However, in 1943 or 1944 she was chartered by the Americans to do a trip up North, and before doing this job she had an enclosed wheelhouse added. This made her appearance just perfect in my eyes. She couldn’t have gone very far, as she was not away all that long. Maybe someone reading this can tell me where she went, and with what.
In conclusion, I want to thank Mr. W. Millen, General Manager of HMA Naval Dockyard, Williamstown, and a member of his staff, Mr. T. Havelberg, for their ready co-operation in providing the material from which I have been able to write this article. They also provided many excellent photographs, not all of which I have been able to use purely because of space limitations. I am proud to be able to say that I worked at HMA Naval Dockyard, Williamstown, even though that was nearly half a century ago. Here follows a list of all vessels built at Williamstown Dockyard since actual construction began in 1913.
Corvette (600 Tons) 22.4.194122.12.1982
| Vessel | Type | Launching Date |
|---|---|---|
| W.H. Edgar | Steam Suction Dredge | 9.7.1913 |
| Wombat | Steam Grab Hopper Dredge | 1914 |
| Melbourne* | Paddle Steamer | 1914 |
| J.A. Boyd | Steam Tug (596 Tons) | 23.9.1914 |
| Red Bird | Steam Tug | 1914 |
| Lady Stanley | Steam Suction Dredge | 15.1.1918 |
| George Stone | Explosive Lighter | Not Recorded |
| Truganina | Explosive Lighter | Not Recorded |
| Dromana | Cargo Steamer (5600 Tons) | 11.4.1919 |
| Dumosa | Cargo Steamer (5600 Tons) | 19.11.1919 |
| Emita | Cargo Steamer (6200 Tons) | 1.7.1920 |
| Erriba | Cargo Steamer (6200 Tons) | 10.12.1920 |
| Euroa | Cargo Steamer (6200 Tons) | 27.1.1922 |
| Elouera | Cargo Steamer (6200 Tons) | 2.3.1923 |
| MHT 61 | Steel Pile Barge (208 Tons) | 18.1.1928 |
| D. York Syme | Cutter Suction Dredge (780 Tons) | 27.5.1931 |
| Victory 11 | Diesel Tug | Not Recorded |
| Wareen | Fisheries Research Vessel (145 Tons) | 8.2.1938 |
| Goudie | Diesel Tug | 1940 |
| Guetgam | Explosive Lighter (200 Tons) | 29.6.1940 |
| HMAS Ballarat | Corvette (600 Tons) | 10.12.1940 |
| HMAS Geelong | ||
| HMAS Castlemaine** | Corvette (600 Tons) | 7.8.1941 |
| HMAS Echuca | Corvette (600 Tons) | 17.1.1942 |
| HMAS Horsham | Corvette (600 Tons) | 16.5.1942 |
| HMAS Shepparton | Corvette (600 Tons) | 15.8.1942 |
| HMAS Benalla | Corvette (600 Tons) | 19.12.1942 |
| HMAS Stawell | Corvette (600 Tons) | 3.4.1943 |
| River Loddon | Cargo Steamer (5000 Tons) | 22.4.1944 |
| River Mitta | Cargo Steamer (5000 Tons) | 28.4.1945 |
| HMAS Culgoa | Frigate (1500 Tons) | 29.9.1945 |
| OFL 1206 | Oil Fuel Lighter | 12.10.1945 |
| OFL 1207 | Oil Fuel Lighter | 15.2.1946 |
| RNSL 1097 | Steel Cargo Lighter (50 Tons) | 7.10.1946 |
| RNSL 1098 | Steel Cargo Lighter (50 Tons) | 10.10.1946 |
| RNSL 1099 | Steel Cargo Lighter (50 Tons) | 30.10.1946 |
| RNSL 1100 | Steel Cargo Lighter (50 Tons) | 2.11.1946 |
| HMAS Anzac | Battle Class Destroyer (3000 Tons) | 20.8.1948 |
| SC 42 Derrimut | Steel Explosive Lighter | 19.10.1950 |
| SC 43 Boonah | Steel Explosive Lighter | 15.6.1951 |
| HMAS Vendetta | Daring Class Destroyer | 3.5.1954 |
| HMAS Yarra | River Class Destroyer Escort | 30.9.1958 |
| HMAS Derwent | River Class Destroyer Escort | 17.4.1961 |
| 13 off Class 6 LCM (Landing Craft Mechanised) for Royal Australian Army | 4.5.1965-28.9.1965 | |
| HMAS Swan | River Class Destroyer Escort | 16.12.1967 |
| TRV 253 | Torpedo Recovery Vessel (90 Tons) | 20.10.1969 |
| TRV 254 | Torpedo Recovery Vessel (90 Tons) | 20.5.1970 |
| TRV 255 | Torpedo Recovery Vessel (90 Tons) | 11.2.1971 |
| HMAS Flinders | Hydrographic Ship | 29.7.1972 |
| HMAS Cook | Oceanographic Ship (2500 Tons) | 27.8.1977 |
| WFL 8002 | Water Fuel Lighter | 21.1.1982 |
| WFL 8003 | Water Fuel Lighter | 24.4.1982 |
| WFL 8001 | Water Fuel Lighter | 22.12.1982 |
| WFL 8004 | Water Fuel Lighter | 22.12.1982 |
*Melbourne was built as a snagging steamer to clear blockages and hazards from the Murray River. She had a chequered career and now plies the same river as a pleasure craft. The hull is wooden and the original superstructure was manufactured in the Williamstown Naval Dockyard – although this has now been replaced by structure more suitable to the tourist trade.
**HMAS Castlemaine is now the property of the Maritime Trust of Australia and is permanently moored at Gem Pier, Williamstown.