HMAS Castlemaine
HMAS Castlemaine
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History | |
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Australia | |
Namesake | City of Castlemaine, Victoria |
Builder | HMA Naval Dockyard in Williamstown, Victoria |
Laid down | 17 February 1941 |
Launched | 7 August 1941 |
Commissioned | 17 June 1942 |
Decommissioned | 14 December 1945 |
Reclassified |
|
Motto | "Watch and Prey" |
Honours and awards |
|
Status | Preserved as a museum ship in Williamstown, Victoria |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Bathurst-class corvette |
Displacement | 650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load) |
Length | 186 ft (57 m) |
Beam | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Draught | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) |
Propulsion | triple expansion engine, 2 shafts. 2,000 hp |
Speed | 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) |
Complement | 85 |
Armament |
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HMAS Castlemaine (J244/M244/A248), named for the city of Castlemaine, Victoria, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially crewed and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).[2]
Launched in 1941 and commissioned in 1942, Castlemaine operated during World War II in the waters of Australia, New Guinea, and Timor. She remained in service until 1945, when she was decommissioned into reserve and converted into an immobilised training ship. In 1973, Castlemaine was presented to the Maritime Trust of Australia for conversion to a museum ship. She is one of two surviving examples of the Bathurst class, the other being HMAS Whyalla.[3]
Design and construction
In 1938, the
Construction of the prototype
Castlemaine was laid down by
Operational history
After commissioning, Castlemaine sailed to Sydney, where she was involved in training exercises and convoy escort along the east coast of Australia.
After repairs, Castlemaine was ordered to Townsville, then assigned to Darwin in October: at both locations the ship was tasked with supporting and supplying Allied guerrilla operations in Timor.
The corvettes sailed from Darwin at midday on 29 November, leaving just as Japanese aircraft flew over the harbour.[12] At 09:00 on 30 November, the two ships were located by a Japanese reconnaissance plane, but were unable to shoot it down.[12] Because of the likelihood of attack during the day and the distance from the destination, the ships radioed Darwin and suggested that the mission be aborted, but Pope instructed they were to continue after steering away from their intended destination for an hour, and promised fighter support.[12] Armidale and Castlemaine were attacked at midday by 14 Japanese bombers, but these were driven off by a force of Bristol Beaufighters, which then returned to Australia.[12] Another attack came at 14:00, but neither side was able to do damage.[2][12] Delays from the evasive course and two air attacks meant the corvettes reached Betano Bay after 02:30 on 1 December, with no sign of Kuru, and retreated to sea.[12] Kuru was sighted at daybreak-assuming the corvettes were not coming, her commander chose to sail for Darwin with the civilians-and the civilians were transferred to Castlemaine.[12] Although as senior ship, Castlemaine's commanding officer felt he should return to Betano Bay with the soldiers, the troops were aboard the other corvette, and at 11:00 he ordered (with Commodore Pope's approval) Armidale and Kuru to return by separate routes and attempt the operation again that night.[12] Although Castlemaine returned without trouble, Armidale was attacked and sunk by Japanese aircraft on 1 December.[12]
On 15 December, Castlemaine was escorting the merchant ships Period and James Cook to Thursday Island when they were attacked by Japanese aircraft.[2] Four of Period's crew were killed, and the three ships were attacked two more times on 15 December, and a fourth time on 16 December.[2] No further damage was sustained, with the aircraft driven off by the corvette's anti-aircraft armament on all four occasions.[2]
Following the Allied withdrawal from Timor in early 1943, Castlemaine was assigned to minesweeping and escort duties in northern Australian waters.[2] This continued until the end of 1943, when she was reassigned to the convoy escort role between Queensland and New Guinea.[2] In August 1944, the corvette was tasked with survey duties in Australia waters, before sailing to Hong Kong for the Japanese surrender in September 1945.[2]
The ship was granted three battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942–43", "Pacific 1942–43", and "New Guinea 1942–44".[13][14]
Decommissioning and preservation
Castlemaine paid off to reserve on 14 December 1945.
In September 1973, Castlemaine was presented as a gift to the
Between 14 and 29 August 2015, Castlemaine was drydocked for maintenance, cleaning, and hull preservation at the nearby BAE Systems Williamstown shipyard.[15]
Citations
- ^ a b "HMAS Castlemaine - Armament". hmascastlemaine.org.au. Maritime Trust of Australia Inc. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "HMAS "Castlemaine"". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ "HMAS Whyalla (I)". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ a b c Stevens, The Australian Corvettes, p. 1
- ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 103
- ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–4
- ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–5
- ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 104
- ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 105, 148
- ^ Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, p. 29
- ^ Stevens et al., The Royal Australian Navy, p. 108
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Feuer, Heroic stand of HMAS Armidale, p.50
- ^ "Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours". Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
- ^ "HMAS Castlemaine: Historic WWII Corvette". Archived from the original on 19 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
References
- Books
- Donohue, Hector (October 1996). From Empire Defence to the Long Haul: post-war defence policy and its impact on naval force structure planning 1945–1955. Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Vol. 1. Canberra: Sea Power Centre. OCLC 36817771.
- Stevens, David (2005). A Critical Vulnerability: the impact of the submarine threat on Australia's maritime defense 1915–1954. Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Vol. 15. Canberra: Sea Power Centre Australia. OCLC 62548623.
- Stevens, David; Sears, Jason; Goldrick, James; Cooper, Alastair; Jones, Peter; Spurling, Kathryn (2001). Stevens, David (ed.). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. OCLC 50418095.
- Journal and news articles
- Stevens, David (May 2010). "The Australian Corvettes" (PDF). Hindsight (Semaphore). 2010 (5). Sea Power Centre – Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
- Journal articles
- Feuer, A.B. (February 1999). "Heroic stand of HMAS Armidale". World War II. 13 (6): 50–57. ISSN 0898-4204.
- Websites
- "HMAS Castlemaine". HMA Ship Histories. Sea Power Centre – Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
External links