HMAS Hawkesbury (K363)

	HMAS Hawkesbury in 1954
History
Australia
Name	Hawkesbury
Namesake	Hawkesbury River
Builder	Mort's Dock & Engineering Company, Sydney
Laid down	24 August 1942
Launched	24 July 1943
Commissioned	5 July 1944
Decommissioned	31 May 1947
Decommissioned	14 February 1955
Motto	"Equality Not Servitude"
Honours and; awards	Battle honours:; Pacific 1944–45; New Guinea 1944; Borneo 1945;
Fate	Scrapped in 1961
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	River-class frigate
Displacement	1,489 tons standard; 2,120 tons full load;
Length	283 ft (86.26 m) p/p; 301.25 ft (91.82 m) o/a;
Beam	36.5 ft (11.13 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)
Propulsion	2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	500 long tons (510 t; 560 short tons) oil fuel; 5,180 nautical miles (9,590 km; 5,960 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	140
Armament	2 × QF 4 in (102 mm) /45 Mk.XVI, single mounts HA/LA Mk.XX; 3 × QF 40 mm Bofors, single mounts Mk.VII; 1 × Hedgehog 24 spigot A/S projector; 2 × Squid triple barrelled anti-submarine mortars; Depth charge Throwers;

HMAS Hawkesbury (K363/F363) was a

decommissioned

in 1955.

Construction

Hawkesbury was

launched

on 24 July 1943, and commissioned on 5 July 1944.

Operational history

World War II

After conducting trials off the Australian east coast she proceeded to New Guinea to undertake convoy escort duties. She escorted convoys in the South West Pacific Area until December when she returned to Brisbane.

Hawkesbury began her second operational deployment in January 1945, and conducted escort duties in New Guinea and

the Australian Brunei Bay landings in Borneo in June. In July she spent a period collecting intelligence in the Maluku Islands and established lighthouses with HMAS Cape Leeuwin to open a route between Darwin and Morotai

. She returned to Sydney in July for a short refit.

The frigate received three battle honours for her wartime service: "Pacific 1944–45", "New Guinea 1944", and "Borneo 1945".^[1]^[2]

Post-war

Following the

Netherlands East Indies until mid-November when she returned to Sydney. She received a four-month refit in Melbourne

and operated off the Australian east coast until 31 May 1947, when she paid off to reserve.

After five years in reserve, Hawkesbury was recommissioned on 14 May 1952. From late July she conducted operations in support of the British atomic bomb test in the Montebello Islands off Western Australia. She returned to Sydney in January 1953. For the next two years she undertook routine patrols and training exercises off the Australian and New Guinean coasts, completing two patrols of Australian waters in the South-West Pacific area.

Fate

HMAS Hawkesbury was paid off to reserve for a second time on 14 February 1955. She was declared for disposal in early 1961 without having been recommissioned, and was sold for scrapping in September 1961.

Citations

^ "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 14 March 2010.
^ "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

References

"HMAS Hawkesbury (I)". HMA Ship Histories. Sea Power Centre – Australia. Retrieved 30 August 2008.

[newhonours-1] "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 14 March 2010.

[honourslist-2] "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

[1]

[2]