HMAS Labuan (L3501)
HMAS Labuan leaving Williamstown, Victoria for Macquarie Island in May 1949
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History | |
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Australia | |
Name | LST 3501 |
Builder | Canadian Vickers |
Launched | 31 August 1944 |
Renamed | HMAS Labuan (16 December 1948) |
Launched | 31 August 1944 |
Decommissioned | 28 September 1951 |
Fate | Sold |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Landing Ship Tank Mark 3 |
Displacement |
|
Length | 345 ft (105 m) overall |
Beam | 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m) |
Draught | 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) |
Propulsion | Triple expansion engine, 5,500 hp (4,100 kW), two propellers |
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Range | 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Capacity | 18 40-ton tanks, 27 trucks, and 7 LCMs |
Troops | 168 troops |
Complement | 104 |
Armament | 10 × 20 mm Oerlikons (four twin, two single mounts) |
HMAS Labuan (L3501) (formerly HMA LST 3501) was a Mark III
In RAN service, the landing ship was primarily used in support of the
Design and construction
LST 3501 was built by
Operational history
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2015) |
LST 3501 operated with the Royal Navy during World War II.[citation needed]
In 1946, LST 3501 and five other Mark 3 LSTs were loaned to the RAN.
The ship returned to Melbourne, where more stores and a second group of 13 ANARE personnel were loaded before LST 3501 sailed to Macquarie Island on 28 February 1948, arriving seven days later.[2] After unloading for the second time, the landing ship waited for the arrival of the research vessel HMAS Wyatt Earp in late March before returning to Australia.[2]
LST 3501 was renamed HMAS Labuan on 16 December 1948, after the amphibious landings at Labuan.[2] The 1948 ANARE expedition named Cape Labuan on Heard Island after the ship, and used names of officers and senior enlisted personnel for Lavett Bluff, Mount Dixon, Cape Lockyer, and Hayter Peak.[3]
She returned to the islands on five occasions to deliver supplies and transfer personnel: Heard Island during January to March 1949, 1950, and 1951, and Macquarie Island in April 1949 and 1950.[2]
Decommissioning and fate
The landing ship was heavily damaged during the 1951 visit to Heard Island.[2] Labuan attempted to sail home, but broke down completely en route.[4] The vessel had to be towed back to Fremantle, arriving on 1 March.[4]
Labuan paid off to reserve on 28 September 1951 and was sold for disposal on 9 November 1955.[1]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 35
- ^ a b c d e f g Forbes, RAN Activities in the Southern Ocean
- ^ Geographic Names Information System:
"Labuan, Cape". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
"Lavett Bluff". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
"Dixon, Mount". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
"Lockyer, Cape". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
"Hayter Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 14 January 2015. - ^ a b Australian Antarctic Division, HMALST 3501/HMAS Labuan 1947–51
References
- Books
- Forbes, Andrew (October 2006). "RAN Activities in the Southern Ocean". Semaphore. 2006 (18). Canberra, ACT: Sea Power Centre - Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946. Brookvale, NSW: Child & Associates. OCLC 23470364.
- Websites
- "HMALST 3501/HMAS Labuan 1947–51". About Antarctica. Australian Antarctic Division. 11 June 2002. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- Vickridge, G.L.W. (30 January 1972). "The RAN in Antarctic Waters". Naval Historical Society of Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2008.