HMAS Lachlan
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HMAS Lachlan in 1946
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History | |
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Australia | |
Name | Lachlan |
Namesake | Lachlan River |
Builder | Mort's Dock & Engineering Company, Sydney |
Laid down | 22 March 1943 |
Launched | 25 March 1944 |
Commissioned | 14 February 1945 |
Decommissioned | 31 May 1949 |
Fate | Transferred to Royal New Zealand Navy |
New Zealand | |
Name | Lachlan |
Commissioned | 5 October 1949 |
Decommissioned | February 1975 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | River-class frigate |
Displacement | 2220 tonnes fully loaded |
Length | 91.8 metres, 86.3 at waterline |
Beam | 11.2 metres |
Propulsion | 2x shaft, two Admiralty 3 drum boilers, 4 cylinder triple expansion oil fired |
Speed | 20 knots |
Complement | 140 in RNZN service |
HMAS Lachlan (K364/F364) (later HMNZS Lachlan (F364)) was a River-class frigate that served the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1945 to 1949. The vessel was later transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy serving as surveyor until 1975 and was eventually scrapped in 1993.
Construction and design
Lachlan was
Operational history
Australian service
During 1945, Lachlan was used during the opening of the
Lachlan was paid off on 31 May 1949. She was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy, renamed HMNZS Lachlan, and was a survey and Antarctic supply ship until February 1975. She was used as a "Refit Barge" with many workshops onboard until the late 1980s when she was sold to Chile to continue work as floating workshops for ships being refitted.[citation needed]
New Zealand Service
In 1948, the New Zealand government sought a survey ship to use temporarily until a new one could be built in Britain. After negotiations, Lachlan was offered on loan for an initial time of three years and on 31 May 1949 was paid off from RAN service and was immediately given to the Royal New Zealand Navy the next day. Following trials through September 1949, on 5 October 1949 HMNZS Lachlan was commissioned into the Royal New Zealand Navy.[2]
The ship was fully disarmed at the dockyard at HMNZS Philomel and the ship's chart room enlarged for surveying. The ship was rushed into service so quickly that some of the finishing touches were done at sea. Her first survey was started on 18 November 1949 surveying the Wellington Harbour entrance, taking three weeks to complete with assistance of a survey motor boat from Australia. To assist with the creation of the hydrographic service, on earlier voyages part of the ships company included personnel from the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy.
HMNZS Lachlan surveyed over fifty percent of New Zealand's coastline over her twenty years in commission. Some of her service included surveys in Australia and the rest of the Pacific, and she helped clear mines around the
In 1975, HMNZS Lachlan was painted all grey and docked at HMNZS Philomel to house ship's companies whose frigates were undergoing refits. In September 1975, her engines were removed and sold, and in 1993 the hulk was sold to a Philippines company for scrapping.
References
- OCLC 55980812.
- ^ "Lachlan - Frigate". National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2021.