HMAS Parramatta (D55)

Coordinates: 33°30.07′S 151°10.88′E / 33.50117°S 151.18133°E / -33.50117; 151.18133
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Parramatta.

Parramatta in 1918
History
Australia
NameParramatta
NamesakeParramatta River
Ordered13 March 1909
Builder
Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan
Laid down17 March 1909
Launched9 February 1910
Commissioned10 September 1910
Decommissioned20 April 1928
Honours and
awards
  • Battle honours:
  • Rabaul 1914
  • Adriatic 1917–18
FateSold for scrap, some components later converted into memorials
General characteristics
Class and typeRiver-class torpedo-boat destroyer
Displacement750 long tons (760 t)
Length245 ft (74.7 m) (
o/a
)
Beam24 ft 3 in (7.4 m)
Draught8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Installed power
Propulsion3 shafts; Parsons steam turbine set
Speed26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range2,690 nmi (4,980 km; 3,100 mi) at 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Complement66–73
Armament

HMAS Parramatta, named after the

Commonwealth Naval Forces (the predecessor of the RAN), Parramatta was the first ship launched for the RAN. Temporarily commissioned into the Royal Navy
for the delivery voyage to Australia, the destroyer came under Australian naval control in 1910, and was recommissioned into the RAN on 1 March 1911, shortly before the latter's formal creation.

After the beginning of the First World War in 1914 until 1917, Parramatta conducted patrols in the Pacific and

Prince of Wales in 1920, Parramatta remained in reserve until 1928. She was fully decommissioned in 1928, stripped of parts, and sold for use as prisoner accommodation on the Hawkesbury River. After changing hands several times, the hull ran aground during a gale in 1933, and was left to rust. In 1973, the bow and stern sections were salvaged
, and converted into memorials.

Description

The Australian River-class destroyers had an

BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mk VIII gun in a platform on the forecastle, three 12-pounder (3-inch (76 mm)) 12 cwt guns[Note 1] in single mounts, one on each broadside amidships and the third on the quarterdeck. They were also fitted with three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in rotating single mounts, two aft of the rear funnel and the last on the quarterdeck at the stern.[4]

Construction and career

Parramatta anchored in Port Adelaide in December 1910, shortly after arriving in Australian waters for the first time

Parramatta, along with

Commonwealth Naval Forces.[9]

After entering Australian control, the two ships sailed to

His Majesty's Australian Ship, although the HMAS prefix was not officially approved until 10 July, when King George V granted permission for the Commonwealth Naval Forces to be renamed the Royal Australian Navy.[9] On 4 October 1913, Parramatta took part in a formal fleet entry into Sydney Harbour welcoming the battlecruiser HMAS Australia.[10]

World War I

During the early stages of World War I, Parramatta operated with the Australian fleet in the search for the German East Asia Squadron, then was involved in the capture of German colonies in the South Pacific region, including German New Guinea, and the consolidation of Allied occupation in these regions. On 5 February 1915, Parramatta and sister ships Yarra and HMAS Warrego sailed for Australia, where they were used for convoy escort duties along the continent's eastern coast until November. The ships were refitted at Sydney, then sent to patrol the region around Malaya, the East Indies, and the Philippines. Parramatta returned to Australia on 17 July 1916, and patrolled home waters until 17 May 1917, when she and her sister ships were ordered to Malta.[9]

Australian National Flag
from the stern instead of a naval ensign.

On arrival, the six River-class ships were to undergo anti-submarine training, but were instead immediately deployed on convoy escort operations from

Adriatic. For this, Parramatta was fitted with an observation balloon. On 16 November 1917, Parramatta and several sister ships came to assist the Italian transport Orione, whose stern had been destroyed by a torpedo. Parramatta towed the stricken ship towards the mainland, while Warrego and Swan recovered survivors and Yarra chased the attacking submarine. Apart from this, the patrols were uneventful, and on 28 September 1918, Parramatta was refitted in Greece before joining Allied forces at Constantinople. During October 1918, following the surrender of Turkish forces, Parramatta accepted the surrender of a German admiral assigned to the area. The destroyer was then used for mail runs between Constantinople and Sevastopol, Russia, until December, when she sailed to Devonport, arriving on 14 January 1919.[11]

During her career, Parramatta received no honours or awards for her activities during World War I.[12] Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in 2010, the ship's wartime service was retroactively recognised with the honours "Rabaul 1914" and "Adriatic 1917–18".[13][14]

Post-war

On 6 March 1919, Parramatta sailed for home, in company with several other Australian ships. Parramatta and Yarra ran out of fuel on 26 April, less than a day out from

Westernport, Victoria for use as a training ship, then spent time in Sydney, then Adelaide, before returning to Sydney in April 1928.[15]

Decommissioning and fate

The wreck of Parramatta in the Hawkesbury River

Parramatta was paid off from service on 20 April 1928 and handed over to the

hulks were sold to the New South Wales Penal Department and towed to Cowan Creek, where they were used to house prisoner labourers working on roads along the Hawkesbury River. The two hulks were then sold in 1933 for 12 pounds each to George Rhodes of Cowan, New South Wales, who intended to use them as accommodation for fishers. This was opposed, and the ships were sold on to a pair of fishermen, who used them to transport blue metal to Milson and Peat Islands.[15]

On 2 February 1934, Parramatta and Swan were being towed down the Hawkesbury River

Garden Island, New South Wales.[16] The wreck and bow and stern sections are heritage listed.[17]

Notes

  1. ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Briggs, "Australia's First Destroyers", p. 157
  2. ^ a b HMAS Parramatta (I)
  3. ^ Cassells, The Destroyers, pp. 74–75
  4. ^ Briggs, "Australia's First Destroyers", pp. 157–159
  5. ^ Stevens, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 18
  6. ^ Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 74
  7. ^ Stevens, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 19
  8. ^ Briggs, "Australia's First Destroyers", p. 162
  9. ^ a b c Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 75
  10. ^ Stevens, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, pp. 25–26
  11. ^ Cassells, The Destroyers, pp. 75–76
  12. ^ Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 77
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ a b c Cassells, The Destroyers, p. 76
  16. ^ Cassells, The Destroyers, pp. 76–77
  17. ^ "HMAS Parramatta shipwreck and memorials". Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

References

External links

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