HMAS Pirie (J189)
HMAS Pirie in 1946
| |
History | |
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Australia | |
Namesake | City of Port Pirie |
Builder | BHP, Whyalla |
Laid down | 19 May 1941 |
Launched | 3 December 1941 |
Commissioned | 10 October 1942 |
Decommissioned | 5 April 1946 |
Motto | "Mark of Quality" |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate | Sold to Turkish Navy |
History | |
Turkey | |
Name | Amasra |
Commissioned | 1946 |
Decommissioned | 26 March 1984 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Bathurst-class corvette |
Displacement | 733 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 horsepower |
Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) at 1,750 hp |
Complement | 85 |
Armament |
|
Notes | Taken from:[1] |
HMAS Pirie (J189/B249/A123), named for the city of
Early in her career, Pirie operated as an escort in the South West Pacific Area, and in April 1943, was damaged off Oro Bay by Japanese aircraft. Tensions between the corvette's commanding officer and the rest of the ship's company, excaberated by the lack of leave, mail, and pay, boiled over during the repair period, and led to a strike-like mutiny by the junior sailors shortly after Pirie returned to service. The mutiny was poorly handled, and the commander was replaced at the end of 1943. During 1944, the ship continued to operate as a convoy escort, and undertook minesweeping duties until she was attached to the British Pacific Fleet. Pirie was the third RAN ship to enter Japanese waters, and was present at Japan's surrender.
After the war, the corvette returned to Australia, and was decommissioned before being sold to Turkey. Renamed TCG Amasra, the ship remained in service with the
Design and construction
In 1938, the
The corvette was initially fitted with a 12-pounder gun as primary armament; this was later replaced by a 4-inch (100 mm).
Pirie was laid down by BHP at its Whyalla shipyard on 19 May 1941.[1] She was launched on 3 December 1941 by Mrs. H. T. Kleeman, wife of the Whyalla superintendent of BHP.[1]Pirie was commissioned into the RAN on 10 October 1942, with Lieutenant Commander Charles Ferry Mills in command.[1][11]
Operational history
The corvette was initially assigned to escort duties in the South West Pacific Area.[12]
Oro Bay
On 11 April 1943, Pirie was escorting the British supply ship SS Hanyang from Milne Bay to Oro Bay.[1][10] The ships were 19 kilometres (10 nmi) from their destination when they were attacked by Japanese dive-bombers.[10] The first wave saw Hanyang's steering gear damaged, while Pirie was straddled by bombs but escaped effectively unharmed.[10] One dive-bomber was shot down by the corvette's retaliatory fire.[10] A second pass by the aircraft caused further damage to the merchantman.[10]
A
Pirie was strafed another three times before the Japanese planes were driven off by Allied fighters and anti-aircraft fire from the corvette.[1][14] In addition to the seven crew killed in the attack, four were seriously wounded.[14] Japanese propaganda, describing the corvette as a destroyer, reported that she had been destroyed.[14] Three United States Army personnel aboard Pirie at the time (a chaplain and two officers) offered to bury the dead at sea.[14] The chaplain later recommended that the ship and her company receive bravery honours.[14] Both ships reached their destination.
After some repairs were effected at Oro Bay, HMAS Whyalla escorted Pirie back to Milne Bay.[14] Further temporary repairs were made, and on 14 April, the corvette sailed for Townsville in company with the sloop HMAS Swan, before continuing on alone to Maryborough, where she arrived on 19 April.[15]
Repairs and mutiny
During Mills' time in command, he had been a strict disciplinarian, required sailors to wear
On coming alongside in Maryborough, the personnel of Pirie found that only some of their expected mail had arrived, and there was no sign of their pay.
Pirie completed her first escort run in late May: she escorted two ships from Townsville to Sydney, then joined a convoy of fourteen merchant ships and five other corvettes back to Townsville.[21] The mood of the ship's company continued to deteriorate, and on 8 June, a large number of sailors met in the foremost messdeck.[19] A complaint about the living conditions was made to the coxswain to pass on to Mills, but the commander was uncompassionate.[22] They wanted to highlight their grievances and requests—a short period of shore leave while Pirie was inactive, their overdue mail to be sent to the ship, and their pay to be delivered—and resolved that the next morning, instead of reporting for duty, half the junior sailors and half the stokers would, instead of reporting for duty, "sit here and see what happens".[23] Older sailors and anyone above the rank of able seaman were not allowed to participate, so the corvette could deploy immediately if necessary and to ensure there were no repercussions for those who had families to support and might wish to continue their naval career after the war.[23]
The next morning, when the order to assemble for morning duties was piped, 45 men failed to respond, and asked to discuss their grievances with Mills.[23] Mills instructed the First Lieutenant and the Coxswain to order the sailors to the quarterdeck.[23] Each sailor was given a direct order, and when all had refused, they were deemed to be in a state of mutiny.[23] The sailors did not know how to proceed, so continued to sit and wait in the messdecks.[23] The Coxswain returned to collect a list of grievances, and was met by shouts from all sides, some of which had little or no connection to the sailors' original reasonings.[24] Another pipe, this time for all personnel to assemble aft, was made, and again, the 45 sailors stayed where they were.[24] Mills, who had received the list, informed those assembled how disappointed he was in the actions of the ship's company, then went ashore to meet with the Naval Officer in Charge (NOIC).[25] Although attending the midday meal, the 45 sailors did not report for afternoon duties, and it was not until 1720, with the NOIC aboard, that they obeyed an order to fall in with the rest of the ship's company on the aft quarterdeck.[26] During the afternoon, an armed guard was stationed on the dock alongside Pirie, and the ship's 12-pounder had been disabled.[23] After reading the relevant passages from the Articles of War, the NOIC instructed anyone unwilling to work to stand aside; nobody did.[26] The ship's company were informed that Pirie would sail for Cid Harbour that evening.[26]
On arrival at Cid Harbour early on 10 June, Mills was informed that a
The evidence collected by the Inquiry led the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board to conclude that Mills had failed to respond quickly and appropriately to the sailors' actions, and he was transferred to the training base HMAS Cerberus in December.[29] Pirie continued on convoy duties until sailing to Sydney for a refit in December.[30] During his final months in command, Mills attempted to reassert his authority through the use of increasingly frequent disciplinary punishments for minor breaches, such as failing to properly lash hammocks, or washing clothes in the wrong place.[31] Mills' replacement, Lieutenant Commander D. L. Thompson, noted a dramatic improvement in the attitude and discipline of the ship's company when he took command.[32]
1944–45
After the December 1943 refit, Pirie was assigned to patrol and escort duties out of Darwin.[30] During the second half of 1944, the ship operated in the Great Barrier Reef as a minesweeper.[30] In November, Pirie was attached to the British Pacific Fleet's Minesweeping Flotilla.[30]
In July 1945, the corvette was used as a convoy escort off
Pirie's wartime service is recognised by three battle honours: "Pacific 1942–45", "New Guinea 1943–44", and "Okinawa 1945".[34][35]
Post-war handover
Pirie returned to Sydney in February 1946.
Turkish service
Renamed TCG Amasra, the ship remained in service with the Turkish Navy until 26 March 1984.[1][36]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q HMAS Pirie (I), Sea Power Centre
- ^ 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 Frame & Baker, Mutiny!, p. 168
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny!, pp. 165–6
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny!, p. 1676
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny!, pp. 168–9
- ^ a b c d e f g h Frame & Baker, Mutiny!, p. 169
- ^ a b c Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 170
- ^ a b Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pp. 166–7
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pgs. 166-7, 169–70
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pgs. 165, 171
- ^ a b c Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 171
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pp. 171–2
- ^ a b c d e Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 172
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pp. 172–3
- ^ a b c d e f g Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 173
- ^ a b Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 175
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pp. 175–7
- ^ a b c Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 176
- ^ a b c d e Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 179
- ^ a b Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pp. 180–2
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 182
- ^ a b c d e f Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 184
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! pp. 182–3
- ^ Frame & Baker, Mutiny! p. 183
- ^ Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945, Naval Historical Center, U.S. Navy
- ^ Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours, Royal Australian Navy
- ^ Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours, Royal Australian Navy
- ISBN 0-7270-0472-7.
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.
- Frame, Tom; Baker, Kevin (2000). Mutiny! Naval Insurrections in Australia and New Zealand. St. Leonards, NSW: OCLC 46882022.
- 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: 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.
- Websites
- "Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945". Naval Historical Center – U.S. Navy. 14 September 2004. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
Taken from Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPAC/CINCPOA) A16-3/FF12 Serial 0395, 11 February 1946: Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan
- "HMAS Pirie (I)". Sea Power Centre Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- "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.