HMAS Tarakan (L3017)
HMAS Tarakan in 1948
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | LST 3017 |
Builder | R & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd, Hebburn-on-Tyne, England |
Laid down | 7 April 1944 |
Launched | 28 November 1944 |
History | |
Australia | |
Name | LST 3017 |
Commissioned | 4 July 1946 |
Decommissioned | 1954 |
Renamed | 16 December 1948 |
Motto | "Nothing Daunts" |
Fate | Scrapped |
General characteristics | |
Type | Mark III Tank Landing Ship |
Displacement | 2,300 tons |
Length | 347 ft (106 m) |
Beam | 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m) |
Draught | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
Armament |
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HMAS Tarakan (L3017) was a Mark III
History
The ship was laid down on 7 April 1944 for the RN by
The ship was one of six LSTs loaned to the RAN, commissioning on 4 July 1946. She was named Tarakan on 16 December 1948, and served in Australian and New Guinea waters as a general purpose vessel, but was mainly used for dumping condemned ammunition at sea.[1] On 21 November 1947 nine soldiers were injured during an ammunition dumping operation when a box of fuses exploded while the ship was 20 miles (32 km) off the Sydney Heads.[3]
On 25 January 1950, Tarakan was berthed alongside
Tarakan never returned to seagoing service following the incident in 1950. She was sold for breaking up on 12 March 1954.[1] The ship caught fire again while she was being scrapped in the Sydney suburb of Balmain during September 1954, but damage was minimal and there were no serious injuries.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d "HMAS Tarakan (I)". Sea Power Centre Australia. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
- ^ "HMS LST 3017 (LST 3017)". uboat.net. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Men Escape By Seconds In "Hoodoo " Ship Fire". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 36, 428. New South Wales, Australia. 22 September 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "COURT EXONERATES OFFICER OF H.M.A.S. TARAKAN". The Examiner (Tasmania). Vol. CIX, no. 9. Tasmania, Australia. 22 March 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Captain freed on negligence charge". The Age. No. 29, 618. Victoria, Australia. 31 March 1950. p. 5. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Accidental Finding: Tarakan Explosion". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 35, 054. New South Wales, Australia. 27 April 1950. p. 7. Retrieved 26 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.