HMAS Mildura
HMAS Mildura
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| History | |
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 Australia
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| Namesake: | City of Mildura, Victoria |
| Builder: | Morts Dock & Engineering Co in Sydney |
| Laid down: | 23 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 15 March 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 23 July 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | 21 May 1948 |
| Recommissioned: | 20 February 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 September 1953 |
| Reclassified: |
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| Motto: | "Look Ahead" |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sold for scrap in 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Bathurst class corvette |
| Displacement: | 650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load) |
| Length: | 186 ft (57 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draught: | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × triple expansion engine, 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW), 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: |
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HMAS Mildura (J207/M207), named for the city of Mildura, Victoria, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was laid down by Morts Dock & Engineering Co in 1940 and commissioned into the RAN in 1941.
Mildura's initial deployments were on the east coast of Australia as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol vessel. At the start of 1944, she escorted vessels between Townsville, Queensland and New Guinea. Late 1944 saw the ship relocated to Fremantle, Western Australia as a local patrol ship. After a refit at the start of 1945, Mildura was based at Morotai, and operated throughout the Dutch East Indies until August, when the corvette was sent to clear Hong Kong waters of mines. During September and October, the mine warfare area increased to include Chinese waters. In late October, Mildura returned to Sydney for refitting, then spent the next two years clearing mines around Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
The corvette was paid off in 1948, but was recommissioned in 1951 to serve as a training vessel for National Service trainees. Mildura was decommissioned again in 1953, then was towed to Brisbane for use as a training hulk for local reservists. The ship was sold for scrap in 1965.
In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate. The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), and a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) top speed, and a range of 2,850 nautical miles (5,280 km; 3,280 mi), armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with asdic, and able to be fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels. Construction of the prototype HMAS Kangaroo did not go ahead, but the plans were retained. The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 (including Mildura) ordered by the RAN, 20 ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.
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Wikipedia