HMAS Broome (J191)

For other ships of the same name, see HMAS Broome.
HMAS Broome
History
Australia
Namesake: Town of Broome, Western Australia
Builder: Evans Deakin and Company
Laid down: 3 May 1941
Launched: 6 October 1941
Commissioned: 29 July 1942
Decommissioned: 24 August 1946
Honours and
awards:
Fate: Sold to the Turkish Navy
History
Turkey
Name: Alanya
Commissioned: 1946
Decommissioned: 1975
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: 8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion: triple expansion engine, 2 shafts
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) at 1,750 hp
Complement: 85
Armament: 1 × 4-inch gun, 3 × Oerlikons, Machine guns, Depth charges chutes and throwers

HMAS Broome (J191), named for the town of Broome, Western Australia, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).[3]

Design and construction

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.[4][5] 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)[6] 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 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.[4][7] Construction of the prototype HMAS Kangaroo did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.[8] 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 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including Broome) ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.[4][9][10][11][3]

Mrs McKew launching Broome

Broome was laid down by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane on 3 May 1941, launched on 6 October 1941 by Mrs. M. J. McKew, wife of the shipyard's works manager, and commissioned on 29 July 1942.[3]

Operational history

The corvette operated during World War II, and was awarded the battle honours "Pacific 1942-45" and "New Guinea 1942-44" for her service.[1][2]

HMAS Broome paid off on 24 August 1946, was sold to the Turkish Navy and renamed Alanya.[3] The vessel left Turkish service in 1975.[3] The ship's bell was recovered before the sale, and returned to Broome.[3] It was presented to the Broome Road Board in June 1952, who then passed the bell on to Broome State School in November.[3] The bell later ended up at the town's Returned and Services League club.[3]

Citations

  1. 1 2 "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.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "HMAS Broome (I)". HMA Ship Histories. Sea Power Centre - Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 Stevens, The Australian Corvettes, p. 1
  5. Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 103
  6. Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–4
  7. Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–5
  8. Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 104
  9. Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 105, 148
  10. Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, p. 29
  11. Stevens et al., The Royal Australian Navy, p. 108

References

Books
Journal and news articles


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.