HMAS ''Anaconda'' was an auxiliary vessel operated by the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The wooden hulled ship was constructed at

Glenorchy, Tasmania Glenorchy is a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Glenorchy is bound by the River Derwent to the east, Mount Wellington to the west, Hobart City to the south and to the north. The city officially begins at Creek Road New Town, in Hobart' ...

as one of 32 motor vessels originally intended for the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...

, but later allocated to the Australian Army. Launched on 4 October 1944 as Australian Army AV 1369 ''Lagunta'', she was subsequently transferred to the RAN and commissioned on 23 May 1945, assigned to the

Services Reconnaissance Department Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD), also known as Special Operations Australia (SOA) and previously known as Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD), was an Australian military intelligence and special reconnaissance unit, during World War II. ...

under the command of Lieutenant Charles Haultain. The ship briefly served a workshop and headquarters function in support of clandestine operations in waters around

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and the

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

during the last days of the conflict.

Operational history

''Anaconda'' commissioned into the RAN on completion of acceptance trials overseen by the Army Inspection Branch. On 24 May 1945, the Premier of Tasmania Sir

Robert Cosgrove Sir Robert Cosgrove (28 December 1884 – 25 August 1969) was an Australian politician who was the 30th and longest-serving Premier of Tasmania. He held office for over 18 years, serving from 1939 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1958. His invol ...

inspected the ship, which remained alongside in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

until 29 May before proceeding to

Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay Local government areas of Victoria, ...

and then

Garden Island A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

. In Sydney, the ship's armament of three 20mm Hispano cannons were replaced with two .50 calibre Browning machine guns and a single 40 mm Bofors gun. ''Anaconda'' spent much of June and July in Sydney due to reliability issues with her engines, compounded by a shortage of spare parts. By 14 August, the ship was operating in waters off

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, calling on the port of

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

and later proceeding to Morotai in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

in support of Services Reconnaissance Department operations. In late September, ''Anaconda'' landed Australian troops and supplies at

Ambon Island Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south, and three districts (''k ...

as part of an occupation force. For many of her crew, this was the first contact they had with the Japanese, coming after the formal surrender on 2 September.

Decommissioning and fate

''Anaconda'' was paid off on 3 November 1945 and transferred to the Australian Army in early 1946. She was towed from Borneo to Sydney and was sold in November 1946 for conversion into a fishing vessel.

References

1944 ships Auxiliary ships of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built in Tasmania {{australia-mil-ship-stub