HMAS ''Anzac'' (D59) was a of 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). Named after the

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

, the destroyer was commissioned in 1951. The ship served on two tours of duty during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and attempts to distinguish herself from British ships led to the practice of red kangaroo symbols on Australian warships. During 1956, ''Anzac'' served during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

. In 1960, a malfunction in the destroyer's gun direction equipment caused ''Anzac'' to fire directly on sister ship during a gunnery exercise, with ''Tobruk'' left unrepairable. In 1961, the destroyer was reclassified as a

training vessel A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

. ''Anzac'' remained in service until 1974, and was sold for breaking a year later.

Design and construction

''Anzac'' was built to the British design.Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 10 The ship had a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 2,436 tons as designed, although this displacement increased to 3,450 tons after her 1963 reclassification as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

. She was

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and long

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of , and a draught of . Propulsion was provided by two

Admiralty 3-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s supplying steam to Parsons

geared turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s; these generated for the destroyer's two

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

shafts. ''Anzac'' was designed to reach , but could usually only reach . The ship's company originally consisted of 320 personnel, but after conversion into a training ship, this changed to 169 ship's company plus 109 trainees. The main armament of ''Anzac'' consisted of four Mark VI guns in two twin

turrets Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * ...

. This was supplemented by twelve

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to models of 40 mm calibre automatic anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: * Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/43 - developed in the 1930s with market entry in 1934, wid ...

s for air defence, (three twin mountings and six single mountings, a

Squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

anti-submarine mortar, and two sets of 5-tube Pentad torpedo launchers. ''Anzac'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

by the

Williamstown Naval Dockyard Williamstown Dockyard was one of Australia's principal ship building yards at Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. The Colony of Victoria decided to construct a large slipway at Williamstown to provide ship repair facilities in 1856 and the Govern ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria on 23 September 1946. The ship was originally to be named ''Matapan'', for the

Battle of Cape Matapan The Battle of Cape Matapan () was a naval battle during the Second World War between the Allies, represented by the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian Navy, from 27 to 29 March 1941. Cape Matapan is on the so ...

, but this was changed to ''Anzac'', for the

prior to launch. She was launched on 20 August 1948 by the wife of

John Augustine Collins Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, (7 January 1899 – 3 September 1989) was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) officer who served in both World Wars, and who eventually rose to become a vice admiral and Chief of Naval Staff. Collins was one ...

, the Chief of the Naval Staff and a former commanding officer of the previous HMAS ''Anzac''.Perryman & Djokovic, ''Ships Named Anzac'' ''Anzac'' was commissioned as a ship of the RAN on 14 March 1951. Acceptance from dockyard hands occurred on 22 March.

Operational history

On 30 July 1951, ''Anzac'' left Australian waters for her first deployment to the

. Arriving in Japan on 14 August, the destroyer was assigned as an escort to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

(USN) escort carrier and operated off the west coast of Korea. ''Sicily'' was replaced by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

(RN) light carrier on 2 September, and on 6 September, ''Anzac'' was ordered to shell a suspected communist position near

Haeju Haeju () is a city located in South Hwanghae Province near Haeju Bay in North Korea. It is the administrative centre of South Hwanghae Province. As of 2008, the population of the city is estimated to be 273,300. At the beginning of the 20th centu ...

, and

fired in anger {{Short pages monitor