HMAS ''Bathurst'' (J158), named for the city of

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Region, Bathurst Regional Council. Founded in 1815, Bathurst is ...

, was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of 60 ''Bathurst''-class corvettes constructed during

World War II 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 ...

and one of 20 built for the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

but manned by personnel of and commissioned into 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). Constructed during 1940, the ship spent most of her early career operating with the

British Eastern Fleet The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

in the Indian Ocean. She returned to Australian waters in late 1944, then was deployed to New Guinea in 1945, but saw little action. ''Bathurst'' was paid off in 1946, and sold to a Sydney scrap merchant in 1948.

Design and construction

In 1938, the

Australian Commonwealth Naval Board The Australian Commonwealth Naval Board was the governing authority over the Royal Australian Navy from its inception and through World Wars I and II. The board was established on 1 March 1911 and consisted of civilian members of the Australian ...

(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.Stevens, ''The Australian Corvettes'', p. 1Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 103 The vessel was initially envisaged as having 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 approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least , and a range of Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 103–4 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 top speed, and a range of , armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with

asdic Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

, and able to fitted with either

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s or

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

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 did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 104 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 ''Bathurst'') ordered by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British Raj, British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the British Indian Army, Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the ...

.Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 105, 148Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 29Stevens et al., ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 108 ''Bathurst'' laid down by

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

in Sydney on 10 February 1940. She was launched on 1 August 1940 by the wife of the dockyard's Engineer Manager, and commissioned on 6 December 1940 under Lieut-Commander A. V. Bunyan, DSC, RD; RANR(S). HMAS Bathurst keel laying 000783

Operational history

''Bathurst'' began her career in January 1941 as part of the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla, operating off Australia's east coast. Between March and May, she was assigned as a patrol and escort vessel to Singapore, before proceeding to Colombo and joining the

. ''Bathurst'' spent the month of June patrolling the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, then was deployed for three and a half months as a blockade vessel in the

Gulf of Tadjoura The Gulf of Tadjoura (; ) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean in the Horn of Africa. It lies south of the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, or the entrance to the Red Sea, at . The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant ...

. During this time, the corvette captured at least three small vessels. ''Bathurst'' returned to Colombo in December, and was used as a patrol vessel and escort between the Indian and African coasts until August 1944. She underwent refit in Colombo from September to November 1943, and was a key component in the rescue and salvage operation following the explosion of two munitions ships at Bombay on 14 April 1944. On 7 August 1944, ''Bathurst'' sailed for Fremantle, and performed anti-submarine patrols along the western coast of Australia until April 1945. She was then deployed to New Guinea, but the Allied successes of the Pacific War meant that the remainder of World War II consisted of routine patrols. Two battle honours recognise the ship's wartime service: "Indian Ocean 1942–44" and "Pacific 1945". Following the conclusion of the war in August 1945, ''Bathurst'' was again assigned to the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla, and carried out minesweeping operations in the Hong Kong area.

Decommissioning and fate

''Bathurst'' returned to Sydney on 9 November 1945, and was decommissioned into reserve on 27 September 1946. She was sold for scrap to T. Carr and Co of Sydney on 21 June 1948.

Citations

References

;Books * * * ;Journal and news articles *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bathurst (J158) Bathurst-class corvettes of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built in New South Wales 1940 ships World War II corvettes of Australia