HMAS ''Rushcutter'' is a former

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) base that served as a depot, radar and anti-submarine training school located at

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutters Ba ...

and

Darling Point Darling Point is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council. Darling Point is bounded by Sydney Harbour to ...

, in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

's eastern suburbs in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia.

History

Originally the New South Wales headquarters of the Naval Brigade and

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. ...

from 1901, the site was used as an administrative depot due to the demolition of

Fort Macquarie Fort Macquarie was a square castle, castellated battlement fort built in 1798 at Bennelong Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the site where the Sydney Opera House now stands. It was demolished in 1901 to make way for the Fort Macqu ...

as facilities for the compulsory peacetime training from 1911-1929. The site remained as the Naval Reserve Depot and the Anti Submarine School was opened there in 1939 and used by the RAN and newly formed Anti-Submarine Branch of the Naval Reserve. On 1 August 1940, the depot was commissioned as HMAS ''Rushcutter''. 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 ...

the site housed the Anti-Submarine School, the Radar and Gunnery Instruction School and served as a base for the

mosquito fleet The term Mosquito Fleet has had a variety of naval and commercial uses around the world. United States In U.S. naval and maritime history, the term has had several meanings: *The United States Navy's fleet of small gunboats, leading up to and d ...

: Harbour Defence Motor Launches, the Fairmiles and the Naval Auxiliary Patrol Boats. The training of RAN Radar Operators transferred from HMAS ''Rushcutter'' to HMAS ''Watson'' in 1943. The technical functions of Radar operation remained at HMAS ''Rushcutter''. At the end of World War II, the site became a training facility for the RAN Experimental Labs and Research Labs.

Current use

In 1979 the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

transferred the site to the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

ownership for public recreational use.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rushcutter, Hmas Rushcutter Military installations established in 1940 1940 establishments in Australia 1979 disestablishments in Australia

History

Current use

See also

References