HMAS ''Uki'' (FY.80) was an auxiliary

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

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 ...

during World War II. Laid down at

Lithgows Lithgows Limited is a family-owned Scottish company that had a long involvement in shipbuilding, based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland. It has a continued involvement in marine resources. History Founding The Company ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1923, ''Uki'' was owned and operated by the Sydney-based North Coast Steam Navigation Company. On 3 November 1939, ''Uki'' was requisitioned by the RAN for use as an

auxiliary Auxiliary may refer to: In language * Auxiliary language (disambiguation) * Auxiliary verb In military and law enforcement * Auxiliary police * Auxiliaries, civilians or quasi-military personnel who provide support of some kind to a military se ...

. During the war, ''Uki'', , and made up Group 77 Minesweeper, based at HMAS ''Maitland'', in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. In March 1943, ''Uki'' was requisitioned into 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 ...

. After being returned to her owners, she was sold to M. Bern & Co in 1954. She was hulked in Brisbane in 1960. She was later stripped and scuttled off Tangalooma, Queensland in June 1976.

Citations

References

Naval Historical Society of Australia: On this day – 1939
1923 ships Minesweepers of the Royal Australian Navy Ships built on the River Clyde Scuttled vessels of Australia Iron and steel steamships of Australia Coastal trading vessels of Australia {{australia-mil-ship-stub