HMAS Castlemaine

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HMAS Castlemaine (J244/M244/A248), named for the city of Castlemaine, Victoria, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially crewed and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).<ref name=SPC>Template:Cite web</ref>

Launched in 1941 and commissioned in 1942, Castlemaine operated during World War II in the waters of Australia, New Guinea, and Timor. She remained in service until 1945, when she was decommissioned into reserve and converted into an immobilised training ship. In 1973, Castlemaine was presented to the Maritime Trust of Australia for conversion to a museum ship. She is one of two surviving examples of the Bathurst class, the other being HMAS Whyalla.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Design and construction

Template:Main In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (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.<ref name=Hindsight1>Stevens, The Australian Corvettes, p. 1</ref><ref name=StevensACV103>Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 103</ref> The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least Template:Convert, and a range of Template:Convert.<ref name=StevensACV103.4>Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–4</ref> 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 Template:Convert top speed, and a range of Template:Convert, equipped with asdic, and able to fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping 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.<ref name=Hindsight1/><ref>Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–5</ref> Main armament was initially a BL 4-inch Mk IX naval gun on a Mk I mounting, but this was replaced in 1943 by a QF 4-inch Mk XIX gun on a Mk XXIII mounting.<ref name="armament"/>

Construction of the prototype Template:HMAS did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.<ref name=StevensACV104>Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 104</ref> 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 (including Castlemaine) ordered by the RAN, 20 ordered by the British Admiralty but crewed and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.<ref name=Hindsight1/><ref>Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 105, 148</ref><ref name=Donohue29>Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, p. 29</ref><ref name=Stevens108>Stevens et al., The Royal Australian Navy, p. 108</ref><ref name=SPC/>

Castlemaine was laid down by HMA Naval Dockyard in Williamstown, Victoria on 17 February 1941.<ref name=SPC/> She was launched on 7 August 1941 by Dame Pattie Menzies, wife of the then Prime Minister of Australia, Sir Robert Menzies. The corvette was commissioned into the RAN at Melbourne on 17 June 1942.<ref name=SPC/>

Operational history

After commissioning, Castlemaine sailed to Sydney, where she was involved in training exercises and convoy escort along the east coast of Australia.<ref name=SPC/> On the night of 11 August 1942, the corvette collided with a Manly ferry, requiring a week of repairs at Cockatoo Island Dockyard.<ref name=SPC/>

After repairs, Castlemaine was ordered to Townsville, then assigned to Darwin in October: at both locations the ship was tasked with supporting and supplying Allied guerrilla operations in Timor.<ref name=SPC/> In late November 1942, the RAN was called on to evacuate the commandoes of the 2/2nd Independent Company (an evacuation attempt in September failed when the destroyer Template:HMAS grounded and was scuttled after being badly damaged by attacking Japanese aircraft), a contingent of Dutch troops, and over 100 Portuguese civilians, while delivering a relief contingent.<ref name=Feuer>Feuer, Heroic stand of HMAS Armidale, p.50</ref> Castlemaine, sister ship Template:HMAS, and the auxiliary patrol boat Template:HMAS were assigned to the operation by Commodore Cuthbert Pope, Naval Officer in Charge Darwin, with Castlemaine the commanding ship.<ref name=Feuer/> The plan was for Kuru to reach Betano Bay early on the night of 30 November, offload supplies, and take on the civilians.<ref name=Feuer/> The two corvettes were to arrive two hours later; Kuru would deliver her passengers to Castlemaine, which was to head for Darwin at first opportunity, then shuttle relief troops aboard Armidale to shore while evacuating the soldiers.<ref name=Feuer/>

The corvettes sailed from Darwin at midday on 29 November, leaving just as Japanese aircraft flew over the harbour.<ref name=Feuer/> At 09:00 on 30 November, the two ships were located by a Japanese reconnaissance plane, but were unable to shoot it down.<ref name=Feuer/> Because of the likelihood of attack during the day and the distance from the destination, the ships radioed Darwin and suggested that the mission be aborted, but Pope instructed they were to continue after steering away from their intended destination for an hour, and promised fighter support.<ref name=Feuer/> Armidale and Castlemaine were attacked at midday by 14 Japanese bombers, but these were driven off by a force of Bristol Beaufighters, which then returned to Australia.<ref name=Feuer/> Another attack came at 14:00, but neither side was able to do damage.<ref name=SPC/><ref name=Feuer/> Delays from the evasive course and two air attacks meant the corvettes reached Betano Bay after 02:30 on 1 December, with no sign of Kuru, and retreated to sea.<ref name=Feuer/> Kuru was sighted at daybreak-assuming the corvettes were not coming, her commander chose to sail for Darwin with the civilians-and the civilians were transferred to Castlemaine.<ref name=Feuer/> Although as senior ship, CastlemaineTemplate:'s commanding officer felt he should return to Betano Bay with the soldiers, the troops were aboard the other corvette, and at 11:00 he ordered (with Commodore Pope's approval) Armidale and Kuru to return by separate routes and attempt the operation again that night.<ref name=Feuer/> Although Castlemaine returned without trouble, Armidale was attacked and sunk by Japanese aircraft on 1 December.<ref name=Feuer/>

On 15 December, Castlemaine was escorting the merchant ships Period and James Cook to Thursday Island when they were attacked by Japanese aircraft.<ref name=SPC/> Four of PeriodTemplate:'s crew were killed, and the three ships were attacked two more times on 15 December, and a fourth time on 16 December.<ref name=SPC/> No further damage was sustained, with the aircraft driven off by the corvette's anti-aircraft armament on all four occasions.<ref name=SPC/>

File:Sleuth Castlemaine Benalla.jpg

Castlemaine (rear) with Template:HMAS (right) and HMAS Sleuth (left) off Darwin in 1944.

Following the Allied withdrawal from Timor in early 1943, Castlemaine was assigned to minesweeping and escort duties in northern Australian waters.<ref name=SPC/> This continued until the end of 1943, when she was reassigned to the convoy escort role between Queensland and New Guinea.<ref name=SPC/> In August 1944, the corvette was tasked with survey duties in Australia waters, before sailing to Hong Kong for the Japanese surrender in September 1945.<ref name=SPC/>

The ship was granted three battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942–43", "Pacific 1942–43", and "New Guinea 1942–44".<ref name=newhonours>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=honourslist>Template:Cite web</ref>

Decommissioning and preservation

Castlemaine paid off to reserve on 14 December 1945.<ref name=SPC/> She was immobilised at HMAS Cerberus at Crib Point in Victoria as a training hulk for Engine Room Artificers,<ref name=SPC/> who ran the boilers in part providing steam heating throughout the base. During this period, she was also used for damage control training for service personnel.

In September 1973, Castlemaine was presented as a gift to Maritime Trust of Australia from the Australian Government.<ref name=SPC/> Transferred into Trust ownership by the end of 1973,<ref name=SPC/> minus most of the original fittings,Template:Citation needed Castlemaine was restored and converted into a museum ship.<ref name=SPC/> Castlemaine is presently berthed at Gem Pier, Williamstown, Victoria, adjacent to the historic Customs House. The ship is not capable of sailing, as the main mess deck houses a museum, and the engines have been converted to run on compressed air, displaying their mechanical operation to visitors.

Between 14 and 29 August 2015, Castlemaine was drydocked for maintenance, cleaning, and hull preservation at the nearby BAE Systems Williamstown shipyard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>