HMAS Curlew
Template:Short description Template:Coord Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox ship HMAS Curlew (M 1121) was a Template:Sclass2 operated by the Royal Navy (as HMS Chediston) from 1953 to 1961, and the Royal Australian Navy from 1962 to 1991. During her Australian service, the ship operated off Malaysia during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation during the mid-1960s, then was modified for use as a minehunter. Delays in bringing a replacement class into service kept Curlew operational until 1990, and she was sold into civilian service in 1991.
Construction
The minesweeper was built by the Montrose Shipyard in Scotland, launched on 6 October 1953, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 28 September 1954 as HMS Chediston.<ref name=RAN>Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Curlew</ref>
Operational history
Royal Navy
Between August 1955 and October 1957, the ship was attached to Tay Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.<ref name=RAN/> After October 1957, the ship was placed in storage.<ref name=RAN/>
Royal Australian Navy
The ship was one of six sold to the Royal Australian Navy for A£5.5 million in 1961.<ref name=Spurling189>Spurling, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 189</ref> Chediston was modified for tropical conditions, and commissioned on 12 August 1962 as HMAS Curlew.<ref name=RAN/><ref name=Spurling189/>
During the mid-1960s, Curlew was one of several ships operating in support of the Malaysian government during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. This service was later recognised with the battle honour "Malaysia 1964–66".<ref name=newhonours>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=honourslist>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In the late 1960s, Curlew and sister ship Template:HMAS were modified for use as minehunters.<ref name=Jones222>Jones, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222</ref>
Divers from Curlew inspected the wreck of Template:Ship.<ref>Fulton, The Fujita Plan</ref>
Decommissioning and fate
The delay in bringing the Bay class minehunters into service kept Curlew operational until 1990.<ref name=Jones222/> Curlew paid off on 30 April 1990 and was sold on 17 June 1991.<ref name=RAN/> In the late 1990s she appeared in the movies Paradise Road and The Thin Red Line.<ref name="ABC floating hostel" />
As of mid-2003, Curlew was operating out of Port Huon, Tasmania as a fishing vessel.<ref>Australian Sea Heritage, Old ships find a new life</ref> The ship was later used for accommodation at Port Huon.<ref name="ABC floating hostel">Template:Cite news</ref>
In April 2018 she was purchased for $1. Her new owner intends to use the ship as a floating backpacker hostel in Brisbane<ref name="ABC floating hostel" /> but this did not materialize. Since 2023, it has been silted up in the Margate marina in the municipality of Barretta, Tasmania, it is in March 2025 awaiting decontamination and asbestos removal,
Citations
References
Books
Journal articles
Websites
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Template:Ton class minesweeper Template:National Historic Ships