HMAS Deloraine
Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMAS Deloraine (J232/M232), named for the town of Deloraine, Tasmania, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).<ref name=SPC>HMAS Deloriane (I), Sea Power Centre</ref> In January 1942 she evaded an attack by the Japanese submarine I-124 north-west of Darwin and was jointly credited with the submarine's sinking after inflicting the initial damage. She was present at the bombing of Darwin and survived unscathed.
Design and construction
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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, armed with a 4-inch gun, 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> 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 Deloraine) ordered by the RAN, 20 ordered by the British Admiralty but manned 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/>
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Deloraine was laid down at Morts Dock & Engineering Co in Balmain, New South Wales on 19 March 1941.<ref name=SPC/> She was launched on 26 July 1941 by Dame Mary Hughes, wife of the Minister for the Navy, and commissioned into the RAN on 22 November 1941.<ref name=SPC/>
Operational history
World War II
After commissioning, Deloraine sailed to Darwin, where she was based for the first part of her career as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol vessel.<ref name=SPC/> On 20 January 1942, the United States destroyer USS Edsall, escorting the American oiler USS Trinity (AO-13), reported a Japanese submarine was in the area after an unsuccessful attack on the oiler.<ref name=SPC/> The submarine, I-124 of the Imperial Japanese Navy, tried and failed to torpedo Deloraine at 1:35 pm, with Deloraine locating the submarine on asdic. After two depth-charge attacks the submarine briefly broke the surface. Deloraine then observed 'large bubbles of oil and air'.<ref name=SPC/> Sister ships Katoomba and Lithgow arrived in the area; the two ships continuing to patrol and depth-charge the area while Deloraine reloaded.<ref name=SPC/> They were successful, and the four ships were jointly credited with the kill of I-124—the first enemy submarine to be sunk in Australian waters, going down with 80 lives.<ref>Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 183–4.</ref>
The ship was present in Darwin Harbour during the Japanese bombing of Darwin in February 1942. She was undamaged by the attack and assisted in rescue and recovery operations. On 5 March, Deloraine was attacked on several occasions by a Japanese flying boat, but was again undamaged.<ref name=SPC/>
In July 1942, the corvette returned to Sydney, and spent the next twenty months escorting supply convoys from Sydney to Newcastle, Brisbane, and New Guinea.<ref name=SPC/> In April 1943, Deloraine rescued 19 survivors from the torpedoed merchant ship Lydia M. Child.<ref name=SPC/> On 16 June 1943, Portmar and LST-469 were torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine while travelling in Convoy GP55: the only two ships lost in the convoys Deloraine was attached to during her service history.<ref name=SPC/>
In May 1944, Deloraine was redeployed to New Guinea waters for escort, patrol, and troop transport duties.<ref name=SPC/> She carried out bombardments in support of several Allied landings in New Guinea.<ref name=SPC/> At the end of April 1945, the corvette sailed to Brisbane for refits: hostilities ended while she was in dock.<ref name=SPC/>
The corvette was awarded three battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942", "Pacific 1942–45", and "New Guinea 1943–44".<ref name=newhonours>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=honourslist>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Post-war
After refitting, Deloraine was used to transport an occupation force from Morotai to Menado, then returned to Sydney and commenced clearing minefields off the New South Wales coast.<ref name=SPC/> For the first half of 1946, Deloraine was assigned to New Britain, again clearing minefields.<ref name=SPC/> She was paid off into reserve on 4 November 1945, but was recommissioned on 16 December, and recommenced minesweeping duties along the Australian coast.<ref name=SPC/>
Decommissioning and fate
Deloraine was paid off into reserve at Fremantle, Western Australia on 30 June 1948. She was sold for scrap to the Hong Kong Delta Shipping Company on 8 August 1956.<ref name=SPC/>
Citations
References
- Books
- Journal and news articles
References
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