HMAS Glenelg (J236)
Template:Short description Template:Other ships Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMAS Glenelg (J236/M236), named for the city of Glenelg, South Australia, was one of 60 Template:Sclass constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).<ref name=SPC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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 Glenelg) 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/>
Glenelg was laid down by the Cockatoo Island Dockyard at Sydney, New South Wales on 2 March 1942.<ref name=SPC/> She was launched on 25 September 1942 by the wife of Doctor H.V. Evatt, then Minister for External Affairs, and was commissioned into the RAN on 16 November 1942.<ref name=SPC/>
Operational history
Glenelg began her career as a convoy escort along the east coast of Australia, initially from Queensland to New Guinea before being assigned to the Sydney to Queensland leg in May 1943.<ref name=SPC/> In December, the corvette began a refit.<ref name=SPC/>
On completion, she was assigned to New Guinea waters as an anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort ship for the duration of 1944; during this time the ship sailed Template:Convert and was active for over 10,000 hours.<ref name=SPC/> On 20 October 1944, the corvette was called to assist an American patrol under heavy mortar fire near Maffin Bay in Dutch New Guinea.<ref name=SPC/> Glenelg’s whaler was deployed to help move the American wounded; although swampled, the boat was dragged ashore by her crew, with seating and flooring boards used as improvised stretchers to move the wounded to the American-controlled bank of the Woske River.<ref name=SPC/> Glenelg, under the guidance of two US Army personnel standing on the beach, fired 31 rounds from her Template:Convert main gun at the Japanese attackers, and was later praised by the patrol's senior officer as the decisive factor in allowing the patrol to withdraw with all wounded, leaving five dead behind.<ref name=SPC/>
The corvette arrived in Australia at the start of 1945 for a two-month refit in Melbourne, before returning to Manus Island and spending the remainder of the war as a convoy escort.<ref name=SPC/> After the end of World War II, Glenelg was involved in the reoccupation of Ambon during September, before departing for Fremantle on 1 November, visiting her namesake city en route.<ref name=SPC/>
The corvette earned two battle honours for her wartime service: "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>
Decommissioning and fate
Glenelg was paid off into reserve in Fremantle on 14 January 1946.<ref name=SPC/> She was sold to the Hong Kong Rolling Mills on 2 May 1957 for breaking up as scrap.<ref name=SPC/>
Citations
References
- Books
- Journal and news articles