HMAS Lismore (J145)

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HMAS Lismore (J145/B247/A121), named for the city of Lismore, New South Wales, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes that were constructed during World War II, and one of 20 manned and commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under Admiralty order.<ref name=SPC>Template:Cite web</ref> During her Australian service, Lismore covered Template:Convert, and spent the longest period away from Australia of any RAN vessel during World War II: 1,409 days.<ref name=SPC/> Serving with the RAN for five years, Lismore later spent twelve years as part of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), classified as the frigate HNLMS Batjan.<ref name=SPC/>

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, 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 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including Lismore) 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/>

Lismore was laid down by Morts Dock & Engineering Co in Sydney on 26 February 1940.<ref name=SPC/> She was launched on 10 August 1940 by the wife of Commodore Gerard Muirhead-Gould, the Naval-Officer-in-Charge Sydney, and commissioned on 25 January 1941.<ref name=SPC/>

Operational service

From December 1941 Lismore operated with the British Eastern Fleet. On 17 June 1943, when the British troopship Template:SS was sunk off the coast of Libya, Lismore and her sister ship Template:HMAS were among the ships that rescued 1,477 survivors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 1944, Lismore was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet.<ref name=SPC/>

The corvette earned four battle honours for her wartime service: "Indian Ocean 1941–44", "Sicily 1943", "Pacific 1945", and "Okinawa 1945".<ref name=newhonours>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=honourslist>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lismore was paid off from RAN service on 3 July 1946, transferring immediately into the Royal Netherlands Navy, where she was renamed HNLMS Batjan and reclassified as a frigate.<ref name=SPC/> She was removed from service in 1958.<ref name=SPC/>

References

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