HMAS Gympie (I)
 | |
| Type | Australian Minesweeper (Bathurst Class) |
|---|---|
| Laid down | 27 August 1941 |
| Launched | 30 January 1942 by Mrs Deakin, wife of the Joint Managing Director of Evans Deakin & Co Ltd |
| Builder | Evans Deakin & Co Ltd, Brisbane |
| Commissioned | 4 November 1942 |
| Displacement | 650 tons |
| Length | 186 feet56.693 m 5,669.28 cm 0.0567 km 0.0352 mi 2,232 in |
| Beam | 31 feet9.449 m 944.88 cm 0.00945 km 0.00587 mi 372 in |
| Draught | 8 feet 6 inches |
| Armament |
|
| Main Machinery |
|
| Horsepower | 2,000 |
| Speed | 15 knots7.717 m/s 27.78 km/h 0.00772 km/s 1,519.029 ft/min 25.317 ft/s |
| Complement | 85 |
HMAS GYMPIE was one of sixty Australian Minesweepers (commonly known as corvettes) built during World War II in Australian shipyards as part of the Commonwealth Government's wartime shipbuilding programme. Twenty were built on Admiralty order but manned and commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy. Thirty-six (including GYMPIE) were built for the Royal Australian Navy and four for the Royal Indian Navy.
GYMPIE commissioned at Brisbane on 4 November 1942 under the command of LCDR Charles W.J. Patterson RANR.
Following trials GYMPIE assumed duty as a convoy escort vessel on the north east coast of Australia, which kept her constantly in service until February 1944. From January to June 1943 Japanese submarines were making their final attempt to halt the flow of Allied shipping to the forward areas. Eleven ships were sunk in Australian waters but none whilst under escort by GYMPIE. She did, however, render assistance to the torpedoed American ship PETER H. BURNETT in January 1943.
Following a refit in Brisbane in February 1944, GYMPIE proceeded to the New Guinea theatre of operations. There for the next year she was engaged on escort duty and on anti-submarine patrols. By this time, however, the tide of war was receding northwards and whilst it was constant and arduous work under tropical conditions it was mainly uneventful.
At the end of February 1945 GYMPIE left New Guinea waters and proceeded to Melbourne for refit. From there she went to Fremantle in May 1945, and on to Darwin in July. From Darwin she escorted several small craft to Morotai.
On 23 September 1945 GYMPIE, in company with her sister ships, HMA Ships WARRNAMBOOL, PARKES, Gladstone (I) and KATOOMBA, arrived in Dili in Portuguese Timor. Following the arrival on 24 September of HMAS MORESBY, a ceremony was held ashore on that day to mark the restoration of Portuguese control in the territory. GYMPIE was represented at the function by an officer and five ratings.
On 3 October 1945 GYMPIE, in company with HMA Ships MORESBY, HAWKESBURY, KATOOMBA and Gladstone (I), were present at Koepang in Portuguese Timor for the surrender of the 48th Japanese Division. A naval detachment, formed from all the ships, was landed for the occasion. A period of survey work in the Koepang area and the Daboe and Aroe Islands followed.
In November 1945 GYMPIE received slight damage as the result of a collision with the SS TULLAHOMA and returned to Brisbane for refit. She paid off into Reserve at Brisbane on 23 May 1946, after having steamed over 100,000 miles.
On 4 November 1947 GYMPIE's sister ship, HMAS LITHGOW, sailed from Brisbane with GYMPIE in tow for Sydney, where they arrived on 7 November.
GYMPIE was sold on 6 January 1961 to Kinoshita (Australia) Pty Ltd to be broken up.
Further Reading
- The Corvettes: Forgotten Ships of the Royal Australian Navy by Iris Nesdale - published by the Author, October, 1982.
- Corvettes - Little Ships for Big Men by Frank B. Walker - published by Kingfisher Press, NSW, 1996.
