HMAS Warreen
 | |
| Type | Survey Vessel (later General Purpose Vessel) |
|---|---|
| Builder | Melbourne Harbour Trust, Williamstown, Victoria - 1938 |
| Commissioned | 22 October 1942 |
| Displacement | 111 tons (gross) |
| Length | 82 feet24.994 m 2,499.36 cm 0.025 km 0.0155 mi 984 in |
| Beam | 19 feet5.791 m 579.12 cm 0.00579 km 0.0036 mi 228 in |
| Draught | 8 feet2.438 m 243.84 cm 0.00244 km 0.00152 mi 96 in |
| Armament |
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| Main Machinery |
|
| Horsepower | 200 BHP |
| Speed | 8 knots4.116 m/s 14.816 km/h 0.00412 km/s 810.149 ft/min 13.503 ft/s |
| Complement | Approximately 10 |
In 1942 the Commonwealth Government decided that the fisheries research trawler, MV Wareen, belonging to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), now the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) should be laid up for the duration of the war, unless she could be put to good use by the armed forces. The council consequently offered the vessel to the RAN.
On inspection it was decided that Warreen would be suitable for naval use as a survey vessel and she was subsequently taken over by the RAN at Garden Island, Sydney, on 1st October 1942 and commissioned as HMAS Stella on 22nd October 1942.
Stella sailed from Sydney on 26th October 1942 and for almost two years operated on survey duties in the New Guinea area. From September 1944 the vessel operated mainly in northern Australian waters, based at Darwin.
On 19th December 1945 Stella paid off at Fremantle and was handed back to the CSIR on 29th October 1946 reverting to her former name of Warreen.
Warreen was later purchased by the RAN when she ceased to be of further use to the CSIR. She was commissioned as HMAS Warreen on 16th April 1952 as a tender to HMAS Leeuwin at Fremantle and was employed conducting survey duties around the Australian coast until 11 March 1957 when her ship's company transferred to HMAS Warrego (II). The ship was then formally handed over to the control of the Resident Naval Officer (RNO), South Australia.
Under the control of the RNO, Warreen was used for training of naval reservists in South Australia. She was later classified as a General Purpose Vessel, and assigned the pendant number GPV 821 in addition to her name.
In April 1965 it was decided to dispose of Warreen and on 31st March 1966 she was sold to H. Stanke and Sons Pty Ltd of Carpenter Rocks, South Australia.
