HMA Ship Histories
HMAS FREMANTLE (I)
Statistics
| Type | Australian Minesweeper (Bathurst Class) |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 733 tons (standard) |
| Length | 186 feet |
| Beam | 31 feet |
| Draught | 8 feet 6 inches |
| Builder | Evans Deakin & Co Ltd, Brisbane |
| Laid Down | 11 February 1942 |
| Launched | 18 August 1942, by Mrs Curtin, wife of the Australian Prime Minister |
| Machinery | Triple expansion, 2 shafts |
| Horsepower | 2,000 |
| Speed | 15 knots |
| Armament | 1 x 4-inch HA gun 3 x Oerlikons (later 2) 1 x Bofors Machine guns Depth charge chutes and throwers |
| Complement | 85 |
HMAS FREMANTLE 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 FREMANTLE) were built for the Royal Australian Navy and four for the Royal Indian Navy.
FREMANTLE commissioned at Brisbane on 24 March 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Albert N. Boulton RANR(S).
On completion of her trials in April 1943, FREMANTLE was assigned duty as an escort vessel on the east coast of Australia. At this period Japanese submarines were active in Australian waters and in the month preceding FREMANTLE’s first operational duty, seven ships had been sunk in coastal areas.
In August 1943 FREMANTLE left the east coast and proceeded to Darwin where she was based as an escort vessel, operating mainly between Darwin and Thursday Island, until April 1945. During this period on 21 months in northern waters the tide of war was steadily receding from the Australian theatre and her duties were confined mainly to routine uneventful merchant ship protection.
In June 1945 she arrived at Manus to begin a period of escort and guard ship duty in the New Guinea area which occupied the ship until the end of hostilities.
On 31 August 1945 FREMANTLE arrived at Hong Kong and whilst based there as a unit of the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla, took part in a series of clearing sweeps in Chinese waters. On 18 November 1945 she entered her name port Fremantle for the first time en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne. FREMANTLE paid off into Reserve in Melbourne on 25 January 1946.
FREMANTLE recommissioned at Melbourne on 10 December 1952 under the command of Lieutenant Commander George C. Rance RN. On 8 March 1953 she reached Fremantle and commenced service as a training ship for the Western Australian area. In this role, until the scheme was abandoned, FREMANTLE introduced large numbers of National Service Trainees to naval life afloat.
In addition to her training duties, FREMANTLE also acted at times as a fisheries protection vessel with the Japanese Pearling Fleet in the Arafura Sea, and on survey and general fleet duties in the Western Australian area.
FREMANTLE finally paid off at Sydney for disposal on 22 June 1959. She had steamed 113,654 miles since recommissioning in 1952. In all, including her war time service, she had steamed 190,776 miles. FREMANTLE was sold on 6 January 1961 to Kinoshita (Australia) Pty Ltd to be broken up.
Further Reading
- Notable Service to the Empire: Australian Corvettes and the British Pacififc Fleet 1944 - 45 by Hugh Campbell
Published by the Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc., Garden Island, 1995. - Corvettes - Little Ships for Big Men by Frank B. Walker
Published by Kingfisher Press, NSW, 1996.
