HMA Ship Histories
HMAS GLADSTONE (I)
Statistics
| Type | Australian Minesweeper (Bathurst Class) |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 650 tons (standard) |
| Length | 186 feet |
| Beam | 31 feet |
| Draught | 8 feet 6 inches |
| Builder | Walkers Ltd, Maryborough |
| Laid Down | 4 August 1942 |
| Launched | 26 November 1942, by Mrs Watson, wife of a long time employee of Walkers Ltd |
| Machinery | Triple expansion, 2 shafts |
| Horsepower | 2,000 |
| Speed | 15 knots |
| Armament | 1 x 4-inch HA gun 3 x Oerlikons 1 x Bofors (later) Machine guns Depth charge chutes and throwers |
| Complement | 85 |
HMAS GLADSTONE 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 GLADSTONE) were built for the Royal Australian Navy and four for the Royal Indian Navy.
GLADSTONE commissioned at Maryborough, Queensland, on 22 March 1943 under the command of Lieutenant John W. Penney RANR(S).
GLADSTONE began her active operational career in April 1943, escorting merchant convoys on the Queensland coast, from Brisbane to northern ports and return. At the end of September 1943 she began escorting the first of a series of convoys between the Australian mainland and New Guinea, from Cairns to Port Moresby and Milne Bay. Eight merchant vessels fell victims to Japanese submarine attack during the period of April to September 1943. None of these, however, was under escort by GLADSTONE.
On 18 December 1943 GLADSTONE and seven ships in a convoy bound for Milne Bay ran aground on Bougainville Reef in the Great Barrier Reef. All eight ships were subsequently refloated suffering varying degrees of damage. GLADSTONE was forced to return to Brisbane for minor repairs.
Operational again in January 1944, GLADSTONE resumed escorting convoys to Milne Bay until March when she proceeded to Adelaide for refit.
On 29 April 1944 she arrived at Milne Bay from Adelaide to begin a tour of duty in New Guinea waters, on escort and anti-submarine patrol duties in the Madang, Langemak, Hollandia and Biak areas. In October 1944 she paid a brief visit to home waters.
In January 1945 GLADSTONE began operations in the Morotai, Biak and Mios Woendi areas, chiefly on patrol and as a guard ship at Morotai. It was in the main routine and uneventful duty. In May 1945, cooperating with American PT boats, she bombarded Japanese barge concentrations in the Halmaheras.
Following the end of hostilities in August 1945 she proceeded to Darwin. In September she took part in the Timor surrender ceremonies at Koepang. In November and December 1945 GLADSTONE was employed on general surveillance of the Lesser Sundas and the transport of Netherlands East Indies troops from Darwin to Timor.
On 12 December 1945 GLADSTONE departed Darwin for Sydney. En route she paid a three day visit to her namesake town on the Queensland coast. On 27 December she reached Sydney, having steamed 98,997 miles since commissioning.
Following a refit in Sydney, GLADSTONE arrived in Westernport, Victoria, on 23 February 1946, where she attached to Flinders Naval Depot as a training ship. She maintained this role for more than ten years. As a training ship GLADSTONE steamed 96,645 miles, giving a total of 195,642 miles steamed since commissioning.
GLADSTONE paid off at Melbourne on 16 July 1956. She was not to be idle for long however, as she was sold to the Port Phillip Pilots' Association. She served as a pilot relief ship for seventeen years under the name AKUNA.
The name AKUNA commemorated the previous pilot vessel of that name which served from 1925 to 1956. That vessel, formerly HMAS UNA, had also been sold to the Port Phillip Pilots' Association after service with the Royal Australian Navy. She was originally the German government vessel KOMET, captured by the Royal Australian Navy in October 1914 following the capture of German New Guinea by Australian forces.
In November 1973 press reports stated that AKUNA had been bought by a Melbourne businessman, Mr Scot Bevan-Davies, for use as a private yacht. In February 1981 a report was received that AKUNA II, as the ship had been renamed, was owned by 'Food for the Hungry International' and was based at Singapore. It was stated that she was engaged in picking up Vietnamese boat people in the Gulf of Thailand and had been doing so for about 18 months.
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.
