HMAS Cessnock (J175)

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HMAS Cessnock in 1942
HMAS Cessnock in 1942
Career (Australia) RAN Ensign
Namesake: City of Cessnock, New South Wales
Builder: Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company
Laid down: 16 April 1941
Launched: 17 October 1941
Commissioned: 26 January 1942
Decommissioned: 12 July 1946
Motto: "No Steps Backward"
Fate: Sold for scrap in 1947
General characteristics
Class and type: Bathurst class corvette
Displacement: 650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load)
Length: 186 ft (57 m)
Beam: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught: 8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion: Triple expansion, 2 shafts. 1,750 hp
Speed: 15 knots
Complement: 85
Armament: 1 x 4-inch gun, 3 x Oerlikons (later 2), 1 Bofors (installed later), various machine guns and small arms, Depth charge chutes and throwers

The first HMAS Cessnock (J175/B240/A114) was a Bathurst class corvette laid down by Cockatoo Docks and Engineering at Sydney in New South Wales on 16 April 1941, launched on 17 October 1941 by Lady Gordon, wife of Sir Thomas Gordon, a director of the constructing firm, and commissioned on 26 January 1942.

[edit] Operational History

After a period of working up, Cessnock commenced duty as an escort vessel and escorted Allied shipping travelling between Townsville to New Guinea until September 1942. Cessnock operated in Western Australian waters from October until November 1942 when she was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet. Cessnock escorted Allied convoys in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea during 1943 and 1944. In January 1945 she returned to Australia and became part of the British Pacific Fleet in February. The ship operated as an escort in the Pacific until the end of the war.

Cessnock was present in Tokyo Bay on Victory over Japan Day (2 September 1945), when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed. [1]

[edit] Fate

HMAS Cessnock paid off on 12 July 1946 and was sold for scrap to the Nan Chiao Shipping and Salvage Company of Shanghai in China on 23 April 1947.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945. Naval Historical Center - U.S. Navy (27 May 2005). Retrieved on 2007-01-13. “Taken from Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPAC/CINCPOA) A16-3/FF12 Serial 0395, 11 February 1946: Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan