HMAS Pirie (J189)

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HMAS Pirie in 1946
HMAS Pirie in 1946
Career (Royal Australian Navy) RAN ensign
Namesake: City of Port Pirie, South Australia
Builder: Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd in Whyalla, South Australia
Laid down: 19 May 1941
Launched: 3 December 1941
Commissioned: 10 October 1942
Decommissioned: 5 April 1946
Motto: "Mark of Quality"
Career (Royal Navy) RN ensign
Name: HMS Pirie
Commissioned: 5 April 1946
Decommissioned: 1946
Fate: Sold to Turkish Navy
Career (Turkish Navy)
Name: TCG Amasra
Commissioned: 1946
Decommissioned: 26 March 1984
General characteristics
Class and type: Bathurst class corvette
Displacement: 733 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 engine, 2 shafts, 2,000 horsepower
Speed: 15 knots at 1,750 hp
Complement: 85
Armament: 1 x 12-pounder gun (later replaced by 1 x 4-inch gun)
3 x 20 mm Oerlikons (1 later removed)
1 x 40 mm Bofors (installed later)
Machine guns
Depth charges chutes and throwers

HMAS Pirie (J189/B249/A123), named for the city of Port Pirie, South Australia, was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built on Admiralty order but manned by personnel of and later commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).[1]

[edit] Construction

Pirie was laid down at the Broken Hill Propriety Shipyard at Whyalla, South Australia on 19 May 1941, launched on 3 December 1941 by Mrs. H. T. Kleeman, wife of the Whyalla superintendent of BHP, and commissioned on 10 October 1942, and commissioned on 10 October 1942.[1] At 733 tons, Pirie was 83 tons over the class design's 650 tons.[1]

[edit] Operational history

On 11 April 1943, while escorting a British supply ship to Oro Bay, Pirie was attacked by a large number of Japanese dive bombers.[1] At least seven bombs were dropped; the first six were near-misses, but the seventh penetrated the armoured bridge canopy, deflected off the hemsman's station, struck and killed the Gunnery Officer, then detonated on the upper deck.[1] Apart from the Gunnery Officer, six sailors were killed and four more wounded.[1] Anti-aircraft fire drove off the fighters before they could attack again, and downed several planes.[1] Repairs were completed in May 1943.[1]

Pirie was the third Australian warship to enter Japanese territorial waters during the war, entering Tokyo Bay on 31 August 1945.[1] She remained in Tokyo Bay until mid-September and was present on Victory over Japan Day (2 September 1945), when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed.[1][2]

HMAS Pirie left RAN service on 5 April 1946, and was immediately recommissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Pirie.[1] On 21 May 1946, Pirie, along with sister ships HMAS Launceston and HMAS Gawler, sailed for Colombo for transfer into the Turkish Navy in late 1946.[1] Renamed TCG Amasra, the ship remained in service with the Turkish Navy until 26 March 1984.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m HMAS Pirie. HMA Ship Histories. Sea Power Centre - Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  2. ^ 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