HMAS Durraween

Career (Australia)
Name: ST Durraween[1]
Owner: Red Funnell Trawler Pty Ltd
Career (Australia (RAN))
Name: HMAS Durraween
Commissioned: 29 July 1940
Decommissioned: 1 November 1945
Fate: Returned to civilian service in 1946, broken up in 1952
General characteristics
Tonnage: 271 gross tonnage[2]
Length: 125.7 ft (38 m)[2]
Beam: 23.5 ft (7 m)[2]
Depth: 12.7 ft (4 m)[2]
Armament: • 1 x 12 pounder gun
• 1 x 20mm Oerlikon cannon
•1 x .303-inch Vickers machine gun

HMAS Durraween (F93) was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. The ship was built as a trawler by Collingwood Shipbuilding Company at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, and launched in 1919 as Seville. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1928, and was requisitioned by the RAN in mid-1940.

Durraween operated in Bass Strait as part of Minesweeping Group 54, and was responsible for clearing mines laid by German merchant raiders. She was returned to civilian service after paying off in late 1945, and was broken up in 1952.

Operational history

Durraween was owned and operated by Red Funnell Trawler Pty Ltd.[2] After being purchased by Red Funnell, Durraween was sailed from Fleetwood, England to Sydney, Australia. The voyage took 92 days, during which the trawler spent some time aground at Cocos Islands, and finished in late 1928.[3] On 28 December 1937, the trawler collided with the passenger liner Wanganella off Montague Island.[4][5]

On 29 July 1940, Durraween was requisitioned by the RAN for use as an auxiliary. During the war, Durraween was based in Port Melbourne, Victoria as part of Minesweeping Group 54, and operated in Bass Strait. Together with HMS Orara, they sweeped for mines off Wilsons Promontory in November 1940 and removed forty-three mines from Bass Strait, which had been laid by the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin and auxiliary minelayer Passat. Durraween was paid off on 1 November 1945.

After being returned to her owners in 1946, she worked again as a trawler. She was stripped and broken up at Blackwattle Bay in 1952.

Citations

  1. ^ "Details of the Ship". Plimsoll ShipData. http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/ship.php?ship_id=4950&name=Durraween. Retrieved 8 August 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Llyods Reigister". Plimsoll ShipData. http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/pdffile.php?name=45b0137.pdf. Retrieved 6 August 2010. 
  3. ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 17, December 1928, p.11.". http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16517003?searchTerm=Durraween. Retrieved 8 August 2010. 
  4. ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 30, December 1937, p.5.". http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17435855?searchTerm=Durraween. Retrieved 8 August 2010. 
  5. ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 29, December 1937, p.12.". http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17442521?searchTerm=Durraween. Retrieved 8 August 2010. 

References