Coastal Forces of the Royal Australian Navy

Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy established during World War II. It consisted of small coastal defence craft such as motor launches, submarine chasers, air-sea rescue launches, motor gun boats and motor torpedo boats. It did not include minesweepers, trawlers or landing craft. This article is about the equivalent boats used by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Units and craft

It included the following types of coastal defence craft:

Type Built Lost Notes
Harbour Defence Motor Launch
Fairmile B motor launch		 31[1]
35[2]
2[3]

31 Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDMLs) and 35 Fairmile B-type Motor Launches entered service from October 1942. They were employed on routine patrols, convoy escorts, running special forces in and out of Japanese-held areas, boom defence patrols in harbours at home and abroad, courier operations, survey work, and raiding Japanese-held coasts.[4]

RAN HDMLs

Ship Commissioned Career Fate
HMAS HDML 1074 13 August 1940 Sold on 24 January 1948
HMAS HDML 1125 1943 Transferred to Royal Indian Navy in 1944
HMAS HDML 1129 7 November 1942
HMAS HDML 1161 9 January 1943 Sold on 10 December 1947
HMAS HDML 1321 11 November 1943 Sold in July 1971
HMAS HDML 1322
HMAS HDML 1323
HMAS HDML 1324
HMAS HDML 1325
HMAS HDML 1326
HMAS HDML 1327
HMAS HDML 1328
HMAS HDML 1329
HMAS HDML 1338
HMAS HDML 1339
HMAS HDML 1340
HMAS HDML 1341
HMAS HDML 1342
HMAS HDML 1343
HMAS HDML 1344
HMAS HDML 1345
HMAS HDML 1346
HMAS HDML 1347
HMAS HDML 1352
HMAS HDML 1353
HMAS HDML 1354
HMAS HDML 1355
HMAS HDML 1356
HMAS HDML 1357
HMAS HDML 1358
HMAS HDML 1359

RAN Fairmiles

A Fairmile school was established at HMAS Rushcutter on 1 June 1942. The first Australian Fairmile, ML 813, entered service at the end of that year. Originally designed in the UK for coastal anti-submarine and convoy duties, the RAN Fairmiles performed these and a variety of other functions. Their tasks included convoy escort, servicing and supporting advancing troops, landing and recovering commandos and coastwatchers, rescuing civilians from enemy occupied territories, and invasion escort.[5]

Ship Commissioned Career Fate
HMAS ML 424 28 January 1943 Ordered from Green Point Naval Boatyard, Sydney in January 1942. Listed for disposal in March 1947. This was purchased by Roylen Cruises, Mackay, Queensland. The name came from the last three letters of the founder's son FITZROY and his daughter HELEN. In the mid-1970s it was sold and renamed Reef Princess. It met its fate off Townsville on Wheelers Reef in 1981. This story was covered in a newspaper article entitled "Death of a Princess".
HMAS ML 425
HMAS ML 426
HMAS ML 427
HMAS ML 428
HMAS ML 429
HMAS ML 430
HMAS ML 431
HMAS ML 801
HMAS ML 802
HMAS ML 803
HMAS ML 804
HMAS ML 805
HMAS ML 806
HMAS ML 807
HMAS ML 808
HMAS ML 809 This vessel was acquired by Northern Plywood at Cairns and later acquired (1952) by McLean's Roylen Cruises and renamed Roylen Star. It was commanded by Fitzroy McLean with engineer John Lacey for much of its Roylen service. It was sold in 1979 and sank near Palm Island in about 1979.
HMAS ML 810 This vessel was named AJAX and fitted out as a luxury cruiser with all internal fittings fitted out in mahogany. It was refitted with two Hall Scott petrol engines and was believed to be able to reach speeds in excess of 20 knots. When it was acquired by Roylen Cruises it was renamed PETAJ, the first 3 letters of the son of Fitzroy McLean and the last two letters of the AJAX, as it was believed to be bad luck to completely change a vessels name. The petrol engines were removed as they were prone to fire and it was refitted with two cat diesel engines, giving it a speed of approximately 16 knots. This vessel was used for more up market guests and was also used (between the 15th to the 18th of July 1966) for HRH Prince Charles to cruise the Barrier Reef. This trip was commanded by Captain Fitzroy McLean. Petaj was badly damaged in Cyclone Kerry in the late 1970s, but was later repaired. In the mid-1990s Petaj was used in the Solomon Islands for a Fishing / local buying vessel. It was surrounded by controversy and later sank near Munda in the Solomon Islands. It is believed that it was later refloated by a dive operation from Gizo which took it to a sie of Gizo and resunk it as a dive site, near Plum Pudding Island where President John F Kennedy's PT 109 was cut in half in an area known as "The Slot"
HMAS ML 811
HMAS ML 812
HMAS ML 813
HMAS ML 814
HMAS ML 815 Ordered from Norman Wright, Bulimba
HMAS ML 816 Ordered from Norman Wright, Bulimba
HMAS ML 817
HMAS ML 818
HMAS ML 819
HMAS ML 820
HMAS ML 821
HMAS ML 822
HMAS ML 823 This was operated by Loch Nicholson from Lindeman Island under the name of Esmeralda, but later was purchased by the Evetts family and renamed the Elizabeth E which operated similar cruises to that of Roylen Cruises. The Evetts were so impressed with the design that they later had another vessel built in a very similar design to that of the original fairmile.
HMAS ML 824
HMAS ML 825
HMAS ML 826
HMAS ML 827 19 April 1944 Ordered from Norman Wright, Bulimba on 19 May 1942. Grounded at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain on 17 November 1944, sank while under tow on 20 November 1944.
HMAS ML 828 Cancelled Ordered from Norman Wright, Bulimba on 19 May 1942. Order cancelled

Surviving craft

There are no known surviving Fairmiles on the east coast of Australia. The last one was an ex Roylen Cruises fairmile, Roylen Sandra which sank in a creek at Ingham in 2010. The fate of second last to stay afloat was ex HML 815 which became Roylen Pataj (named after the son and grandson of the operators of Roylen Cruises, Peter with the last letters of AJAX as it was known) this sank Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands and was later raised and sunk again near Kennedy Island near Gizo as dive site by the local scuba diving company. Petaj was fitted out as a luxury cruiser and was also used to ferry HRH Prince Charles around the Barrier Reef in 1965 before being acquired by Roylen Cruises.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Australian HDMLs".
  2. ↑ "Australian Fairmile Bs".
  3. ↑ Straczek, J.H. "RAN in the Second World War". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  4. ↑ "Patrol boats". The Navy Contribution to Australian Maritime Operations: RAN Doctrine 2 - 2005. Royal Australian Navy. ISBN 0-642-29615-4.
  5. ↑ "HMAS Rushcutter".

Further reading

External links