9/10/2023 0 Comments Balmain slipwayDuring World War I the German Raider Wolf had mined Bass Strait and it was thought that this was the most likely location for mines to be found. News of the minefield was quickly communicated to the Australian Naval Board and the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla commenced sweeping operations in South Australian and Victorian waters. No lives were lost but soon after two more mines were located by New Zealand minesweepers and the Hauraki Gulf closed to shipping. On 18 June 1940 the RMS Niagara departed Auckland bound for Canada, but in the early hours of the 19th, while transiting the Hauraki Gulf, she struck a mine laid by the German raider Orion on the night of 13/14 June. No mines were found during her sweeping operations but it would not be long before German raiders became active in Australian and New Zealand waters. In 1940 Doomba was purchased outright by the RAN for £12,000. Doomba also regularly embarked gunnery sailors from Flinders Naval Depot for training, using her 4-inch gun, and Cadet Midshipmen from the RAN College (also located at Flinders Naval Depot) for day trips to sea. It was hard repetitive work often in bad weather but essential to ensure shipping - the lifeblood of the nation - kept moving safely. Doomba and Orara continued to operate in southern Australian waters throughout 1940 keeping the sea lanes open for both merchant shiping and troop convoys (Convoys US.2 in April, US.3 in May and US.4 in August). No mines were found as German raiders had not yet reached Australian waters at this early stage of the war. On 11 January Doomba and Orara swept ahead of the ten ship convoy, carrying thousands of soldiers, as it negotiated the narrow swept channel off Wilsons Promontory. One of the flotilla’s first tasks was to conduct a sweep of Bass Strait, in early January 1940, prior to the transit of the first Australian troop convoy (US.1) on its way to the Middle East. On 22 December HMA Ships Swan, Yarra, Doomba and Orara became the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla based at Port Melbourne, Victoria. The refit finished in late November and, following equipment trials, she headed south to Melbourne arriving at Williamstown Naval Depot on 5 December 1939. 303 Lewis machine guns also fitted (depth charge racks were later fitted as well). On 30 September Doomba sailed south to Sydney to be fitted out as a minesweeper with a single 4-inch gun mounted forward and two. She was commissioned as HMAS Doomba on 25 September 1939, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Max Clark, RAN (a graduate of the 1920 entry to the RAN College). With the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939, the former minesweeper was immediately requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy. In early 1939, Doomba was laid up at Peters Slip at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane. She was later sold to the Brisbane Tug and Steamships Co Ltd and at times, particularly during the Great Depression, was laid up or conducted limited service due to a lack of work. Arriving in Brisbane in 1923 she was renamed Doomba and her main task was carrying tourists from Brisbane to Redcliffe and Bribie Island. She was saved from the breakers yard and on-sold to Coaster Construction Co Ltd of Montrose and converted to a passenger vessel for the Doomba Shipping Company (Brisbane, Queensland). She was sold on 26 November 1921 to the Stanlee Shipbreaking and Salvage Co Ltd of Dover and arrived at Devonport on 21 April 1922 for breaking up. Wexford was employed sweeping minefields in the post-war period and was decommissioned in late 1921 and laid up in reserve. However, the Hunt Class were renowned for producing excessive smoke and were known colloquially as ‘Smoky Joes’. Her triple expansion steam engines were powered by two forced draft coal fired Yarrow water tube boilers designed to burn high quality Welsh steaming coal. Wexford was armed with a single 4-inch quick firing gun mounted forward and 12-pounder quick firing gun aft as well as two twin. The Hunt Class had a shallow draft (2.4 metres) to aid in minesweeping and equipped with Oropesa floats to cut the cables of moored mines. She was launched on 10 October 1919 and commissioned the same year: named after the town of Wexford, Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom). Wexford was ordered in mid-1917 and constructed at William Simons & Co Ltd shipyard in Renfrew, Scotland. HMAS Doomba began her seagoing career as the minesweeper HMS Wexford, one of 115 Hunt Class minesweepers built for the Royal Navy in the later part of World War I (she was part of the second or Abadare group of the Hunt Class).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |