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HMAS Gladstone (J324)

August 29, 2023

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Gladstone.

HMAS Gladstone (J324/M324), named for the city of Gladstone, Queensland, was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 that were initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).[1] Built by Walkers Limited, the ship was commissioned in 1943.

HMAS Gladstone
History
Australia
NamesakeCity of Gladstone, Queensland
BuilderWalkers Limited
Laid down4 August 1942
Launched26 November 1942
Commissioned22 March 1943
Decommissioned16 July 1956
ReclassifiedTraining ship (1946)
Honours and
awards
FateEntered civilian service in 1956, scrapped in 1983
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeBathurst-class corvette
Displacement650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load)
Length186 feet (57 m)
Beam31 feet (9.4 m)
Draught8.5 feet (2.6 m)
Propulsion2 × Yarrow boilers, 2 × triple expansion steam engines, 2 shafts, 2,000 hp
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement85
Armament

Gladstone initially operated as a convoy escort between Queensland and New Guinea. On 18 December 1943, the ship was part of a convoy that ran aground on Bougainville Reef; the corvette was able to refloat herself and sail back to Brisbane, but remained in port for repairs until January 1944. She resumed convoy duties, first back in Queensland waters, then she was relocated to Milne Bay in April 1944. In January 1945,she was redeployed to Morotai. After World War II, Gladstone was involved in the Japanese surrender of Timor at Koepang, performed surveillance in the Lesser Sunda Islands, and transported Netherlands East Indies soldiers from Darwin to Timor, then spent the next ten years attached to Flinders Naval Depot as a training ship.

The corvette was paid off in 1946, then purchased by the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Association for use as a relief and accommodation ship. She was renamed Akuna (sometimes referred to as Akuna II) and registered in Melbourne. Akuna began operations in mid-1958, but was made redundant in the 1970s by the move to high-powered launches, and was sold to a private owner in 1973 or 1974. Conflicting reports mark the next few years of the ship's operation, until she was sold in 1978 to a new owner, who used her to rescue Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand under the auspices of Food for the Hungry International. The ship was re-registered as a Panamian-flagged private yacht under the name Akuna II in 1980, around the time a former United States Air Force pilot began scamming families of personnel missing-in-action after the Vietnam War with claims that he would use the ship to rescue US prisoners-of-war that may still have been interred in Vietnam. Akuna II was not used for that purpose and actually spent the time moored in Songkhla, before she was towed to Bangkok and scrapped in 1983.

Design and construction Edit

Main article: Bathurst-class corvette

In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate.[2][3] The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), and a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi)[4] The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) top speed, and a range of 2,850 nautical miles (5,280 km; 3,280 mi), armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with asdic, and able to fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels.[2][5] Construction of the prototype HMAS Kangaroo did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.[6] The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 (including Gladstone) ordered by the RAN, 20 ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.[2][7][8][9][1]

As constructed, Gladstone had a displacement of 650 tons, a length of 186 feet (57 m), a beam of 31 feet (9.4 m), and a draught of 8.5 feet (2.6 m).[1] Propulsion was provided by two Yarrow water-tube boilers feeding steam to two triple expansion steam engine, which provided 1,000 indicated horsepower each to the corvette's two propeller shafts.[10] The ship's maximum speed was 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph),[10] while its armament consisted of one 4-inch HA gun, three 20 mm Oerlikons (later supplemented by a 40 mm Bofors), machine guns, and depth charges, chutes and throwers.[1] The designated ship's company was 85 strong.[10]

Gladstone was laid down by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland on 4 August 1942.[1] She was launched on 26 November 1942 by Mrs. Watson, wife of a dockyard employee, and was commissioned into the RAN on 22 March 1943.[1]

RAN operational history Edit

After entering active service in April 1943, Gladstone was assigned as a convoy escort between Queensland ports and New Guinea.[1] On 18 December 1943, Gladstone and sister ships Gympie and Stawell were escorting the eight troopships of convoy TN 192 when the convoy ran aground at 21:30 on Bougainville Reef (part of the Great Barrier Reef).[1] Glenelg and seven of the merchant vessels grounded on the reef: the corvette was able to refloat without assistance despite damaging her starboard propeller, and at 07:00 the next morning escorted three merchantman that had also been refloated back to Brisbane, where she underwent repairs until January 1944.[1]

At that time, the corvette resumed convoy escort duties until March 1944, when she was sent to Adelaide for refit.[1] After the refit, Gladstone sailed to Milne Bay, arriving on 29 April 1944.[1] Excluding a short deployment to Australian waters in October 1944, she served as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol ship in the waters around Milne Bay until January 1945, when she was redeployed to Morotai for similar duties.[1] In May, Gladstone and a group of United States Navy PT boats bombarded Japanese barges off Halmahera.[1]

The corvette's wartime service was recognised with two battle honours: "Pacific 1943–49" and "New Guinea 1943–44".[11][12]

 
HMAS Gladstone in 1949

After the end of World War II, Gladstone was involved in the Japanese surrender of Timor at Koepang, performed surveillance in the Lesser Sunda Islands, and transported Netherlands East Indies soldiers from Darwin to Timor.[1] In early December 1945, Gladstone sailed for Sydney, visiting her namesake city en route.[1] After a refit, the corvette arrived at Flinders Naval Depot on 23 February 1946, where she was reclassified as a training ship attached to the depot.[1]

Decommissioning and post-military career Edit

Gladstone paid off from military service on 16 July 1956, having sailed 195,642 nautical miles (362,329 km; 225,141 mi) since commissioning.[1] The ship was sold to the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Association for use as a relief and accommodation ship.[1][13] In this role, she was renamed Akuna (sometimes referred to as Akuna II, as the association had previously operated the former HMAS Una under this name from 1925 to 1957) and registered with Melbourne as her home port.[14] Each of the over 40 maritime pilots in the association owned shares in the vessel, and they took weekly turns as Master and Pilot in Charge.[13] A raised poop deck was installed to add accommodation space.[13] Akuna began operations in mid-1958.[13] By the 1970s, the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Association had made the decision to use high-powered launches and Akuna was no longer needed.[13]

The ship was sold into private ownership for use as a motor yacht, either in November 1973 or March 1974.[1][13] Reports of the ship's operations in the next few years are conflicting: Akuna may have been used for charter cruises in Port Phillip, or sailed to Brisbane via Sydney for an aborted youth training scheme.[15]

In September 1978, the ship was sold to a Canadian man for use by Food for the Hungry International.[16] Despite being sold to a Canadian owner, British Commonwealth agreements allowed the ship to retain Australian registry.[16] After a boiler refit, the ship relocated to Singapore and began operating in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand, rescuing Vietnamese refugees from boats and transporting them to shore.[16] Several countries in the region refused the ship entry, and the Australian government persuaded the owner to change the ship's registry, as they did not want to be held responsible for any refugees rescued by an Australian-flagged vessel not under their control.[16] The ship was re-registered as a Panamian-flagged private yacht under the name Akuna II on 4 February 1980.[16] Around this time, a former United States Air Force pilot claimed to have purchased the ship from Food for the Hungry, and that he was using it to rescue US prisoners-of-war that were still interred in Vietnam.[17] The pilot mass-mailed letters to families of missing-in-action soldiers asking for money to fund the rescue operations, but was later determined to be a money-making scam.[17] Around the same time as the mass-mailing, the US government was informed that Akuna II was moored in Songkhla, having been there for about two years, with a two-man skeleton crew who lived aboard but knew nothing about how to operate or maintain the ship.[17]

The ship was towed to Bangkok in 1983 and broken up for scrap.[17]

Citations Edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Gladstone (I)
  2. ^ a b c Stevens, The Australian Corvettes, p. 1
  3. ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 103
  4. ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–4
  5. ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–5
  6. ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 104
  7. ^ Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 105, 148
  8. ^ Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, p. 29
  9. ^ Stevens et al., The Royal Australian Navy, p. 108
  10. ^ a b c Carolin, HMAS Gladstone/Port Phillip Sea Pilots' Akuna II, p. 208
  11. ^ . Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  12. ^ (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Carolin, HMAS Gladstone/Port Phillip Sea Pilots' Akuna II, p. 211
  14. ^ Carolin, HMAS Gladstone/Port Phillip Sea Pilots' Akuna II, pgs. 208, 211
  15. ^ Carolin, HMAS Gladstone/Port Phillip Sea Pilots' Akuna II, pp. 211–2
  16. ^ a b c d e Carolin, HMAS Gladstone/Port Phillip Sea Pilots' Akuna II, p. 212
  17. ^ a b c d Carolin, HMAS Gladstone/Port Phillip Sea Pilots' Akuna II, p. 213

References Edit

Books
  • Donohue, Hector (October 1996). From Empire Defence to the Long Haul: post-war defence policy and its impact on naval force structure planning 1945–1955. Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Vol. No. 1. Canberra: Sea Power Centre. ISBN 0-642-25907-0. ISSN 1327-5658. OCLC 36817771.
  • Stevens, David (2005). A Critical Vulnerability: the impact of the submarine threat on Australia's maritime defense 1915–1954. Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Vol. No. 15. Canberra: Sea Power Centre Australia. ISBN 0-642-29625-1. ISSN 1327-5658. OCLC 62548623.
  • Stevens, David; Sears, Jason; Goldrick, James; Cooper, Alastair; Jones, Peter; Spurling, Kathryn (2001). Stevens, David (ed.). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-554116-2. OCLC 50418095.
Journal and news articles
  • Carolin, M. (2012). (PDF). The Log. Nautical Association of Australia. 45 (4). ISSN 0815-0052. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014.
  • Stevens, David (May 2010). (PDF). Hindsight (Semaphore). Sea Power Centre – Australia. 2010 (5). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
Websites
  • "HMAS Gladstone (I)". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 24 December 2008.

External links Edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMAS Gladstone (ship, 1943).

August 29, 2023
hmas, gladstone, j324, other, ships, with, same, name, hmas, gladstone, hmas, gladstone, j324, m324, named, city, gladstone, queensland, bathurst, class, corvettes, constructed, during, world, that, were, initially, manned, commissioned, solely, royal, austral. For other ships with the same name see HMAS Gladstone HMAS Gladstone J324 M324 named for the city of Gladstone Queensland was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 36 that were initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy RAN 1 Built by Walkers Limited the ship was commissioned in 1943 HMAS GladstoneHistoryAustraliaNamesakeCity of Gladstone QueenslandBuilderWalkers LimitedLaid down4 August 1942Launched26 November 1942Commissioned22 March 1943Decommissioned16 July 1956ReclassifiedTraining ship 1946 Honours andawardsBattle honours Pacific 1943 45 New Guinea 1943 44FateEntered civilian service in 1956 scrapped in 1983BadgeGeneral characteristicsClass and typeBathurst class corvetteDisplacement650 tons standard 1 025 tons full war load Length186 feet 57 m Beam31 feet 9 4 m Draught8 5 feet 2 6 m Propulsion2 Yarrow boilers 2 triple expansion steam engines 2 shafts 2 000 hpSpeed15 knots 28 km h 17 mph Complement85Armament1 4 inch HA gun 3 20 mm Oerlikons 1 Bofors 40 mm L 60 gun installed later Machine guns Depth charges chutes and throwersGladstone initially operated as a convoy escort between Queensland and New Guinea On 18 December 1943 the ship was part of a convoy that ran aground on Bougainville Reef the corvette was able to refloat herself and sail back to Brisbane but remained in port for repairs until January 1944 She resumed convoy duties first back in Queensland waters then she was relocated to Milne Bay in April 1944 In January 1945 she was redeployed to Morotai After World War II Gladstone was involved in the Japanese surrender of Timor at Koepang performed surveillance in the Lesser Sunda Islands and transported Netherlands East Indies soldiers from Darwin to Timor then spent the next ten years attached to Flinders Naval Depot as a training ship The corvette was paid off in 1946 then purchased by the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Association for use as a relief and accommodation ship She was renamed Akuna sometimes referred to as Akuna II and registered in Melbourne Akuna began operations in mid 1958 but was made redundant in the 1970s by the move to high powered launches and was sold to a private owner in 1973 or 1974 Conflicting reports mark the next few years of the ship s operation until she was sold in 1978 to a new owner who used her to rescue Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand under the auspices of Food for the Hungry International The ship was re registered as a Panamian flagged private yacht under the name Akuna II in 1980 around the time a former United States Air Force pilot began scamming families of personnel missing in action after the Vietnam War with claims that he would use the ship to rescue US prisoners of war that may still have been interred in Vietnam Akuna II was not used for that purpose and actually spent the time moored in Songkhla before she was towed to Bangkok and scrapped in 1983 Contents 1 Design and construction 2 RAN operational history 3 Decommissioning and post military career 4 Citations 5 References 6 External linksDesign and construction EditMain article Bathurst class corvette In 1938 the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board ACNB identified the need for a general purpose local defence vessel capable of both anti submarine and mine warfare duties while easy to construct and operate 2 3 The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons a speed of at least 10 knots 19 km h 12 mph and a range of 2 000 nautical miles 3 700 km 2 300 mi 4 The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680 ton vessel with a 15 5 knots 28 7 km h 17 8 mph top speed and a range of 2 850 nautical miles 5 280 km 3 280 mi armed with a 4 inch gun equipped with asdic and able to fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British designed mine warfare and anti submarine vessels 2 5 Construction of the prototype HMAS Kangaroo did not go ahead but the plans were retained 6 The need for locally built all rounder vessels at the start of World War II saw the Australian Minesweepers designated as such to hide their anti submarine capability but popularly referred to as corvettes approved in September 1939 with 60 constructed during the course of the war 36 including Gladstone ordered by the RAN 20 ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy 2 7 8 9 1 As constructed Gladstone had a displacement of 650 tons a length of 186 feet 57 m a beam of 31 feet 9 4 m and a draught of 8 5 feet 2 6 m 1 Propulsion was provided by two Yarrow water tube boilers feeding steam to two triple expansion steam engine which provided 1 000 indicated horsepower each to the corvette s two propeller shafts 10 The ship s maximum speed was 15 knots 28 km h 17 mph 10 while its armament consisted of one 4 inch HA gun three 20 mm Oerlikons later supplemented by a 40 mm Bofors machine guns and depth charges chutes and throwers 1 The designated ship s company was 85 strong 10 Gladstone was laid down by Walkers Limited at Maryborough Queensland on 4 August 1942 1 She was launched on 26 November 1942 by Mrs Watson wife of a dockyard employee and was commissioned into the RAN on 22 March 1943 1 RAN operational history EditAfter entering active service in April 1943 Gladstone was assigned as a convoy escort between Queensland ports and New Guinea 1 On 18 December 1943 Gladstone and sister ships Gympie and Stawell were escorting the eight troopships of convoy TN 192 when the convoy ran aground at 21 30 on Bougainville Reef part of the Great Barrier Reef 1 Glenelg and seven of the merchant vessels grounded on the reef the corvette was able to refloat without assistance despite damaging her starboard propeller and at 07 00 the next morning escorted three merchantman that had also been refloated back to Brisbane where she underwent repairs until January 1944 1 At that time the corvette resumed convoy escort duties until March 1944 when she was sent to Adelaide for refit 1 After the refit Gladstone sailed to Milne Bay arriving on 29 April 1944 1 Excluding a short deployment to Australian waters in October 1944 she served as a convoy escort and anti submarine patrol ship in the waters around Milne Bay until January 1945 when she was redeployed to Morotai for similar duties 1 In May Gladstone and a group of United States Navy PT boats bombarded Japanese barges off Halmahera 1 The corvette s wartime service was recognised with two battle honours Pacific 1943 49 and New Guinea 1943 44 11 12 HMAS Gladstone in 1949After the end of World War II Gladstone was involved in the Japanese surrender of Timor at Koepang performed surveillance in the Lesser Sunda Islands and transported Netherlands East Indies soldiers from Darwin to Timor 1 In early December 1945 Gladstone sailed for Sydney visiting her namesake city en route 1 After a refit the corvette arrived at Flinders Naval Depot on 23 February 1946 where she was reclassified as a training ship attached to the depot 1 Decommissioning and post military career EditGladstone paid off from military service on 16 July 1956 having sailed 195 642 nautical miles 362 329 km 225 141 mi since commissioning 1 The ship was sold to the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Association for use as a relief and accommodation ship 1 13 In this role she was renamed Akuna sometimes referred to as Akuna II as the association had previously operated the former HMAS Una under this name from 1925 to 1957 and registered with Melbourne as her home port 14 Each of the over 40 maritime pilots in the association owned shares in the vessel and they took weekly turns as Master and Pilot in Charge 13 A raised poop deck was installed to add accommodation space 13 Akuna began operations in mid 1958 13 By the 1970s the Port Phillip Sea Pilots Association had made the decision to use high powered launches and Akuna was no longer needed 13 The ship was sold into private ownership for use as a motor yacht either in November 1973 or March 1974 1 13 Reports of the ship s operations in the next few years are conflicting Akuna may have been used for charter cruises in Port Phillip or sailed to Brisbane via Sydney for an aborted youth training scheme 15 In September 1978 the ship was sold to a Canadian man for use by Food for the Hungry International 16 Despite being sold to a Canadian owner British Commonwealth agreements allowed the ship to retain Australian registry 16 After a boiler refit the ship relocated to Singapore and began operating in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand rescuing Vietnamese refugees from boats and transporting them to shore 16 Several countries in the region refused the ship entry and the Australian government persuaded the owner to change the ship s registry as they did not want to be held responsible for any refugees rescued by an Australian flagged vessel not under their control 16 The ship was re registered as a Panamian flagged private yacht under the name Akuna II on 4 February 1980 16 Around this time a former United States Air Force pilot claimed to have purchased the ship from Food for the Hungry and that he was using it to rescue US prisoners of war that were still interred in Vietnam 17 The pilot mass mailed letters to families of missing in action soldiers asking for money to fund the rescue operations but was later determined to be a money making scam 17 Around the same time as the mass mailing the US government was informed that Akuna II was moored in Songkhla having been there for about two years with a two man skeleton crew who lived aboard but knew nothing about how to operate or maintain the ship 17 The ship was towed to Bangkok in 1983 and broken up for scrap 17 Citations Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Royal Australian Navy HMAS Gladstone I a b c Stevens The Australian Corvettes p 1 Stevens A Critical Vulnerability p 103 Stevens A Critical Vulnerability pp 103 4 Stevens A Critical Vulnerability pp 103 5 Stevens A Critical Vulnerability p 104 Stevens A Critical Vulnerability pp 105 148 Donohue From Empire Defence to the Long Haul p 29 Stevens et al The Royal Australian Navy p 108 a b c Carolin HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II p 208 Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours Royal Australian Navy 1 March 2010 Archived from the original on 13 June 2011 Retrieved 23 December 2012 Royal Australian Navy Ship Unit Battle Honours PDF Royal Australian Navy 1 March 2010 Archived from the original PDF on 14 June 2011 Retrieved 23 December 2012 a b c d e f Carolin HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II p 211 Carolin HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II pgs 208 211 Carolin HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II pp 211 2 a b c d e Carolin HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II p 212 a b c d Carolin HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II p 213References EditBooksDonohue Hector October 1996 From Empire Defence to the Long Haul post war defence policy and its impact on naval force structure planning 1945 1955 Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs Vol No 1 Canberra Sea Power Centre ISBN 0 642 25907 0 ISSN 1327 5658 OCLC 36817771 Stevens David 2005 A Critical Vulnerability the impact of the submarine threat on Australia s maritime defense 1915 1954 Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs Vol No 15 Canberra Sea Power Centre Australia ISBN 0 642 29625 1 ISSN 1327 5658 OCLC 62548623 Stevens David Sears Jason Goldrick James Cooper Alastair Jones Peter Spurling Kathryn 2001 Stevens David ed The Royal Australian Navy The Australian Centenary History of Defence vol III South Melbourne VIC Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 554116 2 OCLC 50418095 Journal and news articlesCarolin M 2012 HMAS Gladstone Port Phillip Sea Pilots Akuna II PDF The Log Nautical Association of Australia 45 4 ISSN 0815 0052 Archived from the original PDF on 22 December 2014 Stevens David May 2010 The Australian Corvettes PDF Hindsight Semaphore Sea Power Centre Australia 2010 5 Archived from the original PDF on 20 March 2011 Retrieved 13 August 2010 Websites HMAS Gladstone I Royal Australian Navy Retrieved 24 December 2008 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMAS Gladstone ship 1943 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMAS Gladstone J324 amp oldid 1087943855, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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