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HMAS Diamantina (K377)

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HMAS Diamantinastern 2008.JPG
HMAS Diamantina in the South Brisbane Dry Dock in 2008
History
Australia
NameDiamantina
NamesakeDiamantina River
BuilderWalkers Limited, Maryborough
Laid down12 April 1943
Launched6 April 1944
Commissioned27 April 1945
Decommissioned9 August 1946
Recommissioned22 June 1959
Decommissioned21 February 1980
Motto"Whoever Leads Protects"
Honours and
awards
StatusPreserved as a museum ship at Queensland Maritime Museum
BadgeHMAS diamantina crest.png
General characteristics
Class and typeRiver-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,420 long tons (1,440 t; 1,590 short tons)
  • 2,020 long tons (2,050 t; 2,260 short tons) (deep load)
Length
  • 283 ft (86.3 m) p/p
  • 301 ft 3 in (91.8 m) o/a
Beam36 ft 6 in (11.1 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m); 13 ft (4.0 m) (deep load)
Propulsion2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range500 long tons (510 t; 560 short tons) oil fuel; 5,180 nautical miles (9,590 km; 5,960 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement140
Armament
For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Diamantina.

HMAS Diamantina (K377/F377/A266/GOR266), named after the Diamantina River in Queensland, is a River-class frigate that served the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed in the mid-1940s, Diamantina was active from 1945 until 1946, was placed in reserve, then was recommissioned as a survey ship from 1959 until 1980.

Following her second decommissioning, the frigate was preserved at the Queensland Maritime Museum as a museum ship. She was the last World War II-era frigate to leave RAN service, and of the 151 River-class frigates constructed for 19 navies worldwide, Diamantina is one of only two preserved as a museum ship.[a]

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Diamantina River

Diamantina River

The Diamantina River is a major river located in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia.

River-class frigate

River-class frigate

The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Allied navies: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Free French Naval Forces, the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy.

Frigate

Frigate

A frigate is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.

Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of Defence (MINDEF) and the Chief of Defence Force (CDF). The Department of Defence as part of the Australian Public Service administers the ADF.

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in active duty with its country's military forces. The ceremonies involved are often rooted in centuries-old naval tradition.

Queensland Maritime Museum

Queensland Maritime Museum

The Queensland Maritime Museum is located on the southern bank of the Brisbane River just south of the South Bank Parklands and Queensland Cultural Centre precinct of Brisbane, and close to the Goodwill Bridge.

Museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small number of museum ships that are still operational and thus capable of regular movement.

World War II

World War II

World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and the delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war.

Design and construction

Diamantina had a displacement of 2,120 tons fully loaded, or 1,420 standard displacement tons. She was equipped with two triple expansion engines driving twin screws at 5,500 indicated horsepower (4,100 kW).[2] She had a range of 5,180 nautical miles (9,590 km; 5,960 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), with a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). She was armed with two single-mounted QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.XVI guns fore and aft and eight single-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikons, although these were later replaced by three single-mounted QF 40 mm Bofors and four twin-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikons. For anti-submarine warfare the ship was fitted with one Hedgehog 24 spigot A/S projector, and carried up to 50 depth charges. She had a complement of 140.[2]

Diamantina was laid down on 12 April 1943 at Walkers Limited, Maryborough, launched on 6 April 1944, and commissioned at Hervey Bay on 27 April 1945. She was named for the Diamantina River in Queensland, and was one of eight River-class frigates built for the RAN during World War II.[2]

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Displacement (ship)

Displacement (ship)

The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weight. Traditionally, various measurement rules have been in use, giving various measures in long tons. Today, tonnes are more commonly used.

Nautical mile

Nautical mile

A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute of latitude. Today the international nautical mile is defined as exactly 1,852 metres. The derived unit of speed is the knot, one nautical mile per hour.

Knot (unit)

Knot (unit)

The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, exactly 1.852 km/h. The ISO standard symbol for the knot is kn. The same symbol is preferred by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), while kt is also common, especially in aviation, where it is the form recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The knot is a non-SI unit. The knot is used in meteorology, and in maritime and air navigation. A vessel travelling at 1 knot along a meridian travels approximately one minute of geographic latitude in one hour.

QF 4-inch naval gun Mk XVI

QF 4-inch naval gun Mk XVI

The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Commonwealth naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typically carried out to protect friendly shipping and coastal facilities from submarine attacks and to overcome blockades.

Hedgehog (weapon)

Hedgehog (weapon)

The Hedgehog was a forward-throwing anti-submarine weapon that was used primarily during the Second World War. The device, which was developed by the Royal Navy, fired up to 24 spigot mortars ahead of a ship when attacking a U-boat. It was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers and corvettes to supplement the depth charges.

Depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use high explosive charges and a fuze set to detonate the charge, typically at a specific depth. Depth charges can be dropped by ships, patrol aircraft, and helicopters.

Keel laying

Keel laying

Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.

Walkers Limited

Walkers Limited

Walkers Limited was an Australian engineering company, based in Maryborough, Queensland. It built ships and railway locomotives. The Walkers factory still produces railway locomotives and rolling stock as part of Downer Rail.

Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2021 Census, the suburb of Maryborough had a population of 15,287.

Hervey Bay

Hervey Bay

Hervey Bay is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately 290 kilometres (180 mi) or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to the Coral Sea between the Queensland mainland and nearby Fraser Island. The local economy relies on tourism which is based primarily around whale watching in Platypus Bay to the north, ferry access to Fraser Island, accessible recreational fishing and boating and the natural north facing, calm beaches with wide undeveloped foreshore zones. In October 2019, Hervey Bay was named the First Whale Heritage Site in the world by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching. A 2010 study by Deakin University showed that people on the Fraser Coast area including Hervey Bay, were the happiest in Australia. At June 2018, there were an estimated 54,674 people in Hervey Bay, having grown by an annual average of 1.31% year-on-year over the preceding five years.

Operational history

1945–1946

After commissioning, Diamantina sailed to Sydney, remaining there until late May when she embarked for New Guinea to complete her trials. These were concluded in June 1945 and by the end of the month she proceeded from Madang to Cairns, and then to the Solomon Islands.[3] After transporting several high-ranking officers to Saposa Island, Diamantina was committed to the Bougainville Campaign, providing fire support to the Australian Army units operating ashore in July and August 1945. Transiting through the Solomon Islands, on 7 July she shelled Sohana Island and then a week later provided counter-battery fire against Japanese positions on Taiof Island. At the conclusion of hostilities she returned to the Solomon Islands in early September.[4] The frigate carried Lieutenant General Kanda and Vice Admiral Baron Samejima, officers of the Japanese Imperial High Command to the surrender of Torokina on 8 September 1945. She was also involved in the surrenders of Nauru on 13 September and Ocean Island on 1 October; both ceremonies conducted on her quarterdeck.[5]

Diamantina berthed in Melbourne prior to her 1946 decommissioning
Diamantina berthed in Melbourne prior to her 1946 decommissioning

Diamantina returned to Sydney, arriving at Garden Island on 13 December 1945,[4] with 78 passengers embarked.[3] The ship remained in Sydney until 1 February 1946, when she departed for a patrol in New Guinea waters.[3] Diamantina returned to Sydney in mid-June,[3] and after sailing to Williamstown was paid off into reserve on 9 August 1946.[4]

The ship was awarded the battle honour "Pacific 1945" for her wartime service.[6]

1959–1980

Diamantina was recommissioned as an hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic research vessel on 22 June 1959.[7][8] She carried the pennant numbers F377, A266, and GOR266 at various points throughout this period of her career.[9] After successfully completing her first oceanographic survey in July, she embarked on her first oceanographic cruise on 20 August. On 20 September, the ship performed the first survey of the Montebello Islands following the British atomic test, Operation Hurricane. On 22 October, Diamantina carried out the first survey of the waters around Christmas Island.[10]

Diamantina's most notable achievement during her second commission was the discovery of the deepest known part of the Indian Ocean on 7 February 1960, which was named Diamantina Deep after the ship. Based in Fremantle, Diamantina remained in service as an oceanographic vessel until 1980;[3] she briefly interrupted these duties in March 1963, escorting the royal yacht during Queen Elizabeth II's tour to Australia.[8]

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New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east.

Madang

Madang

Madang is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century.

Cairns

Cairns

Cairns is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-populous in Queensland, and 15th in Australia.

Nauru

Nauru

Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba of Kiribati, about 300 km (190 mi) to the east. It further lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast of Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands. With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation. Its population of about 10,000 is the world's second-smallest, after Vatican City.

Fleet Base East

Fleet Base East

The Fleet Base East is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) major fleet base that comprises several naval establishments and facilities clustered around Sydney Harbour, centred on HMAS Kuttabul. The Fleet Base East extends beyond the borders of Kuttabul and includes the commercially-operated dockyard at Garden Island, and adjacent wharf facilities at nearby Woolloomooloo, east of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. Fleet Base East is one of two major facilities of the RAN, the other facility being the Fleet Base West. The fleet operates in the Pacific Ocean.

Battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.

Montebello Islands

Montebello Islands

The Montebello Islands, also rendered as the Monte Bello Islands, are an archipelago of around 174 small islands lying 20 km (12 mi) north of Barrow Island and 130 km (81 mi) off the Pilbara coast of north-western Australia. The islands form a marine conservation reserve of 58,331 ha administered by the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation. The islands were the site of three British atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in 1952 and 1956.

Operation Hurricane

Operation Hurricane

Operation Hurricane was the first test of a British atomic device. A plutonium implosion device was detonated on 3 October 1952 in Main Bay, Trimouille Island, in the Montebello Islands in Western Australia. With the success of Operation Hurricane, Britain became the third nuclear power, after the United States and the Soviet Union.

Christmas Island

Christmas Island

Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around 350 kilometres south of Java and Sumatra and around 1,550 km (840 nmi) northwest of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It lies 2,600 km (1,400 nmi) northwest of Perth and 1,327 km (717 nmi) south of Singapore. It has an area of 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi).

Fremantle

Fremantle

Fremantle is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle is Freo.

Royal yacht

Royal yacht

A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often crewed by personnel from the navy and used by the monarch and his/her family on both private and official travels.

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was head of state of 15 realms at the time of her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female monarch in history.

Decommissioning and preservation

Diamantina paid off from the RAN on 29 February 1980, and was the last World War II-era frigate to serve Australia. Diamantina was handed over to the Queensland Maritime Museum to be permanently berthed in the South Brisbane Dry Dock located on the Brisbane River at South Brisbane.[3] She was replaced in RAN service by HMAS Cook.[8]

Diamantina afloat on the Brisbane River in 2006, during repairs to the drydock at the Queensland Maritime Museum
Diamantina afloat on the Brisbane River in 2006, during repairs to the drydock at the Queensland Maritime Museum
Rear view of the vessel
Rear view of the vessel

In March 2006, Diamantina left her berth for the first time in 25 years when she was towed out into the river to allow repairs to the dock,[11] which had been flooded since the seals failed in 1998.[12] On 10 May 2006, she returned to the South Brisbane Dry Dock adjacent to the Queensland Maritime Museum,[13] where she was used as a self-touring museum ship. During the 2010–11 Queensland floods, the dry dock flooded but the ship had been maintained in good repair and floated up from the dry dock with the flood, while volunteers adjusted the ropes to prevent the ship bashing against the dry dock. The ship was undamaged.[14][15]

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Queensland Maritime Museum

Queensland Maritime Museum

The Queensland Maritime Museum is located on the southern bank of the Brisbane River just south of the South Bank Parklands and Queensland Cultural Centre precinct of Brisbane, and close to the Goodwill Bridge.

South Brisbane Dry Dock

South Brisbane Dry Dock

South Brisbane Dry Dock is a heritage-listed dry dock at 412 Stanley Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William David Nisbet and built from 1876 to 1887. It is also known as the Government Graving Dock. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

Brisbane River

Brisbane River

The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane in 1823. The penal colony of Moreton Bay later adopted the same name, eventually becoming the present city of Brisbane. The river is a tidal estuary and the water is brackish from its mouth through the majority of the Brisbane metropolitan area westward to the Mount Crosby Weir. The river is wide and navigable throughout the Brisbane metropolitan area.

HMAS Cook

HMAS Cook

HMAS Cook , named after Captain James Cook, was an oceanographic research vessel of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Source: "HMAS Diamantina (K377)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 9th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Diamantina_(K377).

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References

Notes

  1. ^ The other is UBS Mayu, ex-HMS Fal, preserved in Myanmar.[1]

Citations

  1. ^ Aung, Wayne (25 May 2019). "သမိုင်းထဲက မေယု စစ်သင်္ဘောကြီ" [The Messiah's Great Warship in History]. burma.irrawaddy.com (in Burmese). Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Gillett & Graham 1977, p. 178.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "HMAS Diamantina I". Royal Australian Navy. Archived from the original on 17 August 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Gillett & Graham 1977, p. 179.
  5. ^ Gillett & Graham 1977, p. 91.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Downes, Kirsten. "WW2 Frigate HMAS Diamantina". Queensland Maritime Museum. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Gillett & Graham 1977, p. 180.
  9. ^ "Diamantina". Historic Naval Ships Association. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  10. ^ Blaxell, Gregory. "The Queensland Maritime Museum". Afloat. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  11. ^ Hides, Mark (29 March 2006). "HMAS Diamantina refloated as dry-dock undergoes repairs". ABC News. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  12. ^ "HMAS Diamantina". Australian Heritage Database. Department of the Environment. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  13. ^ Davis, Graham (1 June 2006). "Resting at home". Navy News. Vol. 49, no. 9. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  14. ^ Dumas, Daisy (20 January 2011). "Historical treasures escape worst of Qld flood". Australian Geographic. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  15. ^ Purdon, Fiona (8 February 2011). "Maritime museum's prized fleet saved". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 21 March 2017.

Bibliography

  • Gillett, Ross; Graham, Colin (1977). Warships of Australia. Adelaide, South Australia: Rigby. ISBN 0-7270-0472-7.
Further reading
  • Nunan, Peter (2005). HMAS Diamantina: Australia's Last River Class Frigate, 1945–1980. McCrae: Slouch Hat Publications. ISBN 9780957975279.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMAS Diamantina (K377).

Coordinates: 27°28′55″S 153°1′36″E / 27.48194°S 153.02667°E / -27.48194; 153.02667

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