HMAS Latrobe

HMAS Latrobe

AWM photo 044738
History
Name	HMAS Latrobe
Owner	Royal Australian Navy
Builder	Mort's Dock & Engineering Company, Balmain, Sydney
Launched	19 Jun 1942
Completed	6 Nov 1942
In service	6 Nov 1942
Out of service	13 Mar 1953
In service	early 1946
Out of service	late 1952
Reclassified	Training Ship (1946)
Fate	Sold for scrap 18 May 1956
General characteristics
Type	Bathurst Class Corvette
Tonnage	650 tons
Length	180 feet 10 inches (55.12 m)
Beam	31 feet 2 inches (9.50 m)
Depth	8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m)
Propulsion	Twin shaft 2,000HP
Speed	15.5 knots
Capacity	85 crew

Remarks

Armaments included 1 × 4 inch Mk XVI gun, 3 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. Latrobe's dimensions differed from the Bathurst-class design: she was shorter (180 feet 10 inches (55.12 m) compared to 186 feet (57 m)) and had a slightly wider beam (31 feet 2 inches (9.50 m) compared to 31 feet (9.4 m)).

One of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Latrobe's early service was escorting convoys between Queensland ports and New Guinea, changing later to those between Darwin and Thursday Island. On 12 Feb 1943 she unsuccessfully attacked a Japanese submarine, and in July , while escorting a convoy to Darwin she was attacked twice by Japanese aircraft. In December she was again attacked without suffering casualties.

In June 1944 the Latrobe was reassigned to New Guinea operations where she spent seven months on convoy escort and anti-submarine duties before sailing to Adelaide for a refit. Returning to New Guinea, she resumed her earlier duties. At the conclusion of the war, the Latrobe was utilised to transport occupation forces, and in the retrieval of ex-POWs.

Battle Honours

• Darwin 1943
• Pacific 1942 - 45
• New Guinea 1943-44
• Borneo 1945

Crew members

• William George Berry 6 Nov 1942 ‒ 6 Jul 1943