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HMAS Latrobe

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HMAS Latrobe
HMAS Latrobe.jpg
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