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	HMAS Tamworth
History
Australia
Namesake	City of Tamworth, New South Wales
Builder	Walkers Limited in Maryborough, Queensland
Laid down	25 August 1941
Launched	14 March 1942
Commissioned	8 August 1942
Decommissioned	30 April 1946
Motto	"Strong in Adversity"
Honours and; awards	Battle honours:; Pacific 1942–45; Indian Ocean 1943–44;
Fate	Sold to RNLN
Netherlands
Name	Tidore
Namesake	Tidore Island
Commissioned	30 April 1946
Decommissioned	December 1949
Fate	Sold to TNI-AL
Indonesia
Name	Pati Unus
Namesake	Pati Unus, Sultan of Demak
Commissioned	December 1949
Decommissioned	1969
Fate	Disposed of
General characteristics during Admiralty service
Class and type	Bathurst-class corvette
Displacement	650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load)
Length	186 ft (57 m)
Beam	31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught	8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion	triple expansion engine, 2 shafts
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) at 1,750 hp
Complement	85
Armament	1 × 12-pounder gun (later replaced by 1 × 4 inch Mk XIX gun), 3 × Oerlikons (1 later removed), 1 × Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun (installed later), Machine guns, Depth charges chutes and throwers

HMAS Tamworth (J181/B250/A124), named for the city of Tamworth, New South Wales, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built on Admiralty order but manned by personnel of and later commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).^[1] Tamworth later saw service in the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) and in the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL).^[1]

Design and construction

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 Mk XIX 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 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including Tamworth) ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.^[2]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[1]

Tamworth was laid down by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland on 25 August 1941.^[1] She was launched on 14 March 1942 by Mrs. A. M. Horsburgh, the wife of one of the shipyard's directors, and commissioned on 8 August 1942.^[1]

Operational history

From February 1943 until January 1945, Tamworth was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet.^[1] Following this, she was deployed with the British Pacific Fleet.^[1] Tamworth returned to Australian operational control on 28 September 1945.^[1] Tamworth earned two battle honours for her wartime service, "Pacific 1942–45" and "Indian Ocean 1943–44".^[10]^[11]

After a brief period of service as a training vessel in Australian waters was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy on 30 April 1946.^[1] In RNLN service, the ship operated under the name HNLMS Tidore, and served until December 1949.^[1]

Following this, the ship was transferred to the Indonesian Navy, renamed RI Pati Unus, and served until disposal in 1969.^[1]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "HMAS Tamworth". Sea Power Centre Australia. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
^ ^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
^ "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.

References

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. 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. 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

Stevens, David (May 2010). "The Australian Corvettes" (PDF). Hindsight (Semaphore). 2010 (5). Sea Power Centre – Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2010.