HMAS Cowra

HMAS Cowra
History
Australia
Namesake	Town of Cowra, New South Wales
Builder	Poole & Steel
Laid down	12 August 1942
Launched	27 May 1943
Commissioned	8 October 1943
Decommissioned	4 December 1946
Recommissioned	20 February 1951
Decommissioned	26 June 1953
Reclassified	Training ship (1951)
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Pacific 1943–45 New Guinea 1944
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1961
General characteristics
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	10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	triple expansion engine, 2 shafts
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Complement	85
Armament	1 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XIX gun 3 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons

HMAS Cowra (J351/M351), named for the town of Cowra, New South Wales, was 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).^[1]

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 Cowra) 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]}

Cowra was laid down by Poole & Steel at Balmain, New South Wales on 12 August 1942.^[1] She was launched on 27 May 1943 by the wife of Percy Spender, the Federal Treasurer and member of the Advisory War Council, and was commissioned into the RAN on 8 October 1943.^[1]

Cowra began active service in November 1943 as a convoy escort along the east coast of Australia.^[1] She continued until March 1944, when she was reassigned to New Guinea as an escort and anti-submarine patrol vessel.^[1] In June 1944, the corvette sailed to Melbourne for refits, which concluded on 19 August.^[1] She returned to New Guinea at the end of the month, and for the next eleven months was primarily assigned to escort and patrol duties near Morotai.^[1] In January 1945, Cowra fired on Japanese shore positions at Yalela Bay, before visiting Brisbane briefly in February 1945.^[1] On 17 July, she was recalled to Australian waters, where she spent the rest of World War II.^[1] The ship was awarded two battle honours—"Pacific 1943–45" and "New Guinea 1944"—for her wartime service.^[10][11]

Following the end of the war, Cowra was assigned to the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, and performed mine clearance operations in the waters of Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.^[1] On 2 December 1946, Cowra returned to Sydney and was decommissioned into reserve.^[1]

On 20 February 1951, Cowra was recommissioned for use as a training ship for National Service trainees.^[1]

Cowra was paid off for the second time on 26 June 1953.^[1] In January 1961, the corvette was sold to the Kinoshita Company of Japan for scrapping.

A memorial to the ship located outside the Cowra Services Club was dedicated on 15 March 2006.^[12]

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.

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