Corvettes: Bathurst Class

[Brian James]

Bathurst Class Corvette HMAS Gawler pictured as she enters Port Melbourne in 1946.
She was one of 60 Bathurst-Class Corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).She was laid down by Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd in early 1941, launched later that year, and commissioned in 1942.
After a short assignment to Fremantle as an Anti-Submarine Patrol Ship, Gawler was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet as a convoy escort. In April 1943, she was sent to the Mediterranean for Minesweeping duties. The Torvette participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily, rescued survivors from the torpedoed Troopship Yoma, and on one occasion escorted a convoy in the Atlantic. In October, Gawler rejoined the Eastern Fleet and resumed Indian Ocean Convoy Escort duties. After a refit at the start of 1945, Gawler joined the British Pacific Fleet. At the war's end, the Corvette was tasked with mine-clearing and anti piracy operations around Hong Kong, then sent to the Molucca Islands to inspect former Japanese facilities.
Gawler was decommissioned from the RAN in April 1946. The Admiralty transferred the ship to the Turkish Navy, where she was recommissioned as TCG Ayvalik. She remained in Turkish service until 1963.

[Brian James]

Bathurst Class Corvette HMAS Cowra pictured in 1952....Cowra was laid down at Poole & Steel Shipyard at Balmain, New South Wales on August 12th 1942. She was launched on May 27th and was commissioned into the RAN on October 8th 1943. Cowra began active service in November 1943 as a convoy escort along the east coast of Australia. She continued until March 1944, when she was reassigned to New Guinea as an escort and anti-submarine patrol vessel. In June 1944, she sailed to Melbourne for refit, which concluded on August 19th. 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. In January 1945, Cowra fired on Japanese shore positions at Yalela Bay, before visiting Brisbane briefly in February 1945. On July 17th, she was recalled to Australian waters, where she spent the rest of World War II. She was awarded two battle honours—"Pacific 1943–45" and "New Guinea 1944"—for her wartime service. 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. On December 2nd 1946, Cowra returned to Sydney and was decommissioned into reserve.
On February 20th 1951, Cowra was recommissioned for use as a training ship for National Service trainees. Cowra was paid off for the second time on June 26th 1953. In January 1961, the Corvette was sold to the Kinoshita Company of Japan for scrapping.