RANCA NSW
HMAS STRAHAN J363
Namesake: Town of Strahan, Tas
Builder: NSW State Dockyard
Laid down: 9 October 1942
Launched: 12 July 1943
Commissioned: 14 March 1944
Decommissioned: 25 January 1946
Motto: "With Fair Winds"
Battle honours:
Pacific 1944–45
New Guinea 1944
Fate: Sold for scrap in 1961
Displacement: 815 tons
Length: 186 ft 2 in (56.74 m)
Beam: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught: 8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion: triple expansion
engine, 2 shafts,
2,000 hp
Speed: 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h;
17.8 mph)
Complement: 85
Armament: 1 × 4-inch gun
2 × 20 mm Oerlikons
1 × 40 mm Bofors
Machine guns
Depth charges
chutes and throwers
Extract from Corvette magazine
Strahan's stolen success
A WWII-era minesweeper may have had a victory claimed by another
The official history of HMAS Strahan doesn't mention her shooting down a Japanese medium bomber at Morotai in October 1944. But former CPO Blair Mason, 86, was there when it happened and said the ship was robbed of its kill by an American shore battery.
"It was hard to say whether he was a suicide bomber or not, but it was a single plane and it was engaged by our 4-inch gun," he said. It was quite obvious that one of our shells damaged the plane because it lost height and started spiralling towards the ground. An American Bofors on the shore engaged it on its way down and blew it apart. The next day, when an American barge came alongside, one of the Americans said, 'you guys were robbed, you definitely got that plane, but our guys have claimed it'."
ln June 1945, the Bathurst-class corvette went into action against Japanese land forces for the first time when she bombarded gun emplacements on Kairiru Island, north of Wewak. On the way back from Tarakan in August 1945, she sank a Japanese barge and picked up three survivors. Mr Mason said this sinking was contentious.
"It was as black as pitch and there was a report of a contact resembling an enemy target," he said. Action stations was piped and our 20-inch searchlight picked up a craft under sail. There were people on board and the captain claimed he'd recognized figures in uniform jettisoning equipment over the side.
The order was given to engage so the 4-inch gun, the Oerlikons, the Bofors and the stem Lewis gun all engaged the target. He couldn't say for sure if there was any return fire. It logically follows if all these guns were fired there wasn't much chance of the target surviving," Mr Mason said.
Three men survived and were keeping afloat in the water, but no amount of encouragement could entice them to swim toward us. They tried to swim away but were retrieved and brought on board where we found they were natives of the region. We presumed the uniformed people on board were Japanese moving from island to island and had taken over the craft, using the natives to assist them."
Strahan was in Hong Kong for the signing of the Japanese surrender as a unit of the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla conducting anti-piracy patrols. While on patrol on September 26, 1945, she triggered an acoustic mine, which damaged her rudder and she was towed into Hong Kong Harbour.
Mr Mason said Chinese pirates were targeting businessmen who were returning to Hong Kong with their valuables after spending the war in neutral Macau.
"The pirates were in junks that were fitted with particularly powerful diesels that could easily outrun our 16 knots, “he said. "We didn't have our anti-acoustic gear operating, because lowering it over the side would have reduced our speed even more. Due to the short length of our ship the mine went off under the stem, lifting it out of the water. There was an almighty bang. There were no fatalities but a number of crewmen were injured, and the ship was immobilized, although the hull hadn't been breached."
Strahan’s sister ship, HMAS Wagga, towed her back into Hong Kong for repairs. After the repairs, Strahan commenced the long trip back to Sydney and was escorted as far as the Torres Strait by HMAS Castlemaine.
In November, 1945, she paid an official visit to her namesake town in Tasmania where tragically one of her crew, LS Bertie Newman, drowned. He was Strahan’s only casualty during her two-year service.
Strahan paid off into Reserve in Sydney on January 25, 1946, ending her seagoing career. During her service she had steamed almost 60,000 miles.
SGT Dave Morley
Source: Navy News 24 October 2013
Extract from Corvette magazine
CHINA MAIL
Friday, September 1945
AMERICAN MINE BLOWS UP UNDER “STRAHAN”
An American magnetic mine, assumed to have been laid by allied aircraft in carrying out the programme of blockade of Hongkong during the war, is believed to have been responsible for the mishap to HMAS Strahan engaged in anti-piracy patrol in the vicinity of Cheungchau Island on Wednesday.
Her skipper, Lieutenant Burns, RNR, of Sydney and her crew, are still congratulating themselves on the stoutness of the corvette, the fact that the mine and Strahan were in 12 fathoms of water and that casualties and damage were as light as they were.
The explosion occurred right under her stern, lifted her bodily out of the water, turned the wardroom aft into a shambles, twisted her bulkheads, buckled plates, soused all lights, wrecked the engines and rudder, and yet let the sweeper off with scarcely a leak in her hull.
Eight casualties occurred but only four were at all serious, the others suffering principally from shock. The worst injuries are a badly damaged ankle and a strained back.
The explosion occurred as the officers completed breakfast. Food flew off the table, jam was splattered everywhere, the table hit the deck overhead, a case of brandy went with the wind tantalising the nostrils 24 hours after – there was a general shambles.
“He spluttered”. Funniest incident occurred when one of the crew cleaning up the mess, found, amidst the confusion of broken crockery etc. a set of false teeth.
It was not until he began to make investigation into their ownership, that he suddenly realised they were his own. He had lost them in the blast without knowing anything about it.
Yesterday, tied up alongside HMS Resource awaiting further orders, HMAS Strahan was already so shipshape that, without close scrutiny, it was difficult to tell how narrowly she had escaped inclusion among the casualties of war.
Extract Corvette January 2003
HMAS Strahan and the mines in Hong Kong
The article in the October issue about the mine which exploded under HMAS Strahan has by an odd coincidence brought an article which was published in the Dubbo Liberal in October. The material for the article was provided by Bill McBurney who was on the Strahan when the mine exploded. The article relates, in part:
A chance conversation during a game of golf has brought to light the extraordinary and coincidental experiences of two Australian servicemen in Hong Kong during World War 11. Bill McBurney discovered his golfing partner Max Craig and a few of his mates were responsible for laying the mines the blew up the Strahan.
The incident was reported in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Times under the headlines "American mine blows up Strahan." The news report suggested the explosion that crippled the ship was believed to have been caused by an American magnetic mine placed in the harbour by allied aircraft.
The Strahan had joined a British force to enter Hong Kong after the Japanese surrender. We assisted in sweeping a channel for larger ships to enter the harbour. In the weeks prior to the ship exploding the mine we had been rounding up pockets of Japanese who had not surrendered, we also were engaged in anti-piracy patrols. The clay before a number of us had gone ashore at Cheungchau Island after a raid by pirates. The pirates were well armed and in large force, so we returned to Hong Kong to get some Thompson sub machine guns. We were on our way back next morning when we exploded the mine.
There was some irony in being disabled by a magnetic mine, as destruction of magnetic mines was our role in minesweeping. We were supposed to be protected against magnetic mines by degaussing gear which reduced the magnetic effect of the steel ship.
The Americans had developed mines with new technology, to counter the effect of degaussing. The ships hull held together , a credit to the NSW State Dockyard, but there was extensive damage to the engines and other systems, she was dead in the water.
One of Bill's duties was coxswain of the motor boat, which was now lowered to take a line from another corvette coming in to tow the Strahan. Bill said "I well remember feeling a bit vulnerable in this open boat with the possibility that the ship coming in might set off another mine. I had luckily survived the sinking of HMAS Canberra and saw some action on the Australia and was hoping to survive the long awaited peace."
Bill survived of course, but the end of his story came when he met Max Craig and learned about the allied aircraft responsible for laying the mines in Hong Kong harbour. Max was a tail gunner in a Catalina flying boat in the number 20 squadron of the RAAF. He told Bill of several trips they made at night from the Philippines to Hong Kong and back.
The Americans wanted to mine the approaches to Hong Kong but they were notoriously hopeless at night navigation, so they asked the RAAF to do the job. Bill told his new mate Max that "they did a good job as it was an American mine that blew them out of the water". Max replied that" it would have been one of ours for sure, as we were the only ones who laid them".
Because the newspaper report stated they were American mines and laid by allied aircraft everyone on the Strahan assumed it was the Americans. That slight adjustment to history was very interesting to me and would be to other ex Strahan sailors.
Extract from Corvette Magazine January 1990
HMAS STRAHAN Association
The fourth Annual reunion at Canberra on 24-26 October, was, report Paul Keogh, an outstanding success and proceeded without a hitch. On Tuesday the party broke into two groups, one wining and dining at the Ainslie Football Club and the other at the Plim’s Hotel.
On Wednesday a coach tour, covering many interesting places occupied the day. At night all dined at the Ainslie Football Club.
Thursday morning saw them all at the Australian War Memorial for the wreath-laying memorial service which proceeded under the guidance of the Director of the War Memorial. The Naval Chaplain of the area officiated. The renditions of the Last Post and Reveille were magnificent. Strahan’s banner was raised on high by Merv Randall and Howard Halsted. Paul Keogh, Ron McColl and the President of the Canberra Sub-Section of the Naval Association comprised the wreath-laying party. It was a most impressive ceremony.
On Thursday evening the Reunion Dinner was held at Plim’s Hotel. Paul notes that the stories of certain escapades of 45 years ago become more exciting each year as they are retold.
All hands vowed to meet again, in Sydney, during 1990.
Corvette issue May 2020
A WELCOME FOR RETURNING HEROES
The end of the Second World War was welcomed throughout Australia and celebrated in many ways. The town of Strahan in Tasmania celebrated with a visit by the warship named after the town, the Bathurst class corvette, HMAS Strahan. Steaming in through what is reputed to be one of the trickiest harbour entries in Australia, with flags flying, Strahan’s arrival at 9 am, on the 14th of November 1945, was a historic occasion, for which the ship had been freshly painted. The cliffs above the wharf were lined with school children and the streets were decked out in red, white & blue. It was a welcome for returning heroes!
The visit by HMAS Strahan was in response to a letter sent by the Strahan Municipal Council, requesting that the ship visit her namesake town at the convenience of the Royal Australian Navy. A programme was worked out for the entire stay and everyone did their utmost to give the crew the best time possible, with a rodeo, a barbeque, dinners and three ballroom dances. All was provided through donations of time and resources, and a fund which had been set up to honour the ship’s crew.
The programme also included a march in Queenstown on Friday and a march on Monday with armed guard, after which HMAS Strahan made an official presentation of a Japanese 55 mm field gun & Japanese flag, the latter signed by the entire ship’s company. These items were from a “surrender” ceremony conducted by HMAS Strahan on 5 September 1945 in Namchou Bay, Portoi Island, near Hong Kong Island.
HMAS Strahan escorted vessels between Australia and the Philippines across the Pacific Ocean. On 26 September 1945 HMAS Strahan was on an anti-piracy patrol at Hong Kong and was damaged by a magnetic mine. The mine exploded in 22 m under the wardroom flat (aft) and slightly to port. There were four casualties, but none were serious. With her main engines and steering gear out of action she was towed back to harbour by HMAS Wagga and the RN Fleet Tug Integrity. HMAS Strahan only suffered minor damage that could be repaired locally and as such was the first ship to be put into the dry dock in Kowloon Harbour for repairs. HMAS Castlemaine, presently docked at Gem Pier, Williamstown, VIC, was assigned to accompany Strahan as far as Thursday Island on the journey back to Sydney.
A noteworthy crew member was Chief Stoker Percy Collins, who was one of only two Australian sailors to be awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Service Medal. He was awarded the DSM for service in HMAS Napier off Crete in 1941, and the Bar for service in HMAS Strahan in the Pacific in 1945.
A 75th Anniversary Remembrance is being planned for 15 November 2020. We hope the current restrictions to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus will no longer be necessary by then, and up-dates for the Remembrance will be provided as events unfold. Among the visitors hoping to be present for the occasion will be the War Widows Guild, Australia, including the widow of a member of the crew, (then) Midshipman David A. Whiteman.
For more information, contact: Jan Grosvenor, War Widows Guild, SA Inc
jan.gr8@gmail.com, wwgsa@adam.com.au, mob 0457 453 440
Midshipman David A Whiteman Strahan, TAS Nov 1945
Presentation of captured Japanese flag to Strahan Municipal Council
19 November 1945
Courtesy son of telegraphist T. Black