RANCA NSW
HMAS BATHURST J158
Namesake: City of Bathurst ,NSW
Builder: Cockatoo Island Dockyard
Laid down: 10 February 1940
Launched: 1 August 1940
Commissioned: 6 December 1940
Decommissioned: 27 September 1946
Motto: "Strike Hard"
Battle honours:
Indian Ocean 1942–44
Pacific 1945
Fate: Sold for scrap on 21 June 1948
Displacement: 733 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, 2,000 horsepower
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h;17 mph)
at 1,750 hp
Complement: 85
Armament: 1 × 12-pounder gun
2 × Oerlikons
1 × Bofors
Machine guns
Depth charges chutes & throwers
MFS20 HMAS Bathurst
Extract from Corvette magazine
The following letter was received from our member Ron Bagley:
“The articles on mine sweeping took me back to 1940/41 but once again no mention of HMAS Bathurst, Corvette No. 1. I have read several articles over the years and she has never been mentioned. Because Bathurst cut her teeth with minesweeping with MSF 20, I should like to correct this as follows:
06.12.40 - HMAS Bathurst commissioned
14.12.40 - Left Sydney for Melbourne via Westernport
19.12.40 - Anchored off Rosebud and Dromana in Port Phillip, prepared the minesweeping gear
including eye splicing the sweep wires. These are four stranded, including the especially
hardened cutting strand. All tucks required to be pulled through by block and tackle.
05.01.41 - Joined MSF20 – sweeping out from Hobart. In midsummer the days are 16 hours long and so the sweep deck duties are arduous.
10.01.41 - Melbourne until 15 January 41
15.01.41 - Sweeping off Wilsons Promontory until 5 February 41
05.02.41 - Left for Sydney sweeping on the way
10.02.41 - Sydney. Left MFS 20
In steaming order during this time, MFS20 consisted of Swan, Warrego, Bathurst, Doomba and Orara, the two coal burners being placed at the rear. In addition to the sweepers the little Dan Buoy layers like Tongkol, Samuel Benbow should not be forgotten.”