RANCA NSW
HMAS GOULBURN J167
Namesake: City of Goulburn, NSW
Builder: Cockatoo Island Dockyard
Laid down: 10 July 1940
Launched: 16 November 1940
Commissioned: 28 February 1941
Decommissioned: 27 September 1946
Battle honours
Pacific 1942–44
New Guinea 1942–44
Fate:
Sold for scrap in 1947
Displacement: 743 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, 1,750 hp
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h;
17 mph) at 1,750 hp
Complement: 85
Armament: 1 × 4-inch gun,
3 × Oerlikons,
2 × Lewis 303
2 × Vickers 303
Depth charges chutes
and throwers
Extract from Corvette magazine 1989
Letter from Jack Morrison ex Goulburn says ………
“Corvette” awakened many memories of my time in the RAN. During the 18 months I spent in Goulburn I received nothing but kindness and consideration from all the lads, and I needed their help! When I arrived on board in Singapore my only possessions were the clothes I stood in and a blanket. Uniforms and pay were not the “in” thing at that time. I wasn’t kitted out until we reached Adelaide.
I bought a pair of shoes in Perth at about 7/6 d. They came with a built-in squeak. As you know the captain’s cabin was under the bridge and this damn squeak so annoyed the Skipper that ordered me not to wear them during the night watches. I had to borrow a pair of shoes for the cold crossing the Bight.
There I go – half a chance and those silly wee memories come flooding out. After all these 46 years, I still have contact with Allan Hopkins and with Norman McGow……………… Say “hello” to the Goulburn lads…………..
Extract Corvette Magazine 1991
HMAS GOULBURN on 11 December 1941 intercepted and boarded the Japanese fish carrier KOFUKU MARU off Malaya. The boarding party, in a journey in which they were outnumbered 4 to 1 by the Japanese crew, successfully delivered their prize to our forces at Singapore.
KOFUKU MARU, renamed KRAIT, operated by the Services Reconnaissance Department and crewed by RAN, later achieved fame for its audacious and successful raid on Japanese Shipping at Singapore. KRAIT is now preserved at the Maritime Museum maintenance depot in Berrys Bay, Sydney.