HMAS Colac (J242/M05), named for the town of Colac, Victoria

Colac, Victoria

Colac is a small city located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, situated approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac and the surrounding volcanic plains, approximately 40 km inland from Bass Strait. Colac is the largest city in and...

, was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes

Bathurst class corvette

The Bathurst class corvettes were a class of general purpose vessels produced in Australia during World War II. Originally classified as minesweepers, but widely referred to as corvettes, the Bathurst class vessels fulfilled a broad anti-submarine, anti-mine, and convoy escort role.Sixty Bathurst...

 constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN).

Construction

Colac was laid down by Mort's Dock and Engineering Company at Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 on 18 April 1941. She was launched on 30 August 1941 by Miss M. Heady, senior lady on the staff of Morts Dock and Engineering, and commissioned into the RAN on 6 January 1942.

The ship was originally to be named HMAS Hamilton.

World War II

After entering service, Colac was assigned as an anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort vessel, operating between Townsville and New Guinea. This continued until December 1942, when Colac and sister ships Ballarat

HMAS Ballarat (J184)

HMAS Ballarat , named for the city of Ballarat, Victoria, 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 .-Construction:Ballarat was laid down by HMA Naval...

 and Broome were ordered to support the Allied efforts to recapture Buna-Gona

Battle of Buna-Gona

The Battle of Buna–Gona was a battle in the New Guinea campaign, a major part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. On 16 November 1942, Australian and United States forces attacked the main Japanese beachheads in New Guinea, at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. Both forces were riddled by disease and...

 by embarking 762 Australian soldiers and delivering them as far into the Japanese-occupied Oro Province

Oro Province

Oro Province, formerly Northern Province, is a coastal province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Popondetta. The province covers 22,800 km², and has 133,065 inhabitants ....

 of Papua New Guinea as possible. The first attempt, early on 14 December, saw 46 soldiers landed at Cape Sudest

Cape Sudest

Cape Sudest is a Cape in Papua New Guinea, next to Oro Bay. There was an important U.S military base there in World War II. It was situated in Oro Province, about a mile south of Harigo....

 before the three corvettes were attacked by Japanese aircraft and forced to withdraw. That night, under the cover of darkness, the remaining troops were landed nearby. Throughout December, Colac was involved in three similar troop deployments, and later took part in Operation Lilliput

Operation Lilliput

Operation Lilliput was the name given to a convoy operation that transported troops, weapons, and supplies from Milne Bay to Oro Bay, New Guinea between December 1942 and June 1943 during World War II....

; the reinforcement and supply of the captured area.

In March 1943, Colac and Ballarat were reassigned to convoy escort duty along the east coast of Australia. On 26 April, a five-ship convoy escorted by the two corvettes was attacked by Japanese submarine I-177

Japanese submarine I-177

Japanese Submarine I-177 was a Japanese KD7 type that saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. I-177 was commissioned on 28 December 1942 and was sunk by on 3 October 1944 with the loss of her entire crew of 101 sailors...

 off Cape Byron

Cape Byron

Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia. It is located about northeast of the town of Byron Bay and projects into the Pacific Ocean...

. The MV Limerick was torpedoed and sunk, with all but two of the crew rescued by Colac. I-177 escaped unharmed. In July, Colac was instructed to begin escorting convoys between Australia and New Guinea, before returning to east coast convoys at the start of 1944, then undergoing a refit.

In April 1944, Colac was assigned to escort and patrol duties in New Guinea waters, which continued until April 1945, when the corvette was one of four RAN ships providing gunfire support for operations in the Wewak

Wewak

Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is located on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak....

 area. In mid-May, Colac was assigned to harass Japanese bases in the Solomon Islands area. On 26 May, the ship suffered her first casualties of the war, two hits from Japanese shore batteries killed two sailers, wounded two others, and holed Colac at the waterline. The corvette jettisoned stores, her depth charge payload, and replaceable pieces of equipment to avoid sinking and escape, and later limped to the Treasury Islands

Treasury Islands

Treasury Islands are a small group of islands a few kilometers to the south of Bougainville and 24 kilometers from the Shortland Islands. They form part of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. The two largest islands in the Treasuries are Mono Island and the smaller Stirling Island...

 under tow for repairs. Temporary repairs were made to allow Colac to sail to New Guinea and then to Sydney, where she arrived on 18 June and entered dock for repairs. Colac was still under repair when World War II ended, and she was paid off into reserve on 27 November 1945.

The corvette was awarded two battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....

s for her wartime service: "Pacific 1942-45" and "New Guinea 1942-44".

Training ship

On 20 February 1951, Colac was recommissioned for use as a training ship for National Service trainees.

Decommissioning and fate

Colac was returned to reserve on 30 January 1953. In 1962, the ship was converted into a tank cleaning vessel, and served in this role until 30 September 1983. Colac was not recommissioned during this time.

On 4 March 1987, Colac was sunk by a Mark 48 torpedo

Mark 48 torpedo

The Mark 48 and its improved ADCAP variant are heavyweight submarine-launched torpedoes. They were designed to sink fast, deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships.-History:...

 fired by the submarine HMAS Ovens

HMAS Ovens

HMAS Ovens is an Oberon class submarine formerly of the Royal Australian Navy which is now preserved as a museum ship.-Design and construction:...

in a weapons test. The corvette sank at 34°49.2′S 151°32′E.