HMAS Kalgoorlie (J192/B245/A119), named for the city of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

, 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

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and one of 20 built for the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 but manned by personnel of and commissioned into 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

Kalgoorlie was laid down by Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd at Whyalla, South Australia

Whyalla, South Australia

-Demographics:According to the 2006 Census the population of the Whyalla census area was 21,122 people, making it the second largest urban area in the state outside of Adelaide...

 on 27 July 1940. She was launched on 7 August 1941 by the wife of Thomas Playford IV

Thomas Playford IV

Sir Thomas Playford, GCMG was a South Australian politician. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any elected government leader in the history of Australia. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and...

, then Premier of South Australia, and was commissioned into the RAN on 7 April 1942.

RAN service

After completing trials, Kalgoorlie was assigned as a convoy escort. Initially operating along the east coast of Sydney, the corvette was moved to Darwin in August 1942 and taken with convoys between Australia, Thursday Island, and Timor. On 25 September, Kalgoorlie and sister ship evacuated the ship's company of the destroyer , which had run aground at Betano Bay

Betano Bay

Betano is a village and suco in southwest of Manufahi District, East Timor. The Suco has 4,577 inhabitants .- History :Betano was a traditional Timorese kingdom in former times....

 two days before. In early December, Kalgoorlie was involved in the search for survivors from sister ship , which had been sunk by Japanese aircraft on 1 December. Kalgoorlie eventually recovered 49 of the survivors.

In April 1943, the corvette returned to the east coast of Australia, still operating as a convoy escort. On 15 June, a thirteen-ship convoy heading for Brisbane and escorted by Kalgoorlie and sister ships , , , and , was attacked off Smoky Cape

Smoky Cape

Smoky Cape is a headland in Australia on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast. It lies just east of the town of South West Rocks, and within the Hat Head National Park.- Cape :...

. The United States Army Transport Portmar and the US Navy Landing ship were torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-174

Japanese submarine I-174

Japanese submarine I-174 was a Kaidai class submarine operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy between 1938 and her sinking in 1944. She completed eight war patrols during the Pacific War. She attacked the Convoy GP55 on 16 June 1943. During her ninth war patrol she was sunk near Truk on 12 April...

: the former sinking in minutes with the loss of only two lives, while 26 were killed aboard the latter ship, which survived and was towed to port. Despite attempts to locate the submarine immiediately after the attack, and a multiple-day search performed by Kalgoorlie, I-174 escaped unharmed. This was the last submarine attack to be made on the east coast of Australia during World War II.

Kalgoorlie spent the first half of 1944 as a convoy escort between Queensland and New Guinea, then joined sister ship in clearing the minefields laid by throughout the Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...

 during the early part of the war. During August and September, the two corvettes located and destroyed almost 500 mines. Kalgoorlie spent the rest of the year on convoy escort duties, before joining the British Pacific Fleet

British Pacific Fleet

The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...

 at the end of 1944. The corvette operated with the Pacific Fleet until 15 July 1945, when she arrived in Brisbane for a refit. Kalgoorlie was still undergoing refit when the war ended. After the refit, the corvette operated in New Guinea and Australian waters until early May 1946.

The corvette was awarded four battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942-43", "Pacific 1942-43", "New Guinea 1943-44", and "Okinawa 1945".

RNN service

Kalgoorlie paid off on 8 May 1946, and was recommissioned on the same day into the Royal Netherlands Navy

Royal Netherlands Navy

The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

as HNLMS Ternate.