page_title: Bathurst-class corvette
section_title: Post-war
hierarchical_section_title: Bathurst-class corvette / Operational history / Post-war
caption_attribution_description: Australian Bathurst class corvette HMAS Warrnambool sinking after striking a mine on 13 September 1947
context_page_description: The Bathurst-class corvettes were a class of general purpose vessels designed and built 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.
  A total of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes were built, at eight Australian shipyards: 36 were paid for by the Australian government and 20 were built on British Admiralty orders. Of these UK-owned vessels, 20 were officially commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy, and manned by RAN personnel, while four served in the Royal Indian Navy; none of the UK-owned vessels was commissioned into the Royal Navy. An order for three more Bathursts, to be constructed in India, was cancelled before they were laid down.
  Although the Bathursts were designed for the anti-submarine and anti-mine roles, they also served as troop and supply transports, provided air defence for convoys and disabled ships, participated in shore bombardments, and undertook hydrographic surveys. Three ships were lost during the war: one to an air attack and two to collisions with friendly merchant ships.
context_section_description: After the war, the 20 Admiralty-owned vessels were disposed of; five to the Turkish Navy, eight to the Royal Netherlands Navy, and one to China, with the rest converted and sold for civilian use or broken up for scrap. Four of the Dutch Bathursts were later sold on to the Indonesian Navy. One of these, HMAS Ipswich, renamed KRI Hang Tuah, was bombed and sunk on 28 April 1958 by a CIA-operated Douglas B-26 Invader operating in support of Permesta rebels opposed to the Guided Democracy in Indonesia established the previous year.
  Of the 33 surviving RAN vessels, twelve were formed into the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla and tasked with clearing minefields deployed during the war in the waters of Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomons. HMAS Warrnambool was sunk by an Australian mine in the Great Barrier Reef in September 1947. Several ships were also used to transport soldiers and liberated prisoners of war. The corvettes were then placed in operational reserve, with the intention that they be reactivated for escort work in the event of another war or international crisis. Most were sold off during the 1950s, including four to the Royal New Zealand Navy, to help offset the cost of acquiring and operating two aircraft carriers. Four corvettes (Colac, Cowra, Gladstone, and Latrobe) were recommissioned in 1951 as training vessels for the National Service Program. Junee was reactivated in 1953 for the same purpose. The RAN component of the program ended in 1957.
  The last ship to leave RAN service was HMAS Wagga on 28 October 1960. The gradual loss of minesweeping-capable ships was not rectified until late 1962, when the RAN purchased six Ton-class minesweepers from the Royal Navy.
  The 56 corvettes commissioned as Australian vessels travelled a combined total of 6,700,000 nautical miles (12,400,000 km; 7,700,000 mi) during their service with the RAN. A total of 83 personnel were killed in service across the entire service life of the class.
caption: HMAS Warrnambool sinking after she struck a mine on 13 September 1947
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