HMAS HDML 1321

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox ship begin}} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image=AWM P03953 004.jpg |Ship caption=Four of the crew members of Motor Launch (ML) 1321 and NX73110 Sapper (Spr) Edgar Thomas 'Mick' Dennis, Z Special Unit, the only survivor of the ill-fated raid on Muschu Island (off the coast of New Guinea), at Brisbane dockyard; May 1945 }} {{Infobox ship career |Ship country=Australia |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval}} |Ship namesake= |Ship yard number= |Ship builder=Purdon & Featherstone, Battery Point, Tasmania |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship commissioned=11 November 1943 |Ship renamed=HMAS Rushcutter, 1953 |Ship out of service=1970 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship fate=Sold into civilian service in August 1971, converted to pleasure craft, operational as at May 2016. |Ship status= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Ship class=Harbour Defence Motor Launch |Ship displacement=58 tons |Ship length= |Ship beam= |Ship draught= |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed= |Ship complement= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*37mm Vickers autocannon{{br}}Oerlikon 20 mm cannon{{br}}2 x .50 calibre machine guns{{br}}Bren light machine gun{{br}}Up to 8 depth charges |Ship notes= }}

HMAS HDML 1321, also known as Rushcutter was a 58-ton Harbour Defence Motor Launch (HMDL) of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Purdon & Featherstone, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania and commissioned into the RAN on 11 November 1943, being the first Australian-built HDML to be commissioned and the last HDML in RAN service.Gillett 1986, p. 37. She was assigned to Z Special Unit and delivered commandos for the 1945 ill-fated raid on Muschu Island.Dennis 2006, p. 54. She was later reclassified as a Seaward Defence Boat and put into reserve after the war. She was recommissioned as HMAS Rushcutter (ML 1321) in 1953 and used as an unarmed training vessel for the Royal Australian Naval Reserve and Australian Navy Cadets until 1970. Paid off in August 1971, she was converted to pleasure craft MV Rushcutter and is now based in Darwin.

Rushcutter was moved from its mooring in Cossack Creek to the Small Boat Anchorage between Stokes Hill Wharf and the East Arm Wharf in 2016 while it was being offered for sale. It sank there on 19 October 2016. The hull, without any significant deck or hull structures, was raised and landed in July 2018; the wreck was bought by the conservation group from the owner, Ms Geddes, for a nominal AU$2.{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-15/mv-rushcutter-floated-after-watery-demise-in-darwin-harbour/9996046|title=World War II boat rescued from watery resting place in Darwin Harbour|newspaper=ABC News|date=15 July 2018}}[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-15/mv-rushcutter-floated-after-watery-demise-in-darwin-harbour/9996046 MV Rushcutter: World War II boat rescued from watery resting place in Darwin Harbour], Felicity James, ABC News, 2018-07-16 In mid July 2018, it was refloated by using buoyancy assistance and pumps, then removed from the water for further preservation.