HMAS Ipswich (J186)

{{main|Bathurst-class corvette}}

In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate.Stevens, The Australian Corvettes, p. 1Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 103 The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}, and a range of {{convert|2000|nmi|lk=in}}Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–4 The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled {{sclass2|Bar|boom defence vessel|1}} saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a {{convert|15.5|kn}} top speed, and a range of {{convert|2850|nmi}}, armed with a {{convert|4|in|adj=on|0}} gun, equipped with asdic, and able to fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–5 Construction of the prototype {{HMAS|Kangaroo}} did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 104 The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including Ipswich) ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 105, 148Donohue, From Empire Defence to the Long Haul, p. 29Stevens et al., The Royal Australian Navy, p. 108

Ipswich was laid down by Evans Deakin & Co at Brisbane in Queensland on 6 March 1941. She was launched on 11 August 1941 by Evelyn Foll, wife of the Minister for the Interior Harry Foll, and commissioned on 13 June 1942.

Ipswich was employed from commissioning until 3 November 1942 as a convoy escort in Australian waters. From 3 November 1942 until 21 January 1945, Ipswich was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet, primarily serving in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, but spending May to October 1943 in the Mediterranean. During this time, Ipswich was credited with shooting down a twin-engined bomber near Syracuse on 25 July 1943, and on 11 February 1944 worked with {{HMAS|Launceston|J179|6}} and {{HMIS|Jumna|U21|6}} to sink the {{Jsub|Ro-110}}.

Upon leaving the British Eastern Fleet, Ipswich returned to Australia, where she was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet. Ipswich was present in Tokyo Bay on Victory over Japan Day (2 September 1945), when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed.{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq69-2.htm|title=Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945|access-date=13 January 2007|date=27 May 2005|publisher=Naval Historical Center – U.S. Navy|quote=Taken from Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPAC/CINCPOA) A16-3/FF12 Serial 0395, 11 February 1946: Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991008061542/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq69-2.htm|archive-date=8 October 1999|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Ipswich earned five battle honours for her wartime service: "Pacific 1942", "Indian Ocean 1942–45", "Sicily 1943", "East Indies 1944", and "Okinawa 1945".{{cite news |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |title=Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours |date=1 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613184920/http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |archive-date=13 June 2011 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=23 December 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |title=Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours |date=1 March 2010 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614064156/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2011 |access-date=23 December 2012}}

Ipswich paid off from RAN service on 5 July 1946 and was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy and renamed HNLMS Morotai.

Morotai was transferred to the Indonesian Navy in 1949 and renamed KRI Hang Tuah. On 28 April 1958 a Douglas B-26 Invader aircraft, painted black and showing no markings,{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=88}} bombed and sank her off Balikpapan in southern Borneo.{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=116}} 18 crew were killed and another 28 were wounded.{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=116}}

The B-26's co-pilot was Colonel Muharto{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=116}} of the Permesta rebel movement's AUREV insurgent air force but the aircraft, its ammunition and pilot were supplied by the CIA{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=89}} as part of an insurgency to destabilise President Sukarno's government. The pilot was William H. Beale, a former United States Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel then employed by a Taiwan-based CIA front organisation, Civil Air Transport.{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|pp=99–100}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Conboy |first1=Kenneth |last2=Morrison |first2=James |year=1999 |title=Feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958 |location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=1-55750-193-9 }}
• {{cite book |last=Donohue |first=Hector |title=From Empire Defence to the Long Haul: post-war defence policy and its impact on naval force structure planning 1945–1955 |series=Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs |volume=1 |date=October 1996 |publisher=Sea Power Centre |location=Canberra |isbn=0-642-25907-0 |issn=1327-5658 |oclc=36817771}}
• {{cite book |last=Stevens |first=David |title=A Critical Vulnerability: the impact of the submarine threat on Australia's maritime defense 1915–1954 |series=Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs |volume=15 |year=2005 |publisher=Sea Power Centre Australia |location=Canberra |isbn=0-642-29625-1 |oclc=62548623 |issn=1327-5658}}
• {{cite book |author=Stevens, David |author2=Sears, Jason|author3= Goldrick, James|author4= Cooper, Alastair|author5= Jones, Peter|author6= Spurling, Kathryn |editor=Stevens, David |title=The Royal Australian Navy |series=The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III) |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=South Melbourne, VIC |isbn=0-19-554116-2 |oclc=50418095}}

• {{cite journal |last=Stevens |first=David |date=May 2010 |title=The Australian Corvettes |journal=Hindsight (Semaphore) |publisher=Sea Power Centre – Australia |volume=2010 |issue=5 |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Semaphore_2010_5.pdf |access-date=13 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320183407/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Semaphore_2010_5.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

{{Bathurst class corvette|others}}

{{1958 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ipswich (J186)}}

Category:Bathurst-class corvettes of the Royal Australian Navy

Category:Ships built in Queensland

Category:1941 ships

Category:World War II corvettes of Australia

Category:Bathurst-class corvettes of the Indonesian Navy

Category:Corvettes sunk by aircraft

Category:Maritime incidents in 1958

Category:Maritime incidents in Indonesia

Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft