HMAS Strahan

{{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}}, and a range of {{convert|2000|nmi}}Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 103–4 The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel 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 4-inch 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||6}} 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 (including Strahan) ordered by the RAN, 20 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

Strahan was laid down by the State Dockyard at Newcastle, New South Wales on 9 October 1942. She was launched on 12 July 1943 by Mrs. J. J. Cahill, wife of the Minister for Public Works and Local Government, and commissioned into the RAN on 14 March 1944.

Strahan began her career in May 1944, arriving in New Guinea after completing trials to serve as an escort and anti-submarine vessel. In October 1944, Strahan was present in Morotai Harbour when the recently captured island was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The corvette was attacked by a dive-bomber, but was able to drive off the Japanese plane before she was damaged. The aircraft was then destroyed by an American Bofors shore installation, but there claims that Strahan{{'}}s 4-inch gun had seriously damaged the aircraft, and that it was in an uncontrollable dive when the Bofors blew it up.

In May 1945, Strahan travelled to Adelaide via Sydney, where she underwent a refit. Following this, she was immediate deployed back in New Guinea, and in June 1945 fired upon Japanese gun emplacements on Kairiru Island. In August, the corvette sank a Japanese supply craft off Tarakan, and captured three survivors.{{cite news |last=Morley |first=Dave |title=Strahan's stolen success |newspaper=Navy News |date=24 October 2013 |page=15}}

Following the end of World War II, Strahan was assigned to the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla in Hong Kong, and performed in minesweeping and anti-piracy patrols. On 26 September, an acoustic mine detonated under Strahan{{'}}s stern while the corvette was pursuing Chinese pirates. Her rudder was damaged, and she had to be towed into Hong Kong Harbour by sister ship {{HMAS|Wagga||2}}. She was repaired, and returned to Australia. In November, Strahan visited her namesake town. During the visit, a leading seaman drowned; the only casualty in the ship's life. Strahan was decommissioned into reserve in Sydney on 25 January 1946, having sailed almost {{convert|60,000|nmi}} in her two-year career.

The corvette received two battle honours for her wartime service: "Pacific 1944–45" and "New Guinea 1944".{{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 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613184920/http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |archivedate=13 June 2011 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |accessdate=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 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614064156/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |archivedate=14 June 2011 |accessdate=23 December 2012}}

Strahan was sold to the Kinoshita Australia company for scrap on 6 January 1961. She was broken up at Green Point in Sydney during March 1963.

{{reflist}}

;Books

• {{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}}

;Journal and news articles

• {{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 |accessdate=13 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320183407/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Semaphore_2010_5.pdf |archivedate=20 March 2011 }}

{{Commons category|J363 Strahan (ship, 1944)}}

{{Bathurst class corvette}}

{{Navbox shipwrecks of New South Wales|Scuttlednsw}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strahan}}

Category:Bathurst-class corvettes of the Royal Australian Navy

Category:Ships built in New South Wales

Category:1943 ships

Category:World War II corvettes of Australia