HMAS Armidale (J240)
.jpg) HMAS Armidale in Port Moresby Harbour, September 1942
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| History | |
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 Australia
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| Namesake: | City of Armidale, New South Wales |
| Builder: | Morts Dock & Engineering Co in Sydney |
| Laid down: | 1 September 1941 |
| Launched: | Floated 24 January 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 11 June 1942 |
| Motto: | "Stand Firm" |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sunk by Japanese aircraft, 1 December 1942 |
| Badge: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Bathurst-class corvette |
| Displacement: | 650 long tons (660 t) (standard), 1,025 long tons (1,041 t) (full war load) |
| Length: | 186 ft (57 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draught: | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) at 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: |
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HMAS Armidale (J240), named for the city of Armidale, New South Wales, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Launched in early 1942, and initially assigned to convoy escort duties, Armidale was transferred to Darwin in October 1942. The corvette was attacked and sunk off Betano Bay (9°9′52″S 125°43′30″E / 9.16444°S 125.72500°ECoordinates: 9°9′52″S 125°43′30″E / 9.16444°S 125.72500°E), on the south coast of Portuguese Timor, (now East Timor) by 13 Japanese aircraft on 1 December 1942, while attempting to evacuate Australian and Dutch soldiers and deliver a relief contingent. She was the only Bathurst-class corvette to be lost to enemy action.
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. The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), and a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) 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 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) top speed, and a range of 2,850 nautical miles (5,280 km; 3,280 mi), 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. Construction of the prototype HMAS Kangaroo did not go ahead, but the plans were retained. 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 Armidale) ordered by the RAN, 20 ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.
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