HMAS Arunta (I30)

HMAS Arunta during World War II
History
Australia
Namesake:	The Arrernte people
Builder:	Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company
Laid down:	15 November 1939
Launched:	30 November/1 December 1940
Commissioned:	30 March 1942
Decommissioned:	21 December 1956
Motto:	"Conquer or Die"
Honours and awards:	Battle honours Pacific 1942–45 New Guinea 1942–44 Leyte Gulf 1944 Lingayen Gulf 1945 Borneo 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrap in 1968, sank while under tow in 1969
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tribal-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,990 tons (at launch) 2,122 tons (1945 refit)
Length:	377 ft 1 in (114.94 m) overall 355 ft 6 in (108.36 m) between perpendiculars
Beam:	36 ft 4.75 in (11.0935 m)
Draught:	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion:	Parsons geared turbines, twin screws. 44,000 horsepower
Speed:	36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Complement:	12 officers, 178 sailors (initial) 13 officers, 247 sailors (later)
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar: SG1 SG4 285P4 253P
Armament:	At launch: 6 × QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) Mk XII guns (3 twin turrets) 2 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk XVI anti-aircraft guns (1 twin turret) 6 × 20-millimetre (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns 1 × 2-pounder (40-mm) quadruple pom pom 1 × 4-tube 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo launcher (4 torpedoes) 2 × depth charge throwers (46 charges) 1945 refit: All Oerlikons removed 6 × 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns installed 1949 modernisation: 2 × 4.7-in guns (1 turret) removed All depth charge throwers removed Quadruple pom pom removed 2 × 40 mm Bofors (1 twin mounting) installed 1 × Squid anti-submarine mortar installed
Notes:	Taken from:

HMAS Arunta (I30/D5/D130) was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Named for the Arrernte Aborigines, the destroyer was laid down in 1939 and commissioned into the RAN in 1942.

Arunta fought during the second half of World War II; initially as a convoy escort and patrol ship, then in the shore bombardment and amphibious landing support roles while attached to the United States 7th Fleet. During the war, she was responsible for sinking Japanese submarine RO-33 off Port Moresby on 24 August 1942, and earned five battle honours (one of which was later rescinded). After the war's end, Arunta underwent two deployments to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force.

The ship underwent a lengthy modernisation from 1949 to 1952, and was reclassified as an anti-submarine destroyer. After conversion, Arunta served in Korean waters after the Korean War armistice, and was one of the first Australian warships assigned to the Far East Strategic Reserve.

Arunta was paid off into operational reserve at the end of 1956, where she remained for twelve years. In 1968, the destroyer was sold for scrap, but was never broken up, instead sinking while under tow off Broken Bay on 13 February 1969.

Arunta, named for the Arrernte Aborigines, was ordered by the Naval Board January 1939 and laid down by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company Limited at Sydney in New South Wales on 15 November 1939. She was the first of three Australian Tribal class destroyers.