HMAS Cowra
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HMAS Cowra in 1944
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia
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| Namesake: | Town of Cowra, New South Wales |
| Builder: | Poole & Steel |
| Laid down: | 12 August 1942 |
| Launched: | 27 May 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 8 October 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 December 1946 |
| History | |
| Recommissioned: | 20 February 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 26 June 1953 |
| Reclassified: | Training ship (1951) |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sold for scrap in 1961 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Bathurst-class corvette |
| Displacement: | 650 tons (standard), 1,025 tons (full war load) |
| Length: | 186 ft (57 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draught: | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | triple expansion engine, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: | |
HMAS Cowra (J351/M351), named for the town of Cowra, 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).
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 Cowra) 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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