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| RAN Bathurst-class corvette 650 Tons (standard) 1,025 Tons (full) 186' x 31' x 8.5' 1 x 12 pound gun 3 x Oerlikons (Replaced by a 40mm) Machine Guns Depth Charges  USN August 16, 1942 |
Ship History Built by Poole & Steel at Balmain, New South Wales. Laid down on September 9, 1940 as a Bathurst-class corvette. Launched April 16, 1941 as HMAS Katoomba (J204) by Mrs. Lloyd, then deputy mayoress of Katoomba. Commissioned December 17, 1941 in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Wartime History On December 19, 1941 arrived at Darwin Harbor and the next day with HMAS Deloraine, HMAS Lithgow and USS Edsall (DD-219), pursued and sank Japanese submarine I-124, the first enemy submarine sunk off Australia. On February 19, 1942 Katoomba was anchored in Darwin Harbor when Japanese aircraft attacked, but was not significantly damaged during the raid. At the end of June, Katoomba was assigned to convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol off northern Queensland and New Guinea. On August 14, Katoomba was sent to assist SS-144 (S-39) grounded on a reef off Rossel Island (Yela), arriving the next day. Attempts to refloat the submarine were unsuccessful, and on August 16 the crew were rescued aboard Katoomba's lifeboats over three trips and taken aboard. The entire crew of 47 were transported to Townsville. On November 28, 1942 Katoomba and HMAS Ballarat were attacked by ten Japanese dive bombers, but escaped without serious damage. During January 1943 while escorting Dutch merchant ship Van Heutz, attacked by six Japanese aircraft. Katoomba escaped serious damage, but the merchantman was hit, with one man killed and three injured. During February 1944, Katoomba ended her escort duties and was sent to Sydney for refit then returned to New Guinea during early May 1944 as an anti-submarine ship until March 1945, also serving as an escort ship. Then operated from Fremantle and Darwin until the end of the war. At the end of the Pacific War, Katoomba was sent to Timor for the Japanese surrender. Afterwards, performed mine-clearance duties in New Guinea. On October 13, 1945 at Boram Bay the first troops from the Australian Army 6th Division embarked aboard Katoomba to depart the Wewak area. During October 1946 returned to Sydney and prepared for decommissioning, but was reactivated to clear the Queensland coast of mines. For her wartime service, Katoomba received three battle honors: "Darwin 1942", "Pacific 1942-45" and "New Guinea 1942-44". Postwar On January 16, 1948 arrived at Fremantle. On August 2, 1948 and placed into reserve duty. On May 2, 1957 sold to Hong Kong Rolling Mills for scap and broken up in Hong Kong. Memorials Katoomba is recognized on a memorial plaque In memory of those who served HMA Ships [location unknown] dedicated by the RAN Corvette Associations of Australia in recognition of each of the 56 Australian built Second World War RAN corvettes. References Royal Australian Navy - HMAS Katoomba Contribute
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