HMAS Coogee

HMAS Coogee was a passenger ferry that briefly served as a Royal Australian Navy armed patrol vessel and minesweeper in the latter part of the First World War. She was launched in 1887 and scuttled in 1928.

History
Name:
  • Lancashire Witch (1887–88)
  • Coogee (1888–1928)
Owner:
  • New IoM Steam Nav Co (1887–88)
  • Huddart Parker (1888–1927)
  • G Allen (1927–28)
Operator:
Port of registry:
Builder: J.L. Thompson and Sons, Sunderland
Yard number: 224
Launched: 23 March 1887
Completed: 9 May 1887
Identification: UK official number 93722
Fate: Scrapped and hulk scuttled in 1928
General characteristics
Type: ferry
Tonnage: 762 GRT, 286 NRT
Length: 225.0 ft (68.6 m)
Beam: 30.2 ft (9.2 m)
Depth: 13.5 ft (4.1 m)
Installed power: 281 NHP
Propulsion:

History

J.L. Thompson and Sons built her at North Sands, Sunderland as Lancashire Witch, launching her on 23 March 1887 and completing her on 9 May. John Dickinson and Son of Monkwearmouth built her triple-expansion steam engines.[1]

The New Isle of Man Steam Navigation Company had ordered her to be a ferry between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. However, in 1888 Huddart Parker bought her, renamed her Coogee and registered her in Melbourne.[1]

On 20 May 1918 the Royal Australian Navy requisitioned Coogee and commissioned her as a minesweeper for the Bass Strait and as an armed patrol vessel. In 1919 the RAN returned her to her owners. In 1921 the Postmaster-General's Department chartered her to repair the Bass Strait cable.

Fate

In 1927 Huddart Parker sold Coogee for scrap. Her engines were removed and she was scuttled outside Port Phillip Bay in 1928 at 38°18′12″S 144°35′0″E.[2] The wreck is now a popular dive site.[3][4]

References
  1. "Lancashire Witch". Wear Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  2. Victorian Archaeological Survey, "SS Coogee (1887–1928)" (PDF), Dive Information Sheet, archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2011, retrieved 24 January 2012
  3. Department of Planning and Environment, "SS Coogee", Shipwreck dive sites, archived from the original on 28 March 2011, retrieved 24 January 2012
  4. Milowka, Agnes, My favorite Victorian shipwreck: The scuttled SS Coogee, archived from the original on 16 January 2013, retrieved 24 January 2012
  • Gillett, Ross (1986). Australia's navy: past, present & future. Brookvale, NSW: Child & Henry. ISBN 0-86777-178-X.
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