HMAS Goolgwai

HMAS Goolgwai was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was launched in 1919 by Collingwood Shipbuilding Company at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada as Almeria. The ship operated in Australian waters from 1928, and was requisitioned by the RAN on 3 September 1939. She was returned to her owners in 1945[3] before being wrecked near Malabar, Sydney on 29 May 1955.

See also: HMAS Durraween

History
Name:
  • Almeria
  • Goolgwai[1]
Owner: Red Funnel Fisheries Ltd (1928–1939)
Builder: Kingston Shipyards, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Collingwood Shipbuilding Company
Laid down: 1918
Launched: 1919
Acquired: 1928
Fate: 1939 requisitioned by Navy
History
Royal Australian Navy
Name: HMAS Goolgwai
Commissioned: 6 October 1939
Decommissioned: 1945
History
Owner: Red Funnel Trawler Pty Ltd
Fate: ran aground, Malabar 1955
General characteristics
Tonnage: 273 gross tonnage[2]
Length: 125.7 ft (38 m)[2]
Beam: 23.5 ft (7 m)[2]
Depth: 12.7 ft (4 m)[2]
Armament:

Operational history

Commissioned by the Admiralty near the end of World War One, she was laid down at the Kingston Shipyards in 1918 and completed by the Collingwood Shipbuilding Company, where she was launched in 1919.[4]

Goolgwai was purchased by the Red Funnell Trawler Pty Ltd and sailed from Fleetwood, England to Sydney, Australia in 1928.[2] On 3 September 1939, Goolgwai was requisitioned by the RAN for use as an auxiliary and commissioned on 6 October 1939.

During the war, Goolgwai was based initially in Sydney with Minesweeping Group 50 and operated along the New South Wales coastline before later operating in the Cape York/Thursday Island region. She was returned to her owners in November 1945.

On 29 May 1955, Goolgwai was wrecked after hitting rocks near Malabar, Sydney.[5][6]

Citations
  1. "Details of the Ship". Plimsoll ShipData. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  2. "Lloyds Register" (PDF). Plimsoll ShipData.
  3. "H.M.A.S. Adelaide Paying Off". The Age (28, 253). Victoria, Australia. 10 November 1945. p. 2 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "S.T. Almeria FD117". The Bosun’s Watch.
  5. "View Shipwreck – Goolgwai". Australian National Shipwreck Database. Aust Govt.
  6. "Owners Abandon Trawler". The Canberra Times. 29 (8, 550). 31 May 1955. p. 1 – via National Library of Australia.
    "Grounded trawler is doomed". The Argus. 31 May 1955. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
    "S.T. Almeria FD117". The Bosun's Watch. with pictures

References


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