- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMAS Kangaroo in game.
Description:
HMAS Kangaroo was one of three Bar-class Boom defense vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War. All three were built in Australia pre-war as to assist in laying the large planned anti-submarine and anti-torpedo nets around Australian ports with the already existing Net-class ship then in RAN inventory.
Kangaroo had quite an odd procurement process, originally there were three Bar-class ordered with the vessels to lay A/S and A/T nets across Sydney, Darwin, and Fremantle, with one at each port. However it was decided that Fremantle did not need the A/T net, and as such the order dropped to two vessels.
At the same time the local ASW school needed a tender for local defense, itself being immobile, so the third planned Bar-class, Kangaroo, was planned to become the prototype vessel for a type of a local defense ship, with lessons from her improving future small ASW warship shipbuilding plans. This prototype design was planned to have two 4" guns, ASDIC, DCs, a displacement of 680t, and a range of 2850nmi. Design work was completed in 1938, unfortunately, a signal from London advised the Australian Admiralty that four BDV (3x Bar-class, and 1x Net-class) were recommended, as to ensure that each port could have one at all times.
This would result in the canning of the prototype local defense vessel, as the budget could not allow for an extra ship to be built. Because of this the Kangaroo would be eventually ordered as a Bar-class. The plans for the prototype vessel were kept, and were used to develop the famous Bathurst-class corvettes.
This suggestion is for her fit at the end of the war in 1945.
History:
Kangaroo would be laid down on the 15th of November 1939 by the Cockatoo Docks & Engineering company, Sydney, Australia. She would launch on the 4th of May 1940, and would fit and out and commission on the 27th of September 1940. She would spend the remainder of 1940 working up and exercising around Sydney, finally moving to her operational area of Darwin on the 13th of January 1941.
Once she was operating around Darwin, she would mostly be engaged in laying A/T and A/S nets around Darwin Harbour, in addition to these duties she would also perform inspections for local vessels.
Her life in this area would be uninteresting, mostly consisting of simple tasks with no incidents. However, during the Japanese bombings of Darwin in February of 1942, she would suffer damage from a bomb near miss, causing one casualty and splinter damage to her hull. During repairs in Brisbane, she would gain two 20mm Oerlikon cannons and limited minesweeping gear. These repairs would take place between April to May 1942, and she would return to Darwin on the 5th of June that year.
She would make one voyage outside of this area during her operations in the Second World War, sailing with the fleet to Timor in September 1945, for the surrender of the Japanese forces in that area.
From September 1946 she would be in a midlife refit at Sydney, then from 1948 would operate with the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla out of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. From here she would partake in minesweeping operations in addition to other duties, again her service in this area, although quite useful and productive, would be uneventful.
She would pay off in Sydney on the 15th of December 1955 into the reserve. She would be sold for scrap on the 28th of August 1967, as her equipment were completely obsolete by this time, being broken up in 1968.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: HMAS Kangaroo | |||||
| Country: Australia | |||||
| Type: Boom Defense | |||||
| Class name: Bar | |||||
| Year of commission: 1940 | |||||
| Refit: 1945 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 178 ft 3 in (54.33 m) | |||||
| Beam: 32 ft (9.8 m) | |||||
| Draught: 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) | |||||
| Displacement: 768t standard | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: Coal fired triple expansion steam generating 850ihp (633.8kW) across one screw | |||||
| Speed: 11.5kt | |||||
| Endurance: 216t of coal | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 32 | |||||
| Primary armament: 1x1 12-pdr 12cwt (High Angle) | |||||
| Secondary armament: - 2x1 20mm Oerlikon | |||||
| Tertiary armament: - 2x1 .303 Lewis, Minesweeping gear | |||||
| Radar: - nil | |||||
| Sonar: - nil |
Sources:
Gillett, R. (1983). Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 (p.194)
G. H. Gill. (1957). Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942 (pp.127, 589, 594-595)
D.Stevens. (2005) A critical Vulnerability (pp.103-105)
https://web.archive.org/web/20080410160254/http://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/8/articles/warships.pdf
HMAS Kangaroo - Wikipedia
Letter - Bustler and Kangaroo - Naval Historical Society of Australia
https://seapower.navy.gov.au/history/units/hmas-kangaroo