- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMAS Doomba in game.
HMAS Doomba at Sydney Harbour, ~ 1943
Description:
HMAS Doomba was one of many requisitioned vessels repurposed into Minesweepers for the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War.
However, unlike most vessels in the RAN’s auxiliary vessels list, she had already operated as a minesweeper in previous operations for the Royal Navy, as she was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare group, which had served in the Royal Navy before being sold for mercantile service in Australia.
This suggestion is for her fit in 1942, as she converted into a ASW patrol vessel.
HMAS Doomba’s winch at Williamstown Dockyard 1940.
History:
Laid down as the HMS Wexford by William Simons & Co Ltd, at Renfrew, Scotland. She would be ordered in 1917, being laid down the same year. She would launch on the 10th of October 1919, commissioning in December.
Her RN service would not last long, being sold in 1921 to the Stanlee Shipbreaking and Salvalge Co Ltd for scrap, however she would be saved by the Coaster Construction Co Ltd for sale to the Doomba Shipping Co as a passenger steamer.
Although she was practically a new vessel, she was sold as scrap, due to the fact that the RN had built too many minesweepers during the First World War, and with the end of the war they had too many ships and not enough duties for them to fulfill, so it became easier to just scrap excess vessels just to get rid of them.
She would arrive in Brisbane in 1923 after reconstruction work was completed at Montrose. She would carry tourists from Brisbane to the Redcliffe and Bribie Islands. She had a 1,500 persons capacity. She would be sold to the Brisbane Tug and Steamships Co Ltd, however she would operate on the same line. She would be laid up at times during the Great Depression due to cost concerns.
HMAS Doomba soon after commissioning, note early Low Angle gun shield. (n.d)
She would be requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy upon the declaration of war in 1939, sailing to Sydney for refit back into a minesweeper. She would gain a single 4" gun fore, MGs, and minesweeping gear. These works would complete on the 25th of September 1939, and she would sail for Melbourne on the 5th of December. Out of Melbourne she would join the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, with the HMAS Swan, Yarra, and Orara.
This group would sweep the Bass Strait in early Jan 1940, carrying these operations through to June, when the group would expand their operations with the sinking of the SS Niagara via mine in Auckland. With proof of enemy minefields in the area they would now sweep from Spencer Gulf to the Bass Straight. She would be purchased outright for £12,000 during this time. These operations would continue until November 1941, mostly sweeping mines laid by the German Raider Pinguin in the area.
She would undergo refit for conversion to ASW patrol in early 1942, gaining 20mm Oerlikon cannons as AA, new depth charge rails and throwers, as well as a rearranged deck layout. She would be docked alongside the HMAS Adelaide on the night of the 31st May/1st of June, when three Japanese midget subs attacked Sydney Harbour. Her Low Angle 4" gun shield would be replaced by a modified version during this time, providing 30°s elevation instead of 20.
She would then patrol the same area as she had before, but instead of sweeping for mines, she would patrol for enemy submarines. She would continue through to the end of the war in this role, seeing no further enemy actions. She would however pick up survivors of torpedoed vessels. In 1944 she would replace the HMAS Bingera as the sea going training vessel at Flinders Naval Depot.
She would decommission on the 13th of March 1946, being sold to Penguin Ltd shipbreakers, who took out her engines. She would be converted to a dumb lighter in the early 1950s and renamed Meggol. She would be laid up in 1970, being sold for breaking on the 9th of December 1976. This would not go through, instead being towed out of Sydney Harbour and scuttled.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: HMAS Doomba | |||||
| Country: Australia | |||||
| Type: Minesweeper | |||||
| Class name: Hunt (Aberdare group) | |||||
| Year of commission: 1939 | |||||
| Refit: 1942 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 231 ft (70.4 m) | |||||
| Beam: 28 ft 6 in (8.7 m) | |||||
| Draught: 8 ft (2.4 m) | |||||
| Displacement: 721t | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: 2x coal fired boilers driving VTE @ 2,200 ihp (1,640 kW) across two shafts | |||||
| Speed: 16kt | |||||
| Endurance: 1,500nmi @ 10kt | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 74 | |||||
| Primary armament: 1x1 QF-4 inch Mk IV on PIX (30° elevation) | |||||
| Secondary armament, 2x1 20mm Oerlikon, 2x1 .303 Lewis. | |||||
| Tertiary armament: 51 Depth Charges, two rails, two DCT, minesweeping gear | |||||
| Radar: -nil | |||||
| Sonar: ASDIC, model not specified, probably Type 127 or 122 |
The Meggol, (Ex-Doomba) scuttling off Narrabeen
Sources:
Gillett, R. (1983). Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 (p.169)
G. H. Gill. (1957). Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942 (pp.92, 125-126 , 259)
HMAS Doomba - Wikipedia
The Four Lives of HMS Wexford - Naval Historical Society of Australia
https://www.michaelmcfadyenscuba.info/viewpage.php?page_id=60
https://seapower.navy.gov.au/history/units/hmas-doomba