About This Unit
HMAS Huon (Base) located on the Derwent River, HOBART
After the granting of the Royal Assent to the Australian Navy on 10 July 1911, Tasmania was assigned its first permanent naval presence. Captain Walton Drake, RAN, was appointed as the state’s District Naval Officer (DNO) based in Hobart, while a Sub-District Naval Officer was appointed in Launceston. A plot of land was also purchased on the western bank of the Derwent River in 1911 for the purposes of establishing a naval depot. Construction began the following year.
Within four years the importance of this last responsibility was demonstrated. On 2 August 1914, two days before the official declaration of war, the Director of Naval Reserves was ordered to establish an Examination Service at all defended ports, including Hobart. The Service was in place the following day and by 5 August, all ships were required to submit to an examination before entering harbour in order to identify and ascertain the character and intentions of the vessel.
The German-Austrian liner Oberhausen was detained at Port Huon within days of the outbreak of the war. She was subsequently renamed Booral and used as a cargo carrier for the duration of the war.
The onset of World War II led to an increase in naval staff in Hobart. An examination service and Port War Signal Station were in place on 3 September 1939, and five requisitioned ships acted as examination vessels over the course of the war.
Unnamed for 3 decades; commissioned as HMAS Cerberus VI 27-8-1939; HMAS Derwent 1-8-1940; finally HMAS HUON 1-3-1940, decommissioned on 17 June 1994
For full details click link here (www.navy.gov.au)