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HMAS Swan (II) 1937-62

HMAS Swan (II) was the second RAN ship named for the Swan River in Perth, commissioned at Sydney on 21 January 1937.  It was a 'Grimsby Class' sloop design, and was built at Cockatoo Island dockyard in Sydney between 1935 and 1937.  She was commissioned under the command of Commander Roy Dowling, RAN.

Swan's initial armament consisted of three QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark V anti-aircraft guns and a quadruple .50 in anti-aircraft machine gun mount for close-in defence.   From 1942, this was increased to four QF 4 inch Mk XVI guns in 2 twin mounts, with a close-in armament of a Bofors 40 mm gun and six Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. The ship's depth charge load had increased to 40 by the end of the war.

After commissioning and prior to the outbreak of World War II, Swan’s duties were carried out on what was known as 'the Australia Station' (a Royal Navy term), encompassing a defined geographic area. She visited New Zealand and the Solomon Islands in 1937, and in June and July 1939 she cruised to 'the China Station', visiting Timor, Bali, Batavia and Singapore on the way there and back.

Following the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Swan was fitted out as a minesweeper and on 9 December 1939 became Leader of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, formed that day and comprising initially HMA Ships Swan (II), Yarra (II), Doomba and Orara. For the next two years, December 1939 to December 1941, Swan operated as a unit of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, sweeping in Australian waters. She was Flotilla Leader until October 1940, when the role was assumed by her sister ship HMAS Warrego (II).

Operations for the first eleven months were non-eventful, but in November 1940 the first enemy mines were swept. These had been laid by the German auxiliary (a captured merchant ship) minelayer Passat in Bass Strait off Wilson's Promontory, and its 'parent' ship the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin.  They had laid mines off Newcastle, New South Wales; Hobart, Tasmania; and in Spencer Gulf, South Australia, which sank or damaged a number of merchant ships.  Most of these mines were cleared by the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla. Swan swept ten mines.

In December 1941, following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Swan was engaged in sweeping operations off Port Moresby in New Guinea and as a convoy escort. In January 1942 she proceeded to Amboina in the Moluccas to assist the civilian evacuation. There she was subject to air attack when targeted by Japanese bombers. She escaped undamaged despite several near misses.

Early the following year, in February 1942 Swan was based at Darwin for anti-submarine patrols and on escort duties.

The ship was part of the escort, led by USS Houston (later lost in the Battle of Sunda Street in company with HMAS Perth) with the destroyer USS Peary and HMAS Warrego, for a convoy composed of Meigs, Mauna Loa, Portmar, and Tulagi leaving Darwin before 0200 in the morning of 15 February for Koepang,  carrying troops to reinforce forces already defending Timor. By eleven in the morning the convoy was being shadowed by a Japanese flying boat that dropped some bombs without causing damage before departing. The next morning another shadowing aircraft had taken position and before noon the convoy was attacked by bombers and flying boats in two waves. After the attacks the convoy continued toward Timor for a few hours with Houston launching a scout plane seeking the enemy position. ABDA suspected the presence of Japanese carriers, an imminent invasion of Timor and a support fleet lying in wait and thus ordered the convoy back to Darwin which it reached before noon on the 18th.

This placed them back in Darwin Harbour on the 19th February, when Darwin was attacked by the same Carrier force that had raided Pearl Harbour the previous December, comprising aircraft from  the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, operating in the Timor Sea under the command of Vice Admiral Nagumo.

This was the first and most severe air raid on Australian soil. Fortunately Swan was able to get under way without being hit but she experienced seven attacks and was damaged by several near misses, killing three of her crew and wounding nineteen others. The following day she proceeded to Brisbane for repairs and a general refit.

Swan returned to seagoing service in May 1942 and for the following eighteen months, until October 1943, she was engaged escorting convoys between the Australian mainland and New Guinea. During this period she experienced several air raids in New Guinea waters but was not hit or damaged again. In November 1943 a long refit commenced which kept Swan in dockyard hands until the end of March 1944. By this time Swan’s service has seen it steam nearly 150,000 miles since it was commissioned.

In May 1944 Swan was assigned to New Guinea waters for escort and patrol duties, and as a fire support ship for military operations proceeding ashore. In the latter role, between August 1944 and May 1945, she carried out a series of bombardments of enemy positions in New Britain and New Guinea, and supported the operations of the Australian 6th Division at Wewak. During this period Swan also took over the operational control, at Mios Woendi, of the Australian escorts operating westwards of Hollandia engaged in convoying vessels between Biak and Morotai in the Halmaheras.

Her war ended in June 1945 when she returned to Australia for another refit which was still in progress when the war ended in August 1945.

Read the full details of Swan's post war service are recorded on the site from whch this content was redacted, here

Commissioned 21 Jan 1937; decommissioned 20 Sept 1962, Scrapped in 1964.  Battle Honours inherited and PACIFIC 1941-45, DARWIN 1942-43, NEW GUINEA 1942-44

Read the full details of Swan's post war service here (www.navy.gov.au)

Commissioned 21 Jan 1937; decommissioned 20 Sept 1962, Battle Honours inherited and PACIFIC 1941-45, DARWIN 1942-43, NEW GUINEA 1942-44

Compiled by Steve Larkins Dec 23

Sources:

RAN Website https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-swan-ii (www.navy.gov.au)

Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Swan_(U74) (en.wikipedia.org)