HMAS Gascoyne (K354)

For other ships of the same name, see HMAS Gascoyne.

Career (Australia (RAN))
Namesake:	Gascoyne River
Builder:	Morts Dock and Engineering Company
Laid down:	3 July 1942
Launched:	20 February 1943
Commissioned:	18 November 1943
Decommissioned:	12 April 1946
Recommissioned:	8 June 1959
Decommissioned:	1 February 1966
Reclassified:	Oceanographic Research Ship
Motto:	"Return to the Sea"
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: New Guinea 1944 Leyte Gulf 1944 Lingayen Gulf 1945 Pacific 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrap in 1962
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	River class frigate
Displacement:	1,489 tons (standard), 2,120 tons (full load)
Length:	301 ft 6 in (91.90 m)
Beam:	36 ft 7.75 in (11.1697 m)
Draught:	12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion:	Triple expansion, 2 shafts. 5,500 hp
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	140
Armament:	2 × 4-inch guns, 2 × 40 mm Bofors, 6 × 20 mm Oerlikons, 1 × Hedgehog, depth charge throwers

HMAS Gascoyne (K354/F354/A276) was a River class frigate that served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Laid down in 1942 and commissioned in 1943, the frigate served during World War II, before being placed in reserve in 1946. Reactivated in 1959, Gascoyne was reclassified as a survey and research ship, a role she fulfilled until she was decommissioned again in 1966, and sold for scrap in 1972

Construction

Gascoyne was laid down by Morts Dock and Engineering Company in Balmain, New South Wales on 3 July 1942. She was launched on 20 February 1943 by Lady Wakehurst, wife of the Governor of New South Wales, and commissioned into the RAN on 18 November 1943. The ship was named after the Gascoyne River.

Operational history

Gascoyne was present in Tokyo Bay on Victory over Japan Day (2 September 1945), when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed.

Gascoyne paid off into reserve on 12 April 1946, but recommissioned at Sydney on 8 June 1959 for survey and oceanographic research duty.

Decommissioning and fate

Gascoyne paid off again on 1 February 1966, and was sold for scrap to the Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka in Japan on 15 February 1972. The ship left Melbourne under tow for Japan on 6 July 1972.

References

• RAN page for HMAS Gascoyne (I)