HMAS Ballarat (J 184)

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For other ships of this name, see HMAS Ballarat.

Career Australia
HMAS Ballarat
Builder:	Williamstown Dockyard
Laid down:
Launched:	10 December, 1940
Commissioned:	30 August, 1941
Decommissioned:	27 September, 1946
Status:	Was to be sold to Honduras, broken up for scrap instead
General Characteristics
Displacement:	650 tons (standard)
Length:	186 feet
Beam:	31 feet
Draught:	8.5 feet
Propulsion:	Triple expansion, 2 shafts. 1,750 hp
Speed:	15 knots
Complement:	85
Armament:	1 x 4-inch gun, 3 x Oerlikons (later 2), 1 Bofors (installed later), various machine guns and small arms, Depth charge chutes and throwers
Motto:	"Defend the Flag"
Badge:

The first HMAS Ballarat (J 184) was a Bathurst class corvette, built by the Williamstown Dockyard at Melbourne in Victoria, launched on 10 December 1940 by Mrs. A. A. Dunstan, wife of the Premier of Victoria and commissioned on 30 August 1941.

[edit] Operational History

Ballarat served throughout the second half of World War II, and was present in Tokyo Bay on Victory over Japan Day (2 September 1945), when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed. ^[1]

[edit] Fate

HMAS Ballarat paid off on 27 September 1946 and was sold on 10 July 1947. It was intended to operate the ship as Carmencita under the Honduran flag, but she was not released due to the Korean War and was instead broken up at Iron Cove in Sydney in November 1953.

[edit] References

^ Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945. Naval Historical Center - U.S. Navy (27 May 2005). Retrieved on January 13, 2007. “Taken from Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPAC/CINCPOA) A16-3/FF12 Serial 0395, 11 February 1946: Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan”