HMAS Barcoo (K375)

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HMAS Barcoo (K-375/F-375/A-245), named for the Barcoo River in Queensland, was a Royal Australian Navy River class frigate. The Barcoo was one of twelve frigates the navy built during World War II. The vessel logged 342,579 miles in its career.

[edit] History

The Barcoo was laid down by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company, Ltd. at Sydney in New South Wales on 21 October 1942. The frigate was launched on 26 August 1943 by R. V. Keane^[specify], wife of the Minister for Trade and Customs, and commissioned at Sydney on 17 January 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Alan J. Travis.

After a trial period, the Barcoo headed to the waters around New Guinea in March 1944 for convoy escort duty. That year, the ship participated in the bombardments of Japanese positions in east New Guinea, rescued two downed American Thunderbolt pilots, and conducted convoy escort and patrol duties in the waters around New Guinea. The frigate's last hostile action occurred on 3 August 1945 during a bombardment of the village of Soengaipaten in Borneo.

In August 1946, the Barcoo was refitted as a survey vessel. It logged approximately 54,000 miles on survey duty, before being retired from service in 1949. The ship returned to survey duties from 1952 to 1956, and from 1959 to 1964. On 15 February 1972, the Barcoo was sold for scrap to N. W. Kennedy, Ltd. of Vancouver, Canada.