HMAS Bermagui

HMAS Bermagui was a 402-ton auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.

History
Name	Bermagui[1]
Owner	Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company[1]
Builder	Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, Scotland[1]
Launched	1912
Fate	Sunk as artificial reef[2]
History
Australia
Commissioned	11 December 1939
Decommissioned	23 November 1945
General characteristics
Class and type	Minesweeper
Displacement	402 gross tonnage[1]
Length	144 ft (44 m)[1]
Beam	32.1 ft (10 m)[1]
Draught	8.2 ft (2 m)[1]
Armament	1 × 12-pounder gun 1 × .303 cal. Vickers machine gun 4 × Type D depth charges

HMAS Bermagui was laid down by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, Scotland in 1912 for the Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company. In December 1939, the ship was requisitioned by the RAN as an auxiliary, and was commissioned on 11 December. She was fitted with one 12-pounder 12cwt QF gun, one .303 inch Vickers machine gun, and four Type D depth charges.

During the war, Bermagui was attached to the naval base HMAS Maitland in Newcastle, New South Wales and served as an auxiliary minesweeper, boom defence vessel, and minefield tender.

The ship was paid off from service on 23 November 1945 and returned to her civilian owners on 22 July 1946. She was sold in 1951 to Lumbar Operators Pty Ltd and in 1954 to Allen Taylor & Co. as a timber transport vessel. She was later sold in 1961 and converted into a gravel barge and used on the Brisbane River until 1979. She was scuttled off Tangalooma, Queensland as part of an artificial reef for snorkeling.[2]