HMAS Tolga

HMAS Tolga was an auxiliary minesweeper which served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.

History
Australia
Name
  • Dorlonco (1925–1926)
  • Sir T. Hugh Bell (1926–1930)
  • Tolga (1930–1946)
Owner
BuilderWalsh Island Dockyard & Engineering Works, Newcastle
Launched1925
IdentificationUK Identification Number: 152004
FateSold in 1946.
History
Australia
NameTolga
Decommissioned3 March 1946
Honours and
awards
  • Battle honours:
  • Darwin 1942–43
FateScuttled in 1946
General characteristics
Tonnage418 gross register tons
Length147 ft (45 m)[1]
Beam26.6 ft (8.1 m)
Draught9.2 ft (2.8 m)
PropulsionTriple expansion engine

Tolga was built in 1925 by the Walsh Island Dockyard & Engineering Works, Newcastle for Dorman Long, Sydney as Dorlonco.[2] She was renamed in Sydney as the Sir T. Hugh Bell in 1926. She was sold to the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1930 and renamed Tolga. She was utilised along the Queensland coast as a sugar lighter between shore to larger vessels offshore. Tolga was requisitioned by the RAN in 1940 and commissioned as an auxiliary minesweeper.[2] She was attached to Minesweeping Group 70, based at Darwin. In 1942, she was converted to a water carriers and later as a stores carrier. Purchased by the RAN in 1946, she was paid off on 3 March 1946. Surveys determined that she had deteriorated and was structurally unsafe to transport back to Australia.

Fate

Tolga was towed out to sea by the frigate HMAS Condamine on 30 April 1946 and was scuttled off the north coast of New Guinea.[2]

Battle honours

Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March 2010, Tolga's wartime service was retroactively recognised with the honour "Darwin 1942–43".[3][4]

References
  1. "Lloyd's Register 1930–31" (PDF). plimsollshipdata. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  2. "Adelaide Steamship Company". Flotilla Australia. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  3. "Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours". Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  4. "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
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