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AFTER
THE WAR
On January
20 1948, the MILDURA was decommissioned and placed in reserve
at Careening
Bay, Garden Island, Western Australia. The ship was brought back into
service on February 20th, 1951, as a training ship
for National Service and Reserve trainees. Duties included carrying
materials for the
British atomic tests in the Monte Bello Islands.
HMAS
MILDURA in dry dock in Fremantle, December 1950,
being prepared for use as a National Service training ship
She was finally paid
off in Melbourne on September 11, 1953. The MILDURA had steamed a corvette
record of 208,132 miles, the equivalent of 10 times around the world.
The tug HMAS
SPRIGHTLY towed the MILDURA to Brisbane in December 1954 for use as an immobilized
Reserve training ship. The ship was finally sold on September 8, 1965,
as scrap to Brisbane Non-Ferrous Pty.Ltd.
HMAS
SPRIGHTLY was a tug built in the United States for the Commonwealth.
She was commissioned in February 1944. Capable of towing a vessel
of
10,000 tons, she saw service in northern Australian waters.
General
Information about corvette history came from Frank Walker's excellent
book "Little Ships For Big Men."
THE
SHIP'S BELL
Ken "Doc" Green rings the bell
photo courtesy Ruth Green
Bells
in ships were provided historically as a means of recording the time.
One strike every half hour in a four hour watch - eight bells to signal
the end of the watch. They were used as a signalling device in heavy
fog and also as a fire alarm. The MILDURA's bell is held in the council
chambers of the Mildura City Council.
HMAS MILDURA ship's bell
In
June 1952 the MILDURA carried the bell of sister ship HMAS BROOME to
the town of Broome, which was later presented to the Broome Roads Board.
It had been removed from the BROOME when that ship was sold to the Turkish
Navy.
MILDURA'S
LAST DAYS
by
Ron Endersbee (LSA 1943-45) visited Brisbane in 1965.
"In November
1965 I happened to be visiting Brisbane on a business trip and one
day while looking out of an upper story window of the Veteran's Affairs
Department building in Wharf Street, admiring the view, I looked over
at the Storey Bridge spanning the Brisbane River. Under the bridge
at Evans Deakin Shipyard I happened to notice the familiar shape of
a corvette being broken up for scrap. Most of the upper deck including
the bridge and funnel had already gone but I got quite a shock when
I noticed the number J207 on her bow. I said to my friend I must go
down to that old girl as I was a member of her crew in the war years
form 1943 to early 1945."
"When
I got to MILDURA a notice board said "Private Property Keep Off."
I said to myself, try and stop me. I walked aboard and old ship was
already a sorry sight. I made my way along the port waist and opposite
where the galley used to be was still hanging the ship's notice board.
MILDURA in her last years was used as a static training ship for the
RANR in Brisbane and was usually moored at the wharf alongside the
New Farm Naval Depot, Brisbane. Eventually she was awaiting disposal
and was moved from her regular mooring at New Farm to make way for
an American submarine that was to visit Brisbane. She was shifted
to the old Mobil Oil wharf at Newstead."
"A notice on
the notice board showed the Reservists' routine for a night's training.
I promptly souvenired it. I was able to get down to the Petty Officers
flat where my domain was, Victualling and Central Stores. I was able
to peer into the engine room where the MILDURA'S mighty engines were;
I remember Chief ERA Johns describing them once to me as "coffee
pots." I laughed at that description having served in the six
inch light cruiser HOBART from 1940-42, which boasted quadruple screws
and a top speed of some thirty knots. I spent about twenty minutes
on MILDURA and with a tear in my eyes, said farewell to a mighty little
ship."
"Memories of
my old shipmates were in my thoughts, from Lieut/Cdr Jimmy Little
who I remember once said of my Central Store during Captain's rounds,
"...It looks like a typical country store." I thought of
Lieuts. George Sangster, Bob Frame and Ken Robin, Petty Officer
Cook Cyril Smedley and his off offsiders Bob Maguire and "Shiner"
Wright, Steward Pantry, Petty Officer Hopper, SBA Allan Prentice,
Signalman Allan Waugh and so on. They were all there in my misty memory.
I felt rather proud of the old girl knowing that in a few weeks she
would be completely gone into Australian Naval history, but her spirit
would live on forever while those that served in her are still alive."
From his Brisbane office
window, Jeff McFarlane was able to watch the MILDURA disappear piece
by piece as it was scrapped by Brisbane Non-Ferrous Pty.Ltd. Some parts
of the hull were left on the river bank, but have since been covered
with concrete.
Back to A
BRIEF HISTORY - Part 1, 1941 - 1948
Click
here for details from the Log Book of HMAS MILDURA
THE
OTHER MILDURAS
Click
here for details of HMS MILDURA and SS MILDURA 
For further information contact
hmasmildura@hotmail.com
© HMAS
MILDURA ASSOCIATION Victoria Australia
May 9, 2005
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