HMAS Hobart (D63)

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Hobart.

For other Royal Navy ships named HMS Apollo, see HMS Apollo.

HMAS Hobart, prior to her transfer to the RAN
History
Australia (RAN)
Namesake	City of Hobart
Builder	HM Dockyard, Devonport, England
Laid down	15 August 1934
Launched	9 October 1934
Completed	1936
Commissioned	28 September 1938
Decommissioned	1962
Renamed	Originally HMS Apollo
Motto	Sic Fortis Hobartia Crevit
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1962
General characteristics
Displacement	7,105 tons
Length	562 ft 3 in (171.37 m)
Beam	56 ft 8 in (17.27 m)
Draught	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Propulsion	4 Parsons geared steam turbines, 4 boilers, 4 shafts, 72,000 hp
Speed	32 ½ knots
Complement	570
Armament	Original:8 × 6 in (152 mm) guns, 8 × 4 in (102 mm) guns, 4 x QF 3 pounder guns, 8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (quadruple mounts)
Aircraft carried	1 Supermarine Walrus, 1 catapult

HMAS Hobart was a Modified Leander class light cruiser which served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. These ships are sometimes known as the "Perth class" or the "Amphion class". Hobart was built for the Royal Navy as HMS Apollo, and was obtained by Australia and renamed upon commissioning.

Hobart was the second of its class to be modified for Australian service, and the first ship to be named after the city of Hobart in Tasmania. The ship was partially paid for by the transfer of the seaplane tender HMAS Albatross to the Royal Navy.

The one noticeable visible difference between the ships transferred to Australia and those still in the British Navy was that the British ships had one broad smokestack, whereas the Australian had two narrower funnels.

Operational History

After World War II broke out, Hobart escorted convoys between Australia, Singapore, Java, Ceylon, and Bombay, frequently accompanied by the destroyer HMS Electra.

On 18 August 1940, HMAS Hobart was involved in the evacuation of British Commonwealth troops from British Somaliland following the Italian invasion.

In February 1942, she missed sailing with the rest of the attack force heading for the Battle of the Java Sea because of damage suffered by the tanker that she was refueling from.

Hobart participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, as part of the Allied cruiser force shielding Port Moresby. Aside from being mistakenly bombed by American B-17s, the force saw no action.

Espiritu Santo, 23 July 1943. Hobart showing torpedo damage inflicted by a Japanese submarine on 20 July.

On 20 July 1943 in the Solomon Islands, Hobart took a direct hit from a torpedo aimed at HMAS Australia. She lost 13 crew in the attack and one US officer who was on board; seven others were seriously injured. The damage included a huge hole in the side, a badly distorted forward deck and stern, both portside propellers blown off by the impact, many pipes broken, bulkheads crushed and power cables severed. Hobart was taken out of service for repairs and modernisation at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney.

She was back in service by December 1944, in time to participate in the amphibious assaults on the Philippines, Borneo, and Wewak. She was present in Tokyo Bay on Victory over Japan Day (2 September 1945), when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed.

Hobart was made part of the Navy Reserve following the war, and was decommissioned in 1962. She was sold for scrap in the same year.

See also

• List of World War II ships

External links

• HMAS Hobart I - Sea Power Centre
• HMAS Hobart history and images, U. S. Naval Historical Center