HMAS Bonthorpe

HMAS Bonthorpe (TR-8)^[4] was an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. She was launched in 1917 by Collingwood Shipbuilding Company at Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. Bonthorpe was owned and operated by Albany Tug Company.^[3] On 5 February 1940, Bonthorpe was requisitioned by the RAN for use as an auxiliary. She was decommissioned on 17 February 1945 and was reconverted to a trawler before becoming stranded at Cairns Inlet, Queensland in 1959.

HMS Bonthorpe (middle) passing between the Queen Mary and HMAS Korumba. (Photo credit: Horatio J. Kookaburra, photo taken by Gage Roads)^[1]

History
Name	Bonthorpe[2]
Owner	Western Australian Trawling Company Albany Tug Company
Operator	Ch/Skpr Wallace James Naas, RCN - 26 Jun 1918 - 15 Feb 1919
Laid down	1917
Completed	6 Jun 1918
Fate	Wrecked in 1959
Australia
Name	Bonthorpe
Commissioned	5 February 1940
Decommissioned	17 February 1945
Identification	TR-8
Fate	Sold in 1948
General characteristics
Class & type	Minesweeper
Tonnage	273 gross tonnage[3]
Displacement	85 tonnes (Standard) 248 tonnes (Full load)
Length	125.5 ft (38 m)[3]
Beam	28.5 ft (9 m)[3]
Draught	13.41 ft (4.09m)
Depth	12.7 ft (4 m)[3]
Speed	10 knots
Crew	20 (2 officers and 18 sailors)
Armament	1 × 76mm 12-pounder gun 2 × 20mm Oerlikon cannon 1 × .303-inch (7.7mm) Vickers machine gun

HMAS Bonthorpe commemorative marker

Operational History

In 1917 construction of HMAS Bonthorpe began in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. Her construction was completed on 26 June 1918 and she was accepted into the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that same day.^[4] She was sold again in 1920 as the trawler Bonthorpe by the Western Australian Trawling Company, and sailed from Fleetwood, England to Sydney. She was sold again to the Albany Tug Company and converted into a tug based at Fremantle, Western Australia. She would continue as a tug until she was acquired by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in early 1940.^[4] On 5 February 1940 she would be commissioned by the RAN as HMAS Bonthorpe, (TR-8) and would become a minesweeping trawler.^[4]

During the war Bonthorpe was based in Fremantle and operated along the Western Australia coastline. She was decommissioned on 17 February 1945 and was laid up at Careening Bay, Garden Island, as part of the Reserve Fleet before being sold in 1947-48.^[5]

On 3 October 1950 Bonthorpe was damaged after being hit by Cooramba, when the latter broke from her mooring during a 75-mile-per-hour (121 km/h) gale.^[6] She was later sold to M. Bern & Co in 1954. In 1959 she became wrecked at Cairns Inlet, Queensland, Australia.^[4]