HMAS Condamine

HMAS Condamine (K698/F698), named for the Condamine River in Queensland, was a River-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Commissioned in 1946, Condamine served in the Korean War. The ship was paid off in 1955, and sold for scrap in 1961.

HMAS Condamine in 1949
History
Australia
Name	Condamine
Namesake	Condamine River
Builder	State Dockyard, Newcastle
Laid down	30 October 1943
Launched	4 November 1944
Commissioned	22 February 1946
Decommissioned	2 December 1955
Motto	"We fight for peace"
Honours & awards	Battle honours: Korea 1952–53
Fate	Scrapped
Badge
General characteristics
Class & type	River-class frigate
Displacement	1,537 tons (standard)
Length	301 ft 7 in (91.92 m)
Beam	36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught	12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion	Triple expansion, 2 shafts
Speed	19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Complement	175
Armament	4 × 4-inch guns 3 × 40 mm Bofors 4 × 20 mm Oerlikons 1 × Hedgehog 4 × depth charge throwers

Construction

Condamine was laid down by the State Dockyard at Newcastle, New South Wales on 30 October 1943, launched on 4 November 1944 and commissioned on 22 February 1946.

Operational history

During the first years of her career Condamine operated only in Australian and New Guinean waters.

From August 1952 to March 1953 the ship operated in Korean waters during the Korean War. During this deployment, she conducted a number of shore bombardments and protected United Nations forces on islands off the Korean peninsula. Condamine was awarded the battle honour "Korea 1952–53" for this deployment.^[1]

Following the end of the Korean War, Condamine completed a second tour of Korean waters between February and November 1955.

Decommissioning and fate

Condamine paid off into reserve on 2 December 1955, and was sold for scrap on 21 September 1961.