HMAS Kuru
.jpg) HMAS Kuru in Sydney (1938)
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The HMAS Kuru was a wooden patrol boat and supplier to the Royal Australian Navy .
history
The boat was built in Sydney in 1938 and placed in the service of the Northern Territory administration for customs and police duties . When the Second World War also emerged as a threat to Australia , the Kuru was requisitioned for the Royal Australian Navy in 1941 and used to supply the submarine depot ship HMAS Platypus .
From May 31, 1942, the Kuru was used under the command of Lieutenant Joe Joel of the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) for supply trips (Operation "Hamburger") from Darwin to Betano in Portuguese Timor . Since February, Australian soldiers have been fighting in the Japanese- occupied colony of neutral Portugal in the Battle of Timor to prevent a Japanese invasion of mainland Australia. The Australian Sparrow Force was provided with personnel and equipment in this way. Due to the air superiority of the Japanese Air Force , an air supply was not possible for the Australians. Within six months, the Kuru made eight trips in the so-called "Timor Ferry Service". To avoid detection, the boat was only loaded and unloaded at night on the Timor coast .
On June 13, 1942, the Kuru picked up a downed pilot on the Daly River , on June 15, another in Bynoe Harbor .
On June 29, the Kuru went to Portuguese Timor again, this time to Beco . She returned to Darwin on July 3rd and from Suai on July 6th . On July 10, she reached Darwin again with about ten soldiers who had been evacuated from Timor. On July 15, the Kuru ran out again, brought three Army soldiers from the 'Z' Special Unit (Operation "Lizard I") and five tons of equipment to Suai and on July 19, ten evacuees returned to Darwin, including the Australian diplomat David Ross and the Dutch consul in Dili Brauer with his family. The next trip started on August 31st and went with four soldiers from the 'Z' Special Unit and one ton of goods to Beco, then on to Betano, where four soldiers and five tons of material (Operation "Lizard II") were unloaded before the Kuru returned to Darwin on September 4th with a Portuguese official and his family and soldiers. On October 8, the boat went to Aliambata , further east of Timor, with army soldiers and supplies on board. Even after this voyage, the Kuru returned safely to Darwin with the evacuees.
On November 18, the Kuru left Darwin under the new commandant Lieutenant JA Grant of the Royal Australian Naval Reserve (Seagoing) (RANR (S)). Material was unloaded in Betano, then a reconnaissance voyage was made to the Quelun River before returning to Darwin via Kicras , where the Kuru arrived on November 22nd. On November 29th, she went back to Betano, where she took in 80 mainly Portuguese men, women and children and handed them over to the corvette HMAS Castlemaine on December 1st . Then the Kuru returned to Betano with the HMAS Armidale to drop off Dutch troops. Both came under enemy fire separately from one another. Forty-four planes attacked the Kuru for over seven hours and dropped over 200 bombs. The assault boat towed by the Kuru was hit and sank. Shrapnel penetrated the Kuru's side . An officer and two sailors were wounded and the machine was damaged. When dusk fell, the Kuru's ammunition was almost exhausted. Even so, it reached Darwin on December 3rd. The Armidale was sunk.
On January 27, 1943, the Kuru went to the Wessel Islands and took in survivors of the sunk HMAS Patricia Cam . After that, the Kuru stayed in the waters around Darwin and worked as a net-layer . On October 22nd, she sank in a heavy storm on a floating dock. It was lifted the next day, but it was too badly damaged to be put back into service.
In 1945 the boat was thrown back onto the coast by another storm. A hermit then used it as his home.
technical description
The 23 meter long Kuru could hold six tons of cargo. It had a draft of only 2.6 meters, which enabled it to be used in coastal waters. With her diesel engine she reached a speed of 13 knots. She received her armament only when she was accepted into the Royal Australian Navy. The two 20 mm Oerlikon cannons were frequently used anti-aircraft cannons during World War II . There was also a Vickers machine gun and a Lewis machine gun .
Web links
- Royal Australian Navy: HMAS Kuru
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Royal Australian Navy: HMAS Kuru , accessed September 3, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Gunplot: Kuru , accessed September 3, 2017.
- ↑ David Ross . The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ↑ Edward Wills: 75 YEARS ON - DAVID ROSS (1902–1984) - DIPLOMAT AND SPY , 2/2 Commando Association of Australia , accessed August 16, 2017.
- ↑ Christopher Chant: The Japanese conquest of Timor (II) , accessed August 16, 2017.
- ^ L. Klemen: The Fighting on the Portuguese East Timor Island, 1942 . 2000. Retrieved August 18, 2008.