| Navy | The Royal Australian Navy |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Class | Bathurst |
| Pennant | J 351 |
| Built by | Poole & Steel Pty. Ltd. (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) |
| Ordered | 7 Aug 1941 |
| Laid down | 12 Aug 1942 |
| Launched | 27 May 1943 |
| Commissioned | 8 Oct 1943 |
| End service | 26 Jun 1953 |
| History | Decommissioned 4 December 1946. |
Commands listed for HMAS Cowra (J 351)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Lt. Harold James Hull, RANR | 15 Sep 1943 | 15 Oct 1943 | |
| 2 | T/Lt. William John Gillies, RANR(S) | 15 Oct 1943 | Feb 1945 | |
| 3 | Lt. Alan Farquhar-Smith, RANR(S) | 17 Apr 1945 | 22 Oct 1945 | |
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Notable events involving Cowra include:
3 Dec 1943
HMAS Stuart (Lt.Cdr. N.A. Mackinnon, RAN) and HMAS Cowra (T/Lt. W.J. Gillies, RANR(S)) conducted exercises in Moreton Bay.
On completion of these exercises they proceeded to sea for A/S and attack exercises with USS Guardfish (T/Lt.Cdr. N.G. Ward, USN) which were to continue until the next day.
However at 2355L/3, USS Guardfish collided with the small Army tanker Y-20 (484 GRT, built 1943) and the exercises had to be broken off and all ships returned to Brisbane. (1)
Sources
- Report of proceedings of HMAS Stuart for December 1943