Allied Warships

HMAS Glenelg (J 236)

Minesweeper of the Bathurst class

NavyThe Royal Australian Navy
TypeMinesweeper
ClassBathurst 
PennantJ 236 
Built byCockatoo Docks and Engineering Co Ltd (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) 
Ordered24 Sep 1940 
Laid down2 Mar 1942 
Launched25 Sep 1942 
Commissioned16 Nov 1942 
End service14 Jan 1946 
History

Decommissioned into Reserve on 14 January 1946.
Sold to be broken up for scrap to Hong Kong Rolling Mills Ltd. (Hong Kong) on 2 May 1957.

 

Commands listed for HMAS Glenelg (J 236)

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.

CommanderFromTo
1T/Lt. Alfred Frederick Summerfield, RANR(S)11 Nov 1942May 1944
2T/Lt. Leslie Robson, RANR(S)May 194414 Mar 1945
3Lt.Cdr. Herbert Gordon Whitebrook, RANR15 Mar 194514 Jan 1946

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Notable events involving Glenelg include:


10 Feb 1943

Convoy TN 35.

This convoy departed Cairns on 10 February 1943.

It was made up of the transports; Francis Lewis (American, 7181 GRT, built 1942), Generaal Verspijck (Dutch, 1213 GRT, built 1928), George W. McCrary (American, 7181 GRT, built 1942), Joseph Holt (American, 7181 GRT, built 1942), Macumba (Australian, 2526 GRT, built 1919), Montoro (British, 4057 GRT, built 1911) and Van der Lijn (Dutch, 2464 GRT, built 1928)

On departure from Cairns, around 0315K/11, the convoy was escorted by the minesweeper HMAS Glenelg (T/Lt. A.F. Summerfield, RANR(S)).

Around 0700K/11, the destroyer HMAS Stuart (Lt.Cdr. N.A. Mackinnon, RAN) joined near Fitzroy Island. She came from Townsville.

The convoy later (late on the 12th or early on the 13th) split into two sections.

The section for Port Moresby was made up by the Francis Lewis, Joseph Holt, Macumba and Montoro. It was escorted by HMAS Stuart and arrived at Port Moresby around 0955K/14.

The section of Fall River (Milne Bay) was made up of the George W. McCrary, George W. McCrary and Van der Lijn. It was escorted by HMAS Glenelg and arrived at Fall River around 1933K/13.

20 Jul 1944

Convoy BG 102.

This convoy departed Langemak Bay (Cape Crepin) at 1700K/20 for Humboldt Bay (Hollandia).

The convoy was made up of the following transports; Joseph P. Bradley (American, 7191 GRT, built 1943), Norlago (American, 7207 GRT, built 1944) and Sacajawea (American, 7180 GRT, built 1942).

The landing ship LST-456 (T/Lt. G.W. Prue, USN) and gasoline tanker USS Pasquotank (1139 GRT, built 1943) (Lt. A.R. Norris, USNR) were also part of the convoy.

On departure from Langemak Bay the convoy was escorted by the minesweepers HMAS Ararat (T/Lt. N.M. Muzzell, RANR(S)), HMAS Bendigo (T/Lt.Cdr. H.A. Litchfield, RANR(S)), HMAS Glenelg (T/Lt. L. Robson, RANR(S)), HMAS Geelong (Lt. M.E. Mathers, RANR) and YMS-334 (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Loehr, Jr., USNR).

Around 1640K/22, the destroyer HMAS Vendetta (Lt.Cdr. J.S. Mesley, RAN) joined the convoy. She came from Aitape.

The convoy arrived at Hunboldt Bay around 0800K/23.

23 Jul 1944
Around 1730K/23, a convoy departed Humboldt Bay (Hollandia) for Biak.

This convoy was made up of the transports; Edward Lander (American, 7176 GRT, built 1944) and Stephen M. White (American, 7176 GRT, built 1942).

The gasoline tanker USS Pasquotank (1139 GRT, built 1943) (Lt. A.R. Norris, USNR) was also part of the convoy.

On depature from Humboldt Bay the convoy escorted by the destroyer HMAS Vendetta (Lt.Cdr. J.S. Mesley, RAN) and the minesweepers HMAS Geelong (Lt. M.E. Mathers, RANR) and HMAS Glenelg (T/Lt. L. Robson, RANR(S)).

Around 0640K/24, HMAS Geelong was detached to Wakde.

The convoy arrived at Biak around 0830K/24. (1)

5 Aug 1944
Around 1800K/5, HMAS Vendetta (Lt.Cdr. J.S. Mesley, RAN), HMAS Cootamundra (T/Lt. George Alfred Johns, RANR(S)) and HMAS Glenelg (T/Lt. L. Robson, RANR(S)) departed Langemak Bay to escort a convoy of 14 LCI's to Humboldt Bay. An additional two LCI were to be detached to Aitake while en-route. HMAS Glenelg was to be detached to escort these two LCI's.

The LCI's in question were from LCI(L) Flottilla 22. The following LCI's were part of this convoy USS LCI(L)-224, USS LCI(L)-328, USS LCI(L)-333, USS LCI(L)-357, USS LCI(L)-360, USS LCI(L)-429, USS LCI(L)-433, USS LCI(L)-435, USS LCI(L)-445, USS LCI(L)-976, USS LCI(L)-977 and USS LCI(L)-979.

Around two hours after sailing four more LCI(L)'s joined the convoy, these were USS LCI(L)-436, USS LCI(L)-446, USS LCI(L)-968 and USS LCI(L)-970 joined.

Two of the LCI(L)'s soon straggled from the convoy, being unable to keep up, these were USS LCL(L)-328 and USS LCL(L)-970. HMAS Glenelg was detached around 2030K/5 to escort these two vessels to Aitape.

While doing so around 1934K/6, HMAS Glenelg obtained a promising A/S contact. She attacked with depth charges and then commenced to hunt the supposed submarine while the two LCI(L)'s continued on unescorted to Aitape.

Around 2100K/6, HMAS Cootamundra was detached from the main convoy to take over the escort of the two LCI(L)'s for Aitape where they eventually arrived around 1200K/7.

Around 2300K/6, HMAS Vendetta, now the sole escort of the remaining 14 LCI(L)'s, obtained an A/S contact. Several attacks were made but no definitive result could be observed.

The main convoy of 14 LCI(L)'s arrived at Humboldt Bay around 1300K/7. HMAS Vendetta remained on A/S patrol until the last LCI(L) had entered and then entered the Bay herself. (2)

18 Nov 1944
USS Barbero (Cdr. I.S. Hartman, USN) departed from Mios Woendi resuming her 2nd war patrol. She was escorted out by HMAS Glenelg (T/Lt. L. Robson, RANR(S)).

Sources

  1. Report of proceedings of HMAS Vendetta for July 1944
  2. Report of proceedings of HMAS Vendetta for August 1944

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