HMAS Tarakan (L-3017)
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- See also: HMAS Tarakan (L-129)
HMAS Tarakan (L-3017) was a Mark III Tank Landing Ship, or LST(3), built for the Royal Navy by R. and W. Hawthorne, Leslie and Company at Hebburn-on-Tyne in England and launched on 28 November 1944 as LST 3017. The ship was loaned to the Royal Australian Navy and commissioned on 4 July 1946. She was named Tarakan on 16 December 1948, and served in Australian and New Guinea waters as a general purpose vessel, but was mainly used for dumping condemned ammunition at sea.[1]
On 25 January 1950 the Tarakan was berthed alongside the HMAS Kattabul naval base at Garden Island in Sydney, making good defects prior to departure for New Guinea, when an explosion occurred aft under the mess decks, resulting in the deaths of seven sailors and one dockyard tradesman. A further 12 sailors and one dockyard tradesman were injured. The ship was extensively damaged and never returned to seagoing service. She was sold for breaking up on 12 March 1954.[1][2]
The Tarakan was the first of two Australian naval vessels named after Tarakan in Borneo, site of an attack by the I Australian Corps on May 1, 1945, the name subsequently being used by HMAS Tarakan (L-129), a Balikpapan class heavy landing craft.
[edit] References
- ^ a b HMAS Tarakan. Sea Power Centre Australia. Retrieved on April 27, 2006.
- ^ Little known casualties of the Royal Australian Navy. www.gunplot.net. Retrieved on April 26, 2006.
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