HMAS Dubbo (J251/M251), named for the city of Dubbo, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes

Bathurst class corvette

The Bathurst class corvettes were a class of general purpose vessels produced in Australia during World War II. Originally classified as minesweepers, but widely referred to as corvettes, the Bathurst class vessels fulfilled a broad anti-submarine, anti-mine, and convoy escort role.Sixty Bathurst...

 constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN).

Construction

Dubbo was laid down by Mort's Dock and Engineering Company at Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 on 13 October 1941. She was launched on 7 March 1942 by Mrs. E. B. Scrisier, Mayoress of Dubbo, and was commissioned into the RAN on 31 July 1942.

World War II

From 1942 until March 1945, Dubbo was assigned to convoy escort anti-submarine duties off the western Australian coast.

In March 1945, Dubbo sailed to Port Moresby

Port Moresby

Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...

, where she spent the rest of World War II around New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

 and the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

, actively supporting Australian land forces. Dubbo fired her first hostile shots on 25 April 1945, against a Japanese position on Muschu Island. This was the first of several bombardments performed by the ship against Japanese positions during the war. Dubbo was undamaged during all of these, and returned to Brisbane in May 1945.

The corvette received one battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....

for her wartime service: "Pacific 1942-45".

Post-war

In August 1945, Dubbo returned to the Solomon Islands, where she was part of minesweeping operations. She returned for refits in October 1945, and in January 1946 performed minesweeping duties off the Australian coast.

Decommissioning and fate

Dubbo was paid off into reserve on 7 February 1957, and was sold for scrap to Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha of Tokyo on 20 February 1958. In June 1958, Dubbo and the repair ship left Sydney under tow.