HMAS Geraldton (J178/B242/A116), named for the city of Geraldton, Western Australia

Geraldton, Western Australia

Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...

, 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

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and one of 20 built for the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 but manned by personnel of and commissioned into 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

Geraldton was laid down by Poole & Steele Limited 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 20 November 1940. She was launched on 16 August 1941 by the wife of William McKell

William McKell

Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....

, then Premier of New South Wales, and was commissioned into the RAN on 6 April 1942.

RAN service

After entering active service, Geraldton spent a bried period acting as an anti-submarine patrol ship off the east coast of Australia, before being assigned to the British Eastern Fleet

British Eastern Fleet

The British Eastern Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed from 1941 to 1971...

 in July 1942. Arriving in Colombo during August, Geraldton was the third Bathurst class corvette to join the Eastern Fleet. From August 1942 to April 1943, Geraldton escorted convoys between Colombo and the Persian Gulf.

In May 1943, Gerldton was assigned to the 22nd Minesweeping Flotilla and deployed to the Mediterranean. During this deployment, she served as a convoy escort, was involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily during July, and entered the Atlantic Ocean in August to meet a Mediterranean-bound convoy. The corvette returned to cross-Indian convoy duties in October, and contintued this duty until she was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet

British Pacific Fleet

The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...

 in January 1945 and returned to Australian waters. Before joining the Pacific Fleet, Geraldton underwent an armament reconfiguration in Melbourne during February, then a general two-month refit in Fremantle from March until May.

After refits, Geraldton was assigned to the east coast of Australia for four months, before moving north and serving as an escort for the Pacific Fleet's Fleet Train

Auxiliary ship

An auxiliary ship is a naval ship which is designed to operate in any number of roles supporting combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliaries are not primary combatants, although they may have some limited combat capacity, usually of a self defensive nature.Auxiliaries are extremely...

 until the end of World War II. After the end of the war, the corvette was deployed to Hong Kong, where she was present for the surrender ceremony on 16 September. While in Hong Kong, Geraldton supported the recovery and transfer of prisoners-of-war and performed anti-piracy duties. The corvette returned to Australia at the end of 1945, and spent the first part of 1946 operating from Fremantle, before the corvette was ordered to Colombo.

The corvette's wartime service was recognised with three 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....

s: "Pacific 1942", "Indian Ocean 1942-45", and "Sicily 1943".

Turkish Navy service

After the end of World War II, Geraldton was marked for transfer to the Turkish Navy

Turkish Navy

The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...

. After arriving in Colombo in late May, Geraldton was decommissioned on 14 June 1946. She was commissioned into the Turkish Navy as TCG Antalya on 24 August 1946.

Following the decommissioning of sister ship TCG Ayvalik (formerly HMAS Gawler

HMAS Gawler (J188)

HMAS Gawler , named for the town of Gawler, South Australia, was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy .-Construction:Gawler was laid down by the Broken Hill...

, Antalya was renamed Ayvalik. The corvette left service in 1975.