HMAS Huon (D50)
HMAS Huon (D50), named after the Huon River, was a River-class torpedo-boat destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Originally to be named after the River Derwent, the ship was renamed before her 1914 launch because of a naming conflict with a Royal Navy vessel.
HMAS Huon during her trials in December 1915 | |
History | |
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Australia | |
Namesake | Huon River |
Builder | Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company |
Laid down | 25 January 1913 |
Launched | 19 December 1914 |
Completed | 4 February 1916 |
Commissioned | 14 December 1915 |
Decommissioned | 7 June 1928 |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Scuttled 10 April 1931 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | River-class torpedo-boat destroyer |
Displacement | 700 tons |
Length |
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Beam | 24 ft 3.375 in (7.40093 m) |
Draught | 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) |
Propulsion | 3 Yarrow boilers, Parsons geared turbines, 10,000 SHP, 3 propellers |
Speed |
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Complement | 5 officers and 60 sailors |
Armament |
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Huon was commissioned into the RAN in late 1915, and after completion was deployed to the Far East. In mid-1917, Huon and her five sister ships were transferred to the Mediterranean. Huon served as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol ship until a collision with sister ship HMAS Yarra in August 1918 saw Huon drydocked for the rest of World War I. After a refit in England, Huon returned to Australia in 1919.
The destroyer spent several periods alternating between commissioned and reserve status over the next nine years, with the last three spent as a reservist training ship. Huon was decommissioned for the final time in 1928, and was scuttled in 1931 after being used as a target ship.