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HMAS ''Gawler'' (J188/B241/A115), 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 (RAN). The ship was laid down by Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd in early 1941, launched later that year, and commissioned in 1942. After a short assignment to Fremantle as an anti-submarine patrol ship, ''Gawler'' was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet as a convoy escort. In April 1943, she was sent to the Mediterranean for minesweeping duties. The corvette participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily, rescued survivors from the torpedoed troopship , and on one occasion escorted a convoy in the Atlantic. In October, ''Gawler'' rejoined the Eastern Fleet and resumed Indian Ocean convoy escort duties. After a refit at the start of 1945, ''Gawler'' joined the British Pacific Fleet. At the war's end, the corvette was tasked with mine-clearing and anti=piracy operations around Hong Kong, then sent to the Molucca Islands to inspect former Japanese facilities. ''Gawler'' was decommissioned from the RAN in April 1946. The Admiralty transferred the ship to the Turkish Navy, where she was recommissioned as TCG ''Ayvalik''. The corvette remained in Turkish service until 1963. ==Design and construction== (詳細はAustralian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate.〔Stevens, ''The Australian Corvettes'', p. 1〕〔Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 103〕 The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least , and a range of 〔Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 103–4〕 The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a top speed, and a range of , armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with asdic, and able to fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels.〔〔Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 103–5〕 Construction of the prototype did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.〔Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 104〕 The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including ''Gawler'') ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy.〔〔Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', pp. 105, 148〕〔Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 29〕〔Stevens et al., ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 108〕〔 ''Gawler'' was laid down by the Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd Shipyard at Whyalla, South Australia on 24 January 1941.〔 She was launched on 4 October 1941 by the wife of Sir Winston Dugan, then Governor of Victoria, and commissioned into the RAN on 14 August 1942.〔 The ship was originally to be named ''Gambier'', for the city of Mount Gambier, South Australia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMAS Gawler (J188)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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