HMAS Queenborough

HMAS Queenborough in 1954 after conversion to an anti-submarine frigate
HMAS Queenborough in 1954, after conversion to an anti-submarine frigate
History
United Kingdom
NameQueenborough
NamesakeTown of Queenborough
BuilderSwan Hunter and Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne
Cost£725,000
Laid down6 November 1940
Launched16 January 1942
Commissioned15 September 1942
Completed10 December 1942
DecommissionedSeptember 1945
Honours and
awards
FateTransferred to Royal Australian Navy
Australia
CommissionedSeptember 1945
Recommissioned7 December 1954
Decommissioned10 July 1963
Recommissioned28 July 1966
Decommissioned7 April 1972
Reclassified
  • Anti-submarine frigate (1954)
  • Training ship (1966)
Motto"Seek And Slay"
Nickname(s)
  • Queenbee
  • Fighting 57[1]
Honours and
awards
FateSold for scrap
General characteristics [2](as launched)
Class and typeQ-class destroyer
Displacement2020 tons
Length358 feet and 9 Inches (109.99m)
Beam35 feet 9 inches (10.6m)
Draught9.5 ft (2.9 m)
Speed36 Knots (66.672 kmh)
Range4,680 nautical miles (8,670 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Armament
General characteristics (post conversion)
TypeModified Type 15 frigate
Draught15.5 ft (4.7 m)
PropulsionParsons geared turbines 2 x shafts
Range4,040 nautical miles (7,480 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)
Armament
NotesOther characteristics as above

HMAS Queenborough (G70/D270/F02/57) (originally HMS Queenborough (G70/D19)) was a Q-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Constructed during World War II as part of the War Emergency Programme, Queenborough was laid down in 1940 and launched in 1942, serving in the Arctic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theatres. After the war ended, the ship was transferred on loan to the RAN in exchange for an N-class destroyer, then given to Australia as a gift in 1950.

Queenborough was converted to an anti-submarine frigate, and served with the RAN until 1966. During this time, she was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve on multiple occasions, participated in numerous fleet exercises, and took on a partial training role. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve, but reactivated in 1969 as a training ship. Queenborough remained in service for another three years, until a series of mechanical and structural faults required that she be retired, decommissioning in 1972 and being scrapped in Hong Kong in 1975.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NNmysteryship was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "HMAS Queenborough". www.navy.gov.au. Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 17 December 2018.