HMAS Encounter (naval base)

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Encounter and HMAS Torrens.

HMAS Encounter
Birkenhead, South Australia
Near Adelaide, in Australia
HMAS Encounter is located in South Australia
HMAS Encounter
HMAS Encounter
Coordinates34°50′21″S 138°29′53″E / 34.839088°S 138.498012°E / -34.839088; 138.498012
TypeNaval base
Site information
Owner Royal Australian Navy
Operator Royal Australian Navy
Site history
In use
  • HMAS Cerberus IV (13 September 1939 (1939-09-13) – 1 August 1940 (1940-08-01))
  • HMAS Torrens (1 August 1940 (1940-08-01) – 1 March 1965 (1965-03-01))
  • HMAS Encounter (1 March 1965 (1965-03-01) – 21 March 1994 (1994-03-21))
  • NHQ-SA (21 March 1994 (1994-03-21) – 28 May 2022 (2022-05-28))
Fate
Garrison information
Current
commander		Commander Emma McDonald-Kerr
GarrisonRAN Band South Australia Personnel Support

HMAS Encounter is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) naval base located in Birkenhead, South Australia. Initially in operation between 1965 and 1994,[1] the base was recomissioned by Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, on 28 May 2022.

Formerly HMAS Torrens commissioned in August 1940 before being commissioned as HMAS Encounter in 1965.

With the base closure in June 1994, a Navy Support Office South Australia, later Navy Headquarters-SA (NHQ-SA) was established in Keswick Barracks. As a result of the growing importance of South Australian shipbuilding and the growth in RAN personnel in South Australia, HMAS Encounter was recommissioned in May 2022 with initial accommodation at Keswick Barracks and to be relocated to accommodation in Osborne, South Australia at a later time.[2]

  1. ^ "HMAS Encounter – Decommissioning at Port Adelaide". Naval Historical Review. Naval Historical Society of Australia. June 1994. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  2. ^ Macdonald, Anna (31 May 2022). "Navy establishment recommissioned in South Australia". The Mandarin.