HMAS Platypus (1917)

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HMAS Platypus with all six Australian J-class submarines in 1919
History
United Kingdom
Builder	John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland
Laid down	14 October 1914
Launched	28 October 1916
Commissioned	21 March 1917
Decommissioned	1919
Fate	Transferred to Royal Australian Navy
Australia
Commissioned	25 March 1919
Decommissioned	13 May 1946 (into reserve) 1 November 1956 (paid off for disposal)
Renamed	HMAS Penguin (1929) HMAS Platypus (1941)
Reclassified	Destroyer tender 1922–1929 Submarine tender 1929–1930 Depot ship 1930–1941 Base ship/training ship 1941–1944 Maintenance ship 1944–1946
Stricken	20 February 1958
Motto	"Nothing Too Difficult"
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Darwin 1942–43
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1958
General characteristics
Displacement	3,476 tons
Length	310 ft (94 m) (water line) 325 ft (99 m) (overall)
Beam	44 ft (13 m)
Draught	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Propulsion	2 sets of triple expansion reciprocating steam engines, twin screw
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Armament	1 × 4.7-inch gun

HMAS Platypus was a submarine depot ship and base ship operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1919 and 1946. Ordered prior to World War I to support the Australian submarines AE1 and AE2, Platypus was not completed until after both submarines had been lost, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy from 1917 to 1919.

After the RAN acquired six J-class submarines, Platypus was recommissioned as an Australian warship. She was repurposed as a destroyer tender after the J class was removed from service in the 1920s, tasked with supporting the two O-class submarines during 1929 and 1930. After the submarines were placed in reserve, Platypus was renamed HMAS Penguin and operated as a depot ship until 1941. The ship assumed her old name and was relocated to Darwin, then Cairns for use as a base ship. After a refit in 1944, Platypus operated as a repair vessel in New Guinea waters until she was placed into reserve in 1946. Platypus was sold for scrap in 1958.