View source for HMAS Quiberon (G81)

{{short description|Australian royal navy ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMAS Quiberon SLV AllanGreen.jpg
|Ship caption=HMAS ''Quiberon''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Australia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval-1913}}
|Ship namesake=[[Battle of Quiberon Bay]], 1759
|Ship builder=[[J. Samuel White]]
|Ship laid down=14 October 1940
|Ship launched=31 January 1942
|Ship commissioned=6 July 1942
|Ship decommissioned=26 June 1964
|Ship reclassified=Anti-submarine frigate (1954)
|Ship motto="Seek and Subdue"
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=*'''Battle honours:'''
*[[Battle of the Mediterranean|Mediterranean]] 1942
*[[North African Campaign|North Africa]] 1942–43
*[[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic]] 1943
*[[Indian Ocean in World War II|Indian Ocean]] 1943–44
*East Indies 1944
*[[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|Pacific]] 1944–45
*[[Battle of Okinawa|Okinawa]] 1945
*[[Japan campaign|Japan]] 1945
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap in 1972
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Header caption=(as launched)
|Ship class=[[Q and R-class destroyer|Q-class]] [[destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*1,705 tons standard
*2,424 tons deep load
|Ship length=*{{convert|361|ft|1.5|in|abbr=on}} [[length overall]]
*{{convert|339|ft|6|in|abbr=on}} [[between perpendiculars]]
|Ship beam={{convert|35|ft|8|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 [[Admiralty 3-drum boiler]]s, Parsons Impulse turbines, {{convert|40,000|shp|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|32.7|kn}}
|Ship range=*{{convert|1150|nmi}} at {{convert|32|kn}}
*{{convert|3560|nmi}} at {{convert|8|kn}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=8 officers, 181 sailors
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
*4 × [[QF 4.7 inch Mk IX|QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns]]
*1 × quadruple [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom AA guns]]
*6 × [[20 mm Oerlikon]] AA guns
*4 × [[Depth charge]] throwers
*2 × quadruple [[British 21 inch torpedo|{{convert|21|inch|mm|adj=on|0}} torpedo]] tube sets
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Header caption=(post conversion)
|Ship type=Modified [[Type 15 frigate]]
|Ship draught={{convert|15.5|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|4040|nmi}} at {{convert|16|kn}}
}}
|}
'''HMAS ''Quiberon'' (G81/D20/D281/F03)''' was a [[Q and R-class destroyer|Q-class]] destroyer of the [[Royal Australian Navy]] (RAN). Although built for the [[Royal Navy]] and remaining British property until 1950, ''Quiberon'' was one of two Q-class destroyers commissioned into the RAN during World War II. She was passed into full RAN ownership in 1950, and converted into an anti-submarine frigate.

==Design and construction==
{{main|Q and R-class destroyer}}
''Quiberon'' was one of eight Q-class destroyers constructed as a flotilla under the [[War Emergency Programme destroyers|War Emergency Programme]].<ref name=Cassells95>Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 95</ref> These ships had a standard displacement of 1,705 tons, and a deep load displacement of 2,424 tons.<ref name=Cassells95/> ''Quiberon'' was {{convert|361|ft|1.5|in}} [[length overall|long overall]], and {{convert|339|ft|6|in}} long [[between perpendiculars]], with a beam of {{convert|35|ft|8|in}}.<ref name=Cassells95/> Propulsion was provided by two [[Admiralty 3-drum boiler]]s connected to Parsons Impulse turbines, which generated {{convert|40000|shp}} for the propeller shafts.<ref name=Cassells96>Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 96</ref> ''Quiberon'' achieved a maximum speed of {{convert|32.7|kn}} during full-power trials.<ref name=Cassells96/> At {{convert|32|kn}}, she had a range of only {{convert|1150|nmi}}, but could travel {{convert|3560|nmi}} at {{convert|8|kn}}.<ref name=Cassells96/> The ship's company consisted of 8 officers and 181 sailors.<ref name=Cassells96/>

The ship's main armament consisted of four [[QF 4.7 inch Mk IX]] guns in single turrets.<ref name=Cassells96/> This was supplemented by a quadruple [[2-pounder pom-pom]], and six [[20 mm Oerlikon]] anti-aircraft guns. Four [[depth-charge]] throwers were fitted, with a payload of 70 charges carried, and two quadruple 21-inch torpedo tube sets were fitted, although a maximum of eight torpedoes were carried.<ref name=Cassells96/>

''Quiberon'' was laid down by [[J. Samuel White]] and Company at their shipyard in [[Cowes]], on the [[Isle of Wight]], on 14 October 1940.<ref name=Cassells96/> She was launched on 31 January 1942 by the wife of [[Rear Admiral]] S. D. Tillard, Flag Officer in Charge, [[Southampton]].<ref name=Cassells96/> ''Quiberon'' was commissioned into the RAN on 6 July 1942.<ref name=Cassells96/> Although commissioned as an Australian ship, the destroyer initially remained the property of the Royal Navy.<ref name=Cassells96/> The ship was named after the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]], which occurred in 1759.<ref name=Cassells95/>

==Operational history==

===World War II===
''Quiberon'' first served on North Atlantic convoy escort duty, operating out of Scapa Flow.<ref name=Cassells96/> She was assigned to support the [[Operation Torch|Allied landings in North Africa]] in October 1942.<ref name=Cassells96/> On 28 November, ''Quiberon'' attacked and sank the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Dessiè||2}} off the Tunisian coast.<ref name=Cassells96/> After this, the destroyer was assigned to "Force Q", which was based at [[Bône]] and consisted of three cruisers and two other Q-class destroyers.<ref name=Cassells96/>

====[[Battle of Skerki Bank]]====
Around midnight on 1 December, Force Q located and attacked an Italian convoy of four merchant ships and escorting destroyers about {{convert|40|mi}} to the north of [[Cape Bon]].<ref name=Cassells96/><ref>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', pp. 201–202</ref> All four supply ships, carrying mostly troops and munitions, were sunk, and at 01:35 on 2 December ''Quiberon'' fired the final shot into the Italian torpedo boat {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Lupo||2}} which was part of the escort of another convoy.<ref name=Cassells96/> While returning to port, sister ship {{HMS|Quentin|G78|6}} was torpedoed by a German aircraft: ''Quiberon'' evacuated most of the other destroyer's personnel.<ref name=Cassells96/> On 21 December, ''Quiberon'' rescued survivors from the passenger vessel ''Strathallen''.<ref name=Cassells96/>

====Indian Ocean and Pacific service====
[[File:HMAS Quiberon (301247).jpg|thumb|left|''Quiberon'' in 1945]]
In January 1943, the destroyer escorted a convoy from England to Cape Town, then made for Victoria, Australia for refit.<ref name=Cassells96/> After work was completed, ''Quiberon'' was assigned to the [[British Eastern Fleet]], primarily as a convoy escort across the Indian Ocean. In July 1943, the ship rescued survivors from {{SS|Jasper Park||2}}, that was sunk by U-boat ''[[U-177]]''.<ref name=Cassells96/> In April 1944, the destroyer was part of the carrier escort screen during [[Operation Cockpit]], then again in May for [[Operation Transom]]: air raids against Japanese forces occupying the [[Dutch East Indies]].<ref name=Cassells96/> After a brief refit in Melbourne, ''Quiberon'' resumed operations with the Eastern Fleet in August.<ref name=Cassells96/> In October, she took part in a series of fleet bombardments of the Japanese-held [[Nicobar Islands]].<ref name=Cassells96/> In mid December, ''Quiberon'' was reassigned to Australian waters as a convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol vessel.<ref name=Cassells96/> During early 1945, the destroyer was attached to the [[British Pacific Fleet]].<ref name=Cassells96/> Operating from [[Manus Island]], ''Quiberon'' took part in operations in support of the [[Battle of Okinawa|American seizure of Okinawa]] and [[Japan campaign|attacks on the Japanese home islands]].<ref name=Cassells96/>

====Immediate post-war service====
At the end of World War II, ''Quiberon'' was present at the Allied reoccupation of Singapore, and spent the period until February 1946 operating in the East Indies to help reestablish Dutch control, move troops, and repatriate prisoners-of-war.<ref name=Cassells97>Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 97</ref> The ship received eight [[battle honour]]s for her wartime service: "Mediterranean 1942", "North Africa 1942–43", "Atlantic 1943", "Indian Ocean 1943–44", "East Indies 1944", "Pacific 1945", "Okinawa 1945", and "Japan 1945".<ref name=newhonours>{{cite news |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |title=Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours |date=1 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613184920/http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |archive-date=13 June 2011 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=23 December 2012}}</ref><ref name=honourslist>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |title=Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours |date=1 March 2010 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614064156/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2011 |access-date=23 December 2012}}</ref> Between 1946 and 1948, ''Quiberon'' was deployed with the [[British Commonwealth Occupation Force]] on three occasions.<ref name=Cassells97/>

===Frigate conversion===
[[File:HMAS Quiberon (F03) underway c1960.jpeg|thumb|''Quiberon''{{'}}s post-conversion configuration.]]
In early 1950, the decision was made to convert all five Q-class destroyers in RAN service (three more had been acquired after World War II) to anti-submarine warfare frigates, similar to the [[Type 15 frigate]] conversions performed on several [[War Emergency Programme destroyers]] of the RN.<ref name=Coop168>Cooper, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 168</ref> A proposal was made by the Australian government to pay for the upgrade to the five on-loan vessels, at the predicted cost of [[Australian pound|AU£]]400,000 each.<ref name=Coop168/> Instead, the British Admiralty presented the ships to the RAN on 1 June as gifts.<ref name=Coop168/><ref name=Bas316>Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 316</ref> The conversions were part of an overall plan to improve the anti-submarine warfare capability of the RAN, although ''Quiberon'' and the other ships were only a 'stopgap' measure until purpose-built ASW frigates could be constructed.<ref name=Dono67>Donohue, ''From Empire Defence to the Long Haul'', p. 67</ref>

''Quiberon'' paid off on 15 May 1950 for conversion at [[Cockatoo Island Dockyard]] and [[Garden Island Dockyard]] in Sydney. She was recommissioned on 18 December 1957.<ref>Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', pp. 97–8</ref>

===Post-conversion service===
''Quiberon'' served in the Far East with the [[Commonwealth Strategic Reserve]] and as a unit of the Australian Fleet on the Australia Station.<ref name=gillet182>Gillett & Graham, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 182</ref> The frigate made a port visit to Burma in 1959; the last RAN vessel to do so until {{HMAS|Childers|ACPB 93|6}} in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Jan2014/Fleet/796 |title=HMAS Childers arrives in Burma |last=Department of Defence |date=21 January 2014 |work=Navy Daily |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=23 January 2014 |archive-date=25 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125163630/http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Jan2014/Fleet/796 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In October 1962 ''Quiberon'' together with [[HMAS Queenborough|HMAS ''Queenborough'']] rescued 25 survivors from the Panamaian merchant steamer ''Kawi'', which sank after being caught in a storm in the South China Sea. In December 1962, again with HMAS ''Queenborough'', HMAS ''Quiberon'' rescued the crew of the SS ''Tuscany'', which had run aground on a reef in the South China Sea.<ref>{{cite news |last=Morely |first=Dave |title=A Time of Reconnaissance and Rescues |url=http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/ |work=Navy News |volume=60 |issue=9 |date=1 June 2017 |publisher=Department of Defence |location=Canberra |page=13 |oclc=223485215}}</ref>

==Decommissioning and fate==
''Quiberon'' paid off to reserve on 26 June 1964. She was sold for scrap to the Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan on 15 February 1972, and left Sydney under tow on 10 April 1972.<ref>Gillett & Graham, ''Warships of Australia'', p. 183</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Bastock |first=John |title=Australia's Ships of War |year=1975 |publisher=Angus and Robertson |location=Cremorne, New South Wales |isbn=0-207-12927-4 |oclc=2525523}}
*{{cite book |last=Cassells |first=Vic |title=The Destroyers: Their Battles and Their Badges |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=East Roseville, New South Wales |isbn=0-7318-0893-2 |oclc=46829686}}
* {{cite book |last=Donohue |first=Hector |title=From Empire Defence to the Long Haul: post-war defence policy and its impact on naval force structure planning 1945–1955 |series=Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs |volume=1 |date=October 1996 |publisher=Sea Power Centre |location=Canberra |isbn=0-642-25907-0 |issn=1327-5658 |oclc=36817771}}
* {{cite book |last=Gill |first=G. Hermon |title=Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 |series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy |volume=II |edition=1st |year=1968 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra, Australian Capital Territory |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070208/ |oclc=65475}}
*{{cite book |last1=Gillett |first1=Ross |last2=Graham |first2=Colin |title=Warships of Australia|year=1977 |publisher=Rigby |location=Adelaide, South Australia |isbn=0-7270-0472-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Raven|first=Alan|author2=Roberts, John |title=War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes|publisher=Bivouac Books|location=London|date=1978|isbn=0-85680-010-4}}
* {{cite book |author=Stevens, David |author2=Sears, Jason |author3=Goldrick, James |author4=Cooper, Alastair |author5=Jones, Peter |author6= Spurling, Kathryn |editor=Stevens, David |title=The Royal Australian Navy |series=The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III) |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=South Melbourne, Victoria |isbn=0-19-554116-2 |oclc=50418095}}
* {{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Alastair |editor=Stevens, David |title=The Royal Australian Navy |chapter=The Korean War Era (pp 155–180)}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-quiberon|title=HMAS Quiberon |access-date=8 September 2015 |work=Ship Histories |publisher=Sea Power Centre Australia}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War 2|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|HMAS Quiberon (G81)}}

{{Q and R class destroyer}}
{{Type 15 frigate}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiberon (G81)}}
[[Category:Q-class destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy]]
[[Category:Type 15 frigates of the Royal Australian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built on the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of Australia]]