HMAS Mercedes

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Medusa.

History
HMAS Mercedes during her service with the Royal Australian Navy
Singapore
Name:	Medusa
Namesake:	the mythical Medusa
Owner:	Ocean Steam Ship Co. (1913-1925) Straits Steam Ship Co. (1925-1939)
Operator:	Blue Funnel Line
Builder:	Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Company, Hong Kong
Launched:	1913
Fate:	Requisitoned by Royal Navy in 1939
United Kingdom
Name:	Medusa
In service:	1939
Out of service:	1942
Fate:	Transferred to Royal Australian Navy in 1942
Australia
Name:	Merecedes
In service:	1942
Out of service:	1946
Fate:	Returned to owners in 1946, later scuttled off Sydney on 23 January 1948
General characteristics
Tonnage:	793 gross tonnes
Length:	195 ft 8 in (59.64 m)
Beam:	31 ft 7 in (9.63 m)
Speed:	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)

HMAS Mercedes was an auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1942 until 1946. Built in 1913 for the Ocean Steam Ship Co. she was sold to the Straits Steam Ship Co. in 1925. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939 and converted into an auxiliary minesweeper and named HMS Medusa. She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1942 and renamed HMAS Mercedes until she was returned to her owners in 1946. She was sold and was scuttled off Sydney on 23 January 1948.

Construction and design

Built in 1913 by Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Co., Hong Kong as a passenger cargo vessel for the Ocean Steam Ship Co. based at Singapore.

Operational service

She plied the Singapore straits as part of the Blue Funnel Line until she was requisitioned in 1939 by the Royal Navy and conversion into an auxiliary minesweeper and commissioned as HMS Medusa. She was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in 1942 and renamed HMAS Mercedes upon commissioning on 6 July 1942.

Fate

She was returned to her owners in 1946 and was sold for breaking up at Drummoyne, Sydney.^[1] Her hull was scuttled off Sydney on 23 January 1948.33°59′54″S 151°36′03″E / 33.998367°S 151.600950°E / -33.998367; 151.600950Coordinates: 33°59′54″S 151°36′03″E / 33.998367°S 151.600950°E / -33.998367; 151.600950

Citations

↑ "Mutual Sales". The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 15 August 1947 p.18. Retrieved 31 March 2011.

References

Shipwrecks and scuttled vessels of New South Wales

Shipwrecks by region

Richmond–Tweed	Adventure Agnes Enterprize Tassie III HMAS Waree SS Wollongbar I

Mid North Coast	Abbey Ability Absalom Acielle Admiral Gifford Adonis Advance Agnes Irving Edwin Fairwind SS Fingal Fitzroy Jane Kooroongaba Titan Crane Trial SS Wollongbar II

Hunter	Ability Acme Active (1850) Active (1877) Ada Ada and Ethel Adelaide Adolphe Advance Agnes Alhambra Bee The Bluebell Collision SS Catterthun SS Cawarra Contest Dundee Eleanor Lancaster Elizabeth Henrietta (1816) Estramina Excalibur Francis Governor Hunter Governor King Grecian Hope HMAS K9 Lindus Merksworth TSS Maianbar Norfolk SS Oakland Recovery MV Sygna Wendouree USS WST-1

Central Coast	Adelaide Advance SS Allenwood SS Bonnie Dundee Hazard Nimbin HMAS Paterson

Northern Sydney	Adelaide Aenid Argument Charlotte Narara HMAS Swan Tuncurry Whale Windsor

Sydney Eastern Suburbs	Agnes Colonist Dunbar Edward Lombe HMAS Goolgwai Greycliffe disaster PS Herald Hereward SS Iron Chieftain Iserbrook Itata HMAS Karangi Kate HMAS Kuttabul Martha Three Bees William Cossar HMAS Woomera

Southern Sydney	Adelphoi Advance (1872) Advance (1874) Koonya

Illawarra	Adele Adolphus Agnes Comboyne Hawkesbury Packet Queen of Nations Shockwave

Shoalhaven	Advance Aeolus Agnes Hive Koraaga Nancy HMAS Voyager Wandra

Far South Coast	George Iron Knight Olive Cam

Scuttled vessels

New South Wales portal
Nautical portal

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/22/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.