A new workhorse for a new war: HMAS Bowen in the Second World War

Early in the Second World War, the Royal Australian Navy had an urgent need for a new kind of small and versatile ship that could be used in a wide range of roles. With no viable existing options available, the navy commissioned the design and quick construction of Bathurst Class corvettes.

Fifty new corvettes were delivered in 1941 and 1942 for Australia’s use, designated Bathurst Class after HMAS Bathurst, the first corvette to be built, named for the Australian city. These new ships proved to be incredibly effective in various operational areas around the world, earning a reputation as workhorses.  Despite being fitted with new technology for anti-submarine work, corvettes could still end up with out-dated weapons to use for defence. The men who served on corvettes came from many walks of life, and became highly regarded for their ability to work in many different roles. They formed close bonds during their service, with some friendships lasting for decades after the war.

Throughout the war, the corvettes were valued for their versatility, undertaking anti-submarine patrols, towing other vessels, training naval personnel, survey work, mine-sweeping in coastal waters and near harbours, and rescues at sea. Each covered huge distances in a few years, and millions of nautical miles in total.

Crew members had to be multi-skilled, adaptable, and able to live well with others in close quarters for extended times at sea. On a crowded corvette, ordinary ranks were “packed like sardines” on a ship that could take approximately 100 personnel in total. Attention to hygiene and efficient use of space was critical to enabling effective work and good morale. Officers had their own cabins, which sometimes resulted in isolation from the crew.

HMAS Bowen spent much of its war service patrolling northern coastal areas of Australia, especially the Queensland coast, and the waters and islands around New Guinea. The corvette was commissioned into service in November 1942, and from then onwards the ship and crew were kept very busy with a variety of tasks, so rarely stayed in one port or harbour or anchorage for more than a couple of days. Hunting submarines and patrolling harbour areas for mines, or attempts at sabotage, benefited from the Bowen and crew working as inconspicuously as possible. Doing that work could include: night-time entries into and exits from harbours, using quiet and remote mooring sites, and detection work done below water surfaces. The ship’s company could also stay on board, instead of becoming a very visible group of servicemen in a coastal town. As a result of working this way, the men’s prospects of shore leave were typically much more limited than if serving on a ship based at a home port. This situation only changed after the war, when Bowen was called on to help facilitate surrender ceremonies in the South West Pacific region. Throughout the war, Bowen’s typically short stays in ports and harbours meant there wasn’t time to wait for extensive repairs to be done to the ship, so a lot of necessary minor running repairs were done by the crew at sea, or while anchored near an island, or when connected to another ship that had resources for repair work.

Despite hunting enemy submarines and sailing hundreds of thousands of nautical miles, Bowen was never hit by a torpedo or mine, or sunk by enemy fire like the corvette HMAS Armidale. It wasn’t unscathed, though: Bowen was strafed by enemy fire in March 1943 while attempting to shield the Dutch ship Bantam from Japanese aerial attacks in Oro Bay. In November 1943, Bowen ran aground on a reef off Far North Queensland. The ship was given initial repairs in Cairns and Brisbane, before travelling south to Melbourne for further repairs and overhaul.

After Japan’s surrender in August 1945, news of the surrender was slow to spread through the many islands in the South-West Pacific which Japanese forces had occupied. An official Allied military presence was deemed essential for monitoring the progress of surrenders. There were surrender ceremonies to be performed, officers and enlisted men suspected of war crimes to be interrogated, weapons to surrendered, and departures from islands to be enforced.

HMAS Bowen was chosen as an accompanying vessel and would travel to various islands so Australian officers could aid and manage surrender processes. The ship would serve as temporary Australian territory for the interrogation of Japanese soldiers and the signing of official surrender documents. Travelling between islands, witnessing the end of Japanese occupation, and seeing islanders’ excited reactions to surrender processes gave Bowen’s company a change from long stretches of routine work. Some of Bowen’s crew got chances to meet islanders, hold sporting events with the crews of nearby ships, and assist army personnel with the seizure of Japanese equipment and weapons. For the daily record on 1 October 1945, Bowen’s captain noted:

“Demobilization is naturally the main topic of interest, but whilst the ship on interesting work, there is little opportunity for the unrest and dissatisfaction that can breed through inactivity”.

After assisting surrender processes, Bowen returned to Australia for final checks and de-commissioning. In the mid-1950s it was sold to a mill in Hong Kong and broken up for scrap. For the more than 800 men who served on Bowen it became a home away from home. All the ship’s company could very justly be proud of their contribution to Australia’s war efforts.

The ship’s Report of Proceedings has been digitised and is available to view on the Memorial’s website here