HMAS Gawler Plaque
2023.115.4
Heraldic arms of HMAS Gawler
Name/Title
HMAS Gawler PlaqueEntry/Object ID
2023.115.4Description
A wooden shield, with a crest of the HMAS Gawler attached.Use
HMAS Gawler (J188/B241/A115), was one of 20 Bathurst-class corvettes built for the Admiralty during WWII, but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It was the first RAN warship to carry the name of Gawler, a country town located in South Australia. Gawler predominantly served as an escort vessel during WWII. From January to April 1943, it served as an escort vessel to Indian Ocean convoys, and as part of the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla in the Mediterranean from May to October 1943, which included the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Decommissioned from the RAN in April 1946, the Admiralty transferred the ship to the Turkish Navy, where she was recommissioned as TCG Ayvalik. The corvette remained in Turkish service until 1963. HMAS Gawler (FCPB 212), was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), commissioned into the RAN on 27 August 1983. These ships were the Navy’s principal contribution to the nation's fisheries protection, immigration, customs and drug law enforcement operations. Gawler was decommissioned at HMAS Coonawarra on 8 July 2006 and broken up for scrap in Darwin during 2006 and 2007.Category
Memorabilia, Plaque, Heraldry