| Navy | The Royal Australian Navy |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Class | Bathurst |
| Pennant | J 241 |
| Built by | Evans Deakin Ltd. (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) |
| Ordered | 16 May 1941 |
| Laid down | 1 Nov 1941 |
| Launched | 16 May 1942 |
| Commissioned | 3 Jan 1943 |
| End service | 26 Aug 1946 |
| History | Decommissioned to reserve on 26 August 1946. |
Commands listed for HMAS Bunbury (J 241)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | T/Lt. John Symington Bell, RANR(S) | Dec 1942 | 6 Jul 1944 |
| 2 | Lt. John Farquharson Bleckman, RANR(S) | 6 Jul 1944 | Sep 1945 |
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Notable events involving Bunbury include:
9 Nov 1944
During 9 and 10 November 1944, HMS Sea Rover (Lt. J.P. Angell, RN), HMS Spiteful (Lt.Cdr. F.H. Sherwood, DSC, RCNVR) and HMS Sturdy (Lt. W.St.G. Anderson, DSC, RNR) conducted exercises off Fremantle. These also included night exercises.
Convoy attack exercises were carried out during which HMAS Bunbury (Lt. J.F. Bleckman, RANR(S)), HMAS Inverell (Lt. A.I. Chapman, RANR(S)), HMAS Launceston (T/A/Lt.Cdr. E.J. Barron, RANR(S)), HMAS Mildura (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Little, RANR(S)) and HMAS Warrnambool (Lt.Cdr.(Emgy.) E.J.B. Wight, RAN) served as the targets. (1)
22 Nov 1944
During 22 and 23 November 1944, HMS Sirdar (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN), conducted exercises off Fremantle. These included night exercises. These included practice attacks on USS Coucal (Lt.Cdr. D.H. Byerly, USNR). During the night convoy attack exercises were carried out with USS Coucal, HMAS Bunbury (Lt. J.F. Bleckman, RANR(S)), HMAS Inverell (Lt. A.I. Chapman, RANR(S)) and HMAS Warrnambool (Lt.Cdr.(Emgy.) E.J.B. Wight, RAN) pretending to be a convoy. (2)
17 Dec 1944
At 0023 hours (zone -9.5), HMS Sea Rover (Lt. J.P. Angell, RN) and HMAS Bunbury (Lt. J.F. Bleckman, RANR(S)) collide with each other in position 31°45'S, 115°13'E. Damage is caused to both ships.
At 0505 hours ended her 8th war patrol (7th in the Far East and 2nd in the South-West Pacific area) when she entered Fremantle harbour. (3)
5 Feb 1945
USS Blenny (Cdr. W.H. Hazzard, USN) departed from Fremantle for her 2nd war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the South China Sea off the coast of French Indo-China. Before proceeding to her patrol area exercises were carried out with HMAS Bunbury (Lt. J.F. Bleckman, RANR(S)).
Sources
- ADM 173/18679
- ADM 173/18790
- ADM 199/1871
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.