HMAS Arunta (1942-1956)
Displacement, Tons 1970 (standard) 2675 (full load)
Dimensions, Feet (Metres) 377.5 x 36.5 x 15.5 (114.9 x 11 x 5)
Range 3080 nm @ 14 knots
Max. speed 36.5 knots
Complement 13 officers, 248 ratings
Builder Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Co., Sydney, NSW
Cost 500,000 Pounds
Between 1939 and 1945 Cockatoo Island Dockyard built three destroyers to the British Tribal Class design, Arunta, Warramunga, and Bataan (ex-Kurnai). Fast, handy, and well-armed, the Tribals were the largest British destroyers of the time, and chiefly tasked for surface action. The RAN hoped to order several more from local shipyards, but cancelled the remainder when it became clear that destroyers could be obtained more rapidly from the Royal Navy. The three Australian Tribals benefited from wartime experience and incorporated developments in radars and close-range anti-aircraft weapons.
Launched on 30 October 1940, Arunta became a veteran of almost every South West Pacific campaign. She commissioned on 30 april 1942, and within three weeks began operational duties as a convoy escort off the New South Wales coast. After spending time on escort duties between Townsville and New Guinea, Arunta took part in the evacuation of guerrilla troops from Timor in January 1943, then later became a unit of the joint RAN/USN Task Force 74. Subsequent operations included, patrol, escort, and bombardments tasks during the amphibious campaigns in New Guinea, Bougainville and New Britain. In October 1944 Arunta took part in the reconquest of the Phillipines, including pre-landing bombardments at Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Surigao Strait. In January 1945 she was involved in the second phase of the Philippines campaign, suffering a near miss from a kamikaze at Lingayen Gulf that killed two ratings. From May to July Arunta supported the landings of Australian troops at Wewak, Brunei Bay, and Balikpapan.
In the post-war period Arunta served several times in Japanese waters as part of the occupation force. In July 1946 she carried Commodore Collins to Manila for the inauguration of the Philippines Republic. Arunta entered Cockatoo dockyard in 1950 for a modernisation that included new anit-submarine equipment, new radar, and close-range guns. In 1952 she recommissioned and thereafter regularly served in the Far East, carrying out a Korean Armistice Patrol in 1954 and joining the FESR in 1955. In February 1956, Arunta was deployed to northern Australian waters for fishery patrols. On 21 October 1956 she paid off into Operation Reserve, finally being sold for scrap in November 1968. On 13 February 1969 she sank while under tow to Formosa.
