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Platypus (I 56) 1916 - 1957

Built By: Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (Clyde)
Build Group: I 56
Fate: Platypus was placed into reserve on 13 May 1946, paid off on 1 November 1956 and was sold for scrap on 20 February 1958.
Platypus (I 56) 1916 - 1957
Platypus (I 56) 1916 - 1957

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HMAS Platypus was a submarine depot ship and base ship operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1919 and 1946. Ordered prior to World War I to support the Australian submarines AE1 and AE2, Platypus was not completed until after both submarines had been lost, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy from 1917 to 1919.

After the RAN acquired six J class submarines, Platypus was recommissioned as an Australian warship. She was reroled as a destroyer tender after the J class was removed from service in the 1920s, tasked with supporting the two O class submarines during 1929 and 1930.

After the submarines were placed in reserve, Platypus was renamed HMAS Penguin and operated as a depot ship until 1941.

The ship assumed her old name and was relocated to Darwin, then Cairns for use as a base ship.

After a refit in 1944, Platypus operated as a repair vessel in New Guinea waters until she was placed into reserve in 1946.

Roll of Honour

2
Abbs, Gilbert
Died: 2nd Jul, 1918.
Leading Seaman
Died after contracting pneumonia.
Rennison, George
Died: 4th Jul, 1918.
Stoker 1st Class
Reported to have died from a combination of influenza and pneumonia.

George Rennison was a Reservist who had served in the Submarine Depot Ship HMS Vulcan Dundee pre-WWI and who had served with the Royal Naval Division in France before joining HMS Platypus

Events

 14-10-1914   Laid down
 28-10-1916   Launched
 21-03-1917   Commissioned
I 56 Specification
Displacement  3,476 tons
Length  325 ft
Beam  44 ft
Draught  15 ft 8 in
Propulsion  2 sets of triple expansion reciprocating steam engines, twin screw
Speed  15.5 knots
Armament  1 x 4.7-inch gun
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Ambrose (F08) 1903 - 1946

Class: Depot Ships
Built By: Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (Clyde)
Build Group: F08
Fate:
Scrapped at Inverkeithing November 1946
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