Platypus (I 56) 1916 - 1957
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| 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
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
|
| Died: 02-07-1918 | |||||
| Abbs, Gilbert | |||||
| Leading Seaman | Died: 02-07-1918 | ||||
| Died after contracting pneumonia. | |||||
| Died: 04-07-1918 | |||||
| Rennison, George | |||||
| Stoker 1st Class | Died: 04-07-1918 | ||||
| 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 |
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Events
| 14-10-1914 | Laid down |
| 28-10-1916 | Launched |
| 21-03-1917 | Commissioned |
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