HMAS Yarra
Four ships of the
Royal Australian Navy have been named for the
Yarra River in
Victoria which rises north-east of
Melbourne and flows into Port Phillip.
The first
HMAS Yarra (D-79) was a River class torpedo boat destroyer laid down by Denny Brothers at
Dumbarton in
Scotland, launched on
9 April 1910 by Mrs. N. J. Moore, wife of the Honourable Newton J. Moore, Premier of
Western Australia, commissioned as a
Royal Navy ship for the voyage to
Australia on
10 September 1910 at
Greenock in Scotalnd, and passed to the control of the Australian government at
Broome in Western Australia on
15 November 1910.
Yarra operated with the fleet in the search for the German Pacific Squadron, took part in the capture of the German Colonies in the South West Pacific, was present at the surrender of German New Guinea at
Rabaul on
13 September 1914, assisted in the consolidation of the Australian occupation of
New Guinea and
New Britain, served with the British Far East Patrol at Sandakan in
Borneo and
Singapore, operated in the
Mediterranean Sea as part of the British 5th Destroyer Flotilla, operated with an Allied Squadron in the
Black Sea, returned to Australia on
21 May 1919.
HMAS Yarra paid off on
30 September 1929 and was broken up at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard in
1930.
The second
HMAS Yarra was a Grimsby class
sloop.
The third
HMAS Yarra (F-07/45) was a River class destroyer escort laid down by the Williamstown Naval Dockyard at
Melbourne in
Victoria on
9 April 1957, launched on
30 September 1958 by Lady McBride, wife of the Minister for Defence and commissioned on
27 July 1961.
HMAS Yarra paid off on
22 November 1985.
The fourth
HMAS Yarra is a Huon class minehunter.