See main article: Bathurst-class corvette. In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate.[1] [2] The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least, and a range of [3] The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a top speed, and a range of, armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with asdic, and able to be fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels.[1] [4] Construction of the prototype did not go ahead, but the plans were retained.[5] The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including Kalgoorlie) ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and four for the Royal Indian Navy.[1] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Kalgoorlie was laid down by BHP at its Whyalla shipyard on 27 July 1940.[9] She was launched on 7 August 1941 by the wife of Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV, and was commissioned into the RAN on 7 April 1942.[9]
After completing trials, Kalgoorlie was assigned as a convoy escort.[9] Initially operating along the east coast of Sydney, the corvette was moved to Darwin in August 1942 and taken with convoys between Australia, Thursday Island and Timor.[9] On 25 September, Kalgoorlie and sister ship evacuated the ship's company of the destroyer, which had run aground at Betano Bay two days before.[9] In early December, Kalgoorlie was involved in the search for survivors from her sister ship, which had been sunk by Japanese aircraft on 1 December.[9] Kalgoorlie eventually recovered 49 of the survivors.[9]
In April 1943, the corvette returned to the east coast of Australia, still operating as a convoy escort.[9] On 15 June, a thirteen-ship convoy heading for Brisbane and escorted by Kalgoorlie and sister ships,,, and, was attacked off Smoky Cape.[9] The United States Army Transport Portmar and the US Navy Landing ship were torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-174: the former sinking in minutes with the loss of only two lives, while 26 were killed aboard the latter ship, which survived and was towed to port.[9] [10] Despite attempts to locate the submarine immediately after the attack, and a multiple-day search performed by Kalgoorlie, I-174 escaped unharmed.[9] This was the last submarine attack to be made on the east coast of Australia during World War II.[10]
Kalgoorlie spent the first half of 1944 as a convoy escort between Queensland and New Guinea, then joined sister ship in clearing the minefields laid by throughout the Great Barrier Reef during the early part of the war.[9] During August and September, the two corvettes located and destroyed almost 500 mines.[9] Kalgoorlie spent the rest of the year on convoy escort duties, before joining the British Pacific Fleet at the end of 1944.[9] The corvette operated with the Pacific Fleet until 15 July 1945, when she arrived in Brisbane for a refit.[9] Kalgoorlie was still undergoing refit when the war ended.[9] After the refit, the corvette operated in New Guinea and Australian waters until early May 1946.
The corvette was awarded four battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942–43", "Pacific 1942–43", "New Guinea 1943–44", and "Okinawa 1945".[11] [12]
Kalgoorlie paid off on 8 May 1946, and was recommissioned on the same day into the Royal Netherlands Navy as HNLMS Ternate.[9] It was scrapped in Japan in 1962.[13]