HMAS Derwent
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Two ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named for the Derwent River in Tasmania which rises in Lake St. Clair and flows into the sea at Storm Bay.
The first HMAS Derwent (F-22/DE-49) was a River class destroyer laid down by the Williamstown Naval Dockyard at Melbourne in Victoria on 17 June 1959, launched on 17 April 1961 and commissioned on 23 April 1964. HMAS Derwent paid off on 8 August 1994 and was sunk after being used for trials off Western Australia.
The second HMAS Derwent is a Huon class minehunter.
HMAS DERWENT (DE-49) Rockingham Western Australia
HMAS DERWENT 4.5 INCH GUN TURRET
This gun turret was orinally mounted on the destriyer escort HMAS DERWENT (DE-49) which served in the Royal Australian navy Between 1964-1994. It is a Vickers 4.5 inch (114mm)/45 Mk 6 gun turret which was capable of firing 20 rounds per barrel per minute to a range of 10 kilometres.
HMAS DERWENT holds the distinction of being the first RAN ship to launch a guided missile when she fired a Seacat missile on 25th May. 1964
De commissioned at HMAS Stirling on 8th August. 1994 after 30 years service, HMAS DERWENT steamed 890,927 nautical miles during her naval career. Folloing scienttific tests to study ship survivability. DERWENT was sunk in deep water 15 nautical miles west of Rottnest Island as a Fish Attraction Device on 21st December. 1994 Information bought to you by rockinghamgateway.com