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HMAS MILDURA - NAVAL TRAINING SHIP 1951-1965 | |
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| At the of the war, HMAS MILDURA spent three year on minesweeping duties. The ship was then kept in reserve at Garden Island Western Australia, before being commissioned as a naval reserve ship training National Servicemen in 1951. During this time the ship sailed 27,503 miles and trained 380 national servicemen, 521 reserve ratings and 33 reserve officers. After paying off in 1953, MILDURA was moored in the Brisbane River as an immobilized naval training depot. Please email me with any stories, pictures, or anecdotes from this period in the ship's history. If you would like to be contacted when this page is updated, please send an email to hmasmildura@hotmail.com Stories: The HMAS MILDURA was involved in the British Atomic tests carried out in the Monte Bellos Islands during 1952-3. The islands are 1270km north of Perth. The Naval Officer-in-Charge, Western Australia, Captain F. Bryce Morris, praised the MILDURA for the work she had carried out in preparing the islands. He said the explosions would have been delayed, but the MILDURA had efficiently organized the transhipment and landing of 300 tons of perforated steel planking for "landing hards" on the beaches. The first bomb was detonated on October 3, 1952. The second test occurred on Trimouille Island on May 16, 1956. The third and final test took place on June 19, 1956 on Alpha Islands. Former MILDURA and FREMANTLE crew member, Max Kimber OAM, was involved in testing for residual radiation after the first test. "I first joined HMAS MILDURA in late 1952 while it was still involved in National Service training, and experienced a considerable amount of sea time with her in and around the Monte Bellos Islands, although at that stage we were not involved in any tests. I served on the FREMANTLE from June 1953 until July 1955 and during this time was involved in the Atomic Tests at Monte Bellos. In November, 1953, FREMANTLE was sent to the Monte Bellos Islands with scientists. I was part of the landing party and boats coxswain for the two week stay there. This, of course, involved us in the transportation of scientists to and from the Island daily, plus on land assistance to them. This involved destroying their protective clothing each day and having a salt water shower operating for them. While we handled their protective clothing etc, it should be noted that we only had on Navy issue shorts and shirts; no protective clothing was considered necessary for the ship's crew. I can remember on one occasion returning to the ship and was found to be so radioactive that I had to remove all my clothing on the quarterdeck which was then burnt, while I was hosed down with a fire hose. My sandals were soaked in a bucket of sea water overnight. It was also interesting because the sea water was pumped direct from the bay within a few metres of where the atomic bomb was exploded. After my discharge from the Navy in 1958, I had already begun to develop skin cancer to all parts of my body and to this day continue to receive treatment from Comcare. It was through this that the Nuclear Veterans (later the Australian Ex-Services Atomic Veterans' Association) was formed. The biggest problem the Association faces is to have the Government accept responsibility for the thousands of service personnel who were used for the British experiments in Australia. The Government continues to state that we were exposed to no danger, yet as they were experimental tests, how would they know. Even to this day very little is known about the amount of exposure that is needed to cause any effect. In 1995 I was elected National President of the Association and have worked hard to have our cause acknowledged by the Government."
THE MILDURA'S LAST CRUISETWO POLICEMEN CHASE AND LASSO SHIP Brisbane, Sunday Two water policemen today chased and captured a runaway navy Corvette. Their quick thinking prevented the 815-ton vessel ramming a British freighter. The unmanned Corvette HMAS MILDURA spent 90 minutes at large in the Brisbane River. Police and naval authorities believe youths slipped its moorings and set it adrift. A strong tide carried the Corvette downstream. During its quarter mile voyage, the Corvette stuck once on a mud bank but broke free just as its pursuers arrived. The alarm was first given at 1:15pm. By 1:30 the Corvette was on the mud bank, apparently stuck fast at. Water police advised naval authorities, who organised a tug. Water police Sergeant A.A.Edmunds and Constable Robert Fuller were investigating when they noticed that the MILDURA had started to move again. They sprinted 500 yards down the riverbank and climbed through a hole in a wire gate to the Wharf. As the Corvette swept past, they jumped several feet to the deck, grabbed wire hawsers and threw them around bollards on the wharf. The Corvette came to a halt 100 yards from the freighter, Port St Lawrence. The tug arrived five minutes later. A Navy spokesman said that the 186-foot Corvette launched in 1941, had been for some years a training ship in Brisbane. It was normally moored at the New Farm naval depot at but last week was moved to make way for an American Navy submarine. There was no damage to the ship or other property.
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In June 1953, HMAS FREMANTLE arrived in Western Australia to relieve the MILDURA and members of both crews were allowed to swap ships. I joined the FREMANTLE on the 15th June, 1953 and the MILDURA returned to the eastern states to pay off. I was, of course, part of the paying off crew of MILDURA and still have a pewter mug which was presented to all members of the crew prior to her departure from WA.