HMAS Bendigo (J187)

The first HMAS "Bendigo" (J187/B237/A111) was a Bathurst class corvette laid down by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company at Sydney in New South Wales on 12 August 1940, launched on 1 March 1941 by Dame Mary Hughes, wife of the Minister for the Navy, and commissioned on 10 May 1941.

HMAS "Bendigo" joined the Royal Navy's China Squadron based at Singapore in September 1941 and first saw action off Malaya in the Netherlands East Indies during the early months of the Pacific War. She returned to Australia on 8 March 1942 and escorted convoys in Australian and New Guinean waters until 1945. In March 1945 "Bendigo" joined the British Pacific Fleet and took part in the Battle of Okinawa. Following the end of the war "Bendigo" operated as a minesweeper in the Hong Kong area before returning to Australia in December 1945.

HMAS "Bendigo" paid off on 27 September 1946, was sold to the Ta Hing Company of Hong Kong as a seagoing vessel and renamed "Cheung Hing". The ship was later acquired by the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and re-armed for naval service under the name "Loyang". She appears to have left PLAN service by 1988.

External links

* [http://www.navy.gov.au/HMAS_Bendigo_(I) RAN Page for HMAS "Bendigo" I]