HMAS Quickmatch (G92)

HMAS "Quickmatch" (G92/D21/D292/F04), named for the quick-match, a fast burning match used for lighting cannon, was a Q class destroyer laid down by J. Samuel White and Company Limited of Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England on 6 February 1941. She was launched on 11 April 1942 by Mrs. Shearman, and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 14 September 1942. Despite being commissioned into the RAN, "Quickmatch" remained the property of the British government until the early 1950s, when she was gifted to the RAN.

The ship escorted convoys in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans until May 1944 when she became part of the British Eastern Fleet. After a period in Australian waters she was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet in March 1945.

On 15 May 1950, "Quickmatch" paid off for a major refit in which she was converted to an anti-submarine frigate at Williamstown Naval Dockyard in Victoria. She was recommissioned on 23 September 1955.

"Quickmatch" performed routine duties until she paid off to reserve at Williamstown on 26 April 1963. After paying off she served as an accommodation ship until she sold for scrap to the Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka in Japan on 15 February 1972. The ship departed Melbourne for Japan under tow on 6 July 1972.

References

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* Seapower Centre - Australia [http://www.navy.gov.au/HMAS_Quickmatch HMAS Quickmatch ship history]