From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
There have been two ships of the Royal Australian Navy with the name Hobart, after the capital city of Tasmania.
The first HMAS Hobart was a Leander class light cruiser, obtained from the Royal Navy as HMS Apollo and renamed. She saw much action during World War II including the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942.
Hobart was damaged by a torpedo in July 1943 and taken out of service for repairs and modernisation at the Cockatoo Docks in Sydney. She was back in service by December 1944, in time to participate in the amphibious assaults on the Philippines, Borneo, and Wewak. She was in Tokyo for the Japanese surrender in 1945.
Hobart was made part of the Navy Reserve following the war, and was decomissioned in 1962.
The second HMAS Hobart (D-39) was a Charles F. Adams class guided missile armed destroyer laid down by Defoe Shipbuilding at Bay City in Michigan on 26 October 1962, launched on 9 January 1964 and commissioned at Boston in Massachusetts on 18 December 1965.
Hobart served as plane guard for carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in Sea Dragon and Market Time operations, patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out gunfire support missions during the conflict in Vietnam.
HMAS Hobart paid off on 12 May 2000 and was sunk as a dive wreck off South Australia on 5 November 2002.
Hobart was awarded the United States Navy Unit Commendation for her service in Vietnam.
