HMAS Kinchela (Z96) was an auxiliary boom gate vessel of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built in 1914 as a cargo vessel for the Macleay River Co-operative Steamship Company.

HMAS Kinchela at Brisbane in 1944
HMAS Kinchela on the Brisbane River in 1944
History
Australia
Name
  • Tamban (1914–1915)
  • Kinchela (1915–??)
Owner
BuilderMorrison & Sinclair, Balmain
Launched1914
Completed1915
History
Australia
NameHMAS Kinchela
Acquired28 August 1942
FateSold in July 1946
General characteristics
Tonnage
  • 369 GRT – Cargo vessel
  • 209 GRT – Boom vessel
  • 111 GRT – Lighter
Length145 feet (44 m)
Beam31 feet (9.4 m)
Draught11 feet (3.4 m)
Installed powerTwo compound engines built by Mort's Dock & Engineering Company, Balmain
PropulsionTwin screw
Speed10 knots (max)

Built by Morrison & Sinclair, Balmain, as Tamban, for the Macleay River Co-operative Steamship Company, she was launched in 1914. Her compound engines were installed by Wildridge a Sinclair, Balmain. She was operated on the Milsons Point run.[1] She was renamed Kinchela in October 1915. She collided with a lighter at Darling Harbour on 25 June 1918.[2]

She was sold in 1922 to the North Coast Steam Navigation Company. She collided with Newcastle in Newcastle Harbour on 22 August 1922.[3] She ran aground on the spit at Port Macquarie, New South Wales in March 1933.[4] She was hulked in 1936 and her machinery was removed. Part of her machinery was fitted in Nambucca. Her hull was requisitioned by the RAN on 28 August 1942 and she was converted into an auxiliary boom gate vessel for use in the Brisbane River at Fort Lytton.[5] She was paid off for disposal in 1945 and while being towed to Sydney she almost sank.[6] She was sold in July 1946.

Notes

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  1. ^ "A New Steamer". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 1915. p. 8. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Collision in Darling Harbour". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 June 1918. p. 12. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Steamers Collide". Sydney Morning Herald. 23 August 1922. p. 14. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Steamer Kinchea, Aground On Spit". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 March 1933. p. 14. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  5. ^ "RAN Station 9 Pinkenba, (also known as Myrtletown) Indicator Loop Station and Photo-electric Beam". www.ozatwar.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  6. ^ "10 Hour Fight To Save Ship". The Advocate (Tasmania). 5 November 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 26 July 2012.