HMAS Parramatta (D55)

HMAS Parramatta (D55)

HMAS Parramatta, named for the Parramatta River, was a River-class torpedo-boat destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Ordered in 1909 for the Commonwealth Naval Forces (the predecessor of the RAN), Parramatta was the first ship launched for the Australian navy. Temporarily commissioned into the Royal Navy for the delivery voyage to Australia, the destroyer came under Australian naval control in 1910, and on 1 March 1911 was recommissioned into the RAN, shortly before its founding.

From 1914 to 1917, Parramatta was involved in wartime patrols in the Pacific and South East Asian regions, before she and her sister ships were transferred to the Mediterranean for anti-submarine operations. She returned to Australia in 1919, and was placed in reserve. Apart from a brief period of full commission during the visit of the Prince of Wales, Parramatta remained in reserve commission until 1928. She was fully decommissioned in 1928, stripped of parts, and sold for use as prisoner accommodation on the Hawkesbury River. After changing hands several times, the hull ran aground during gale conditions in 1933, and was left to rust. In 1973, the bow and stern sections were salvaged, and converted into memorials.