HMAS Burnie (J198/B238/A112), named for the city of Burnie, Tasmania, was one of 60 s constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Entering RAN service in April 1941, Burnie saw action during World War II, and was decommissioned on 5 July 1946. The corvette was sold to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) five days later, was renamed HNLMS Ceram, and remained in service until 1958.
Design and construction
In 1938, the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board (ACNB) identified the need for a general purpose 'local defence vessel' capable of both anti-submarine and mine-warfare duties, while easy to construct and operate. The vessel was initially envisaged as having a displacement of approximately 500 tons, a speed of at least , and a range of The opportunity to build a prototype in the place of a cancelled Bar-class boom defence vessel saw the proposed design increased to a 680-ton vessel, with a top speed, and a range of , armed with a 4-inch gun, equipped with asdic, and able to be fitted with either depth charges or minesweeping equipment depending on the planned operations: although closer in size to a sloop than a local defence vessel, the resulting increased capabilities were accepted due to advantages over British-designed mine warfare and anti-submarine vessels. Construction of the prototype did not go ahead, but the plans were retained. The need for locally built 'all-rounder' vessels at the start of World War II saw the "Australian Minesweepers" (designated as such to hide their anti-submarine capability, but popularly referred to as "corvettes") approved in September 1939, with 60 constructed during the course of the war: 36 ordered by the RAN, 20 (including Burnie) ordered by the British Admiralty but manned and commissioned as RAN vessels, and 4 for the Royal Indian Navy. on 28 February from the beach at Java Head. During the final days the ship was flagship for Commodore Collins commanding the China Force.
Royal Netherlands Navy service
Following the end of World War II, all of the Admiralty-operated Bathurst class corvettes were earmarked for disposal. Burnie, along with sister ships Ipswich and Toowoomba, were slated for transfer to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).