HMAS Shoalhaven (K535/M535/F535), named for the Shoalhaven River in New South Wales, was a modified of the Royal Australian Navy. She was laid down by Walkers at Maryborough on 18 December 1943, launched on 14 December 1944 by Senator Dorothy Tangney and commissioned at Urangan Pier in Hervey Bay in Queensland on 2 May 1946. Her first commander was Commander Rodney Rhoades.
Operational history
1940s
After her commissioning, Shoalhaven made several trips to New Guinea between 1946 and 1948, supporting a mines clearance unit. Between January and April 1949, she participated in exercises with the Royal Navy and United States Navy in Asia, visiting both Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Shoalhaven returned to Australia in June 1949. She was again assigned to the Far East to support the Commonwealth occupation forces in Japan, arriving at Kure in January 1950. Shoalhaven was in Kure on 25 June 1950 when North Korea unexpectedly invaded South Korea, escalating the conflict on the peninsula to open warfare.
Korean War
Shoalhaven was committed to military action in support of South Korea on 29 June, again assigned to the British Far East Fleet commanded by Rear-Admiral William Andrewes. providing escort for United Nations ships carrying troops and ammunition to Korean ports from Japan. Having successfully escorted an American ship Sergeant George D. Keathley from Tsushima Island into the port of Busan, on 2 July she departed for the American base at Sasebo, Japan carrying a South Korean liaison party. On 6 July, Shoalhaven joined the destroyer USS Collett off the west coast of Korea where she was performed blockade duties during a three day patrol. The frigate then resumed her escort role through July and August, successfully escorting 14 convoys during her tour.
At the outbreak of the war, Shoalhaven had been due to return to Australia for refit. With the arrival of HMAS Warramunga on 6 September, she completed her brief tour, arriving at Garden Island on 22 September.
1950s
After her return from Korea, Shoalhaven operated mostly within Australian and New Guinea waters, including participating in a British nuclear weapons test in the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia as part of Operation Hurricane. Her last foreign deployment lasted from July 1954 to March 1955, patrolling waters between Hong Kong, Japan and Korea to enforce the Korean Armistice.