HMAS Colac HMAS " Colac " ( J242 / M05 ) , named for the town of Colac , Victoria , was one of 60 " Bathurst " class corvettes constructed during World War II , and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy ( RAN ) . Construction . " Colac " was laid down by Mort ' s Dock and Engineering Company at Balmain , New South Wales on 18 April 1941 . She was launched on 30 August 1941 by Miss M . Heady , senior lady on the staff of Morts Dock and Engineering , and commissioned into the RAN on 6 January 1942 . The ship was originally to be named HMAS " Hamilton " . Operational history . World War II . After entering service , " Colac " was assigned as an anti - submarine patrol and convoy escort vessel , operating between Townsville and New Guinea . This continued until December 1942 , when " Colac " and sister ships " Ballarat " and " Broome " were ordered to support the Allied efforts to recapture Buna - Gona by embarking 762 Australian soldiers and delivering them as far into the Japanese - occupied Oro Province of Papua New Guinea as possible . The first attempt , early on 14 December , saw 46 soldiers landed at Cape Sudest before the three corvettes were attacked by Japanese aircraft and forced to withdraw . That night , under the cover of darkness , the remaining troops were landed nearby . Throughout December , " Colac " was involved in three similar troop deployments , and later took part in Operation Lilliput ; the reinforcement and supply of the captured area . In March 1943 , " Colac " and " Ballarat " were reassigned to convoy escort duty along the east coast of Australia . On 26 April , a five - ship convoy escorted by the two corvettes was attacked by Japanese submarine " I - 177 " off Cape Byron . The MV " Limerick " was torpedoed and sunk , with all but two of the crew rescued by " Colac " . " I - 177 " escaped unharmed . In July , " Colac " was instructed to begin escorting convoys between Australia and New Guinea , before returning to east coast convoys at the start of 1944 , then undergoing a refit . In April 1944 , " Colac " was assigned to escort and patrol duties in New Guinea waters , which continued until April 1945 , when the corvette was one of four RAN ships providing gunfire support for operations in the Wewak area . In mid - May , " Colac " was assigned to harass Japanese bases in the Solomon Islands area . On 26 May , the ship suffered her first casualties of the war , two hits from Japanese shore batteries killed two sailers , wounded two others , and holed " Colac " at the waterline . The corvette jettisoned stores , her depth charge payload , and replaceable pieces of equipment to avoid sinking and escape , and later limped to the Treasury Islands under tow for repairs . Temporary repairs were made to allow " Colac " to sail to New Guinea and then to Sydney , where she arrived on 18 June and entered dock for repairs . " Colac " was still under repair when World War II ended , and she was paid off into reserve on 27 November 1945 . The corvette was awarded two battle honour s for her wartime service : " Pacific 1942 - 45 " and " New Guinea 1942 - 44 " . Training ship . On 20 February 1951 , " Colac " was recommissioned for use as a training ship for National Service trainees . Decommissioning and fate . " Colac " was returned to reserve on 30 January 1953 . In 1962 , the ship was converted into a tank cleaning vessel , and served in this role until 30 September 1983 . " Colac " was not recommissioned during this time . On 4 March 1987 , " Colac " was sunk by a Mark 48 torpedo fired by the submarine HMAS " Ovens " in a weapons test . The corvette sank at . External links .