Commissioned 11 November 1943 Renamed HMAS Rushcutter, 1953 Displacement 52,620 kg | Out of service 1970 Weight 58.9 tons | |
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Fate Sold into civilian service in August 1971, converted to pleasure craft, operational as at May 2016. Class and type Harbour Defence Motor Launch Armament 37mm Vickers autocannonOerlikon 20 mm cannon2 x .50 calibre machine gunsBren light machine gunUp to 8 depth charges | ||
HMAS HDML 1321, also known as Rushcutter was a 58-ton Harbour Defence Motor Launch of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Purdon & Featherstone, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania and commissioned into the RAN on 11 November 1943, being the first Australian-built HDML to be commissioned and the last HDML in RAN service. She was assigned to Z Special Unit and delivered commandos for the 1945 ill-fated raid on Muschu Island. She was later reclassified as a Seaward Defence Boat and put into reserve after the war. She was recommissioned as HMAS Rushcutter (ML 1321) in 1953 and used as an unarmed training vessel for the Royal Australian Naval Reserve and Australian Navy Cadets until 1970. Paid off in August 1971, she was converted to pleasure craft MV Rushcutter and is now based in Darwin.
Rushcutter was moved from its mooring in Cossack Creek to the Small Boat Anchorage between Stokes Hill Wharf and the East Arm Wharf in 2016 while it was being offered for sale. It sank on 19 October 2016. Support is being sought to have it raised and preserved for its historical value.