HMAS Air Hope

HMAS Air Hope was one of 21 air/sea rescue (ASR) vessels originally built in the United States (US) and Canada between 1943 and 1945 and transferred to the Royal Australian Navy under the Lend-Lease Agreement. These vessels were originally designed as anti-submarine craft, but their high speed and manoeuvrability made them ideal as search and rescue vessels. In this role, their hulls were painted black and their upper decks and superstructure painted bright yellow. One vessel, HMAS Air Sprite, was built locally in 1960 to an almost identical design.

Air Hope was commissioned on 13 February 1945 in Sydney under the command of Lieutenant Ronald Dunn RANVR and officially listed as a tender to HMAS Madang. Its first few weeks of commission were spent at Garden Island in Sydney preparing for sea and conducting trials before proceeding northwards for Madang, New Guinea, on 23 April with HMA Ships Air Mercy and Air Speed.

Progress northwards was slow due to a combination of mechanical defects and, in north Queensland waters, poor weather. On 19 July, while en route to Milne Bay, Air Hope was instructed to return to Port Moresby where it would be based for ASR duties. It remained on standby for ASR duties until its return to Australia in mid-1946 but was not required for rescue operations in that time. Instead, it conducted a mine search off Port Moresby in November. In December, its coxswain was returned to Australia on compassionate leave and in January 1946 its 2 RAAF wireless operators were demobilised leaving it with a crew of just 4. It decommissioned on 20 July 1946 and was transferred to the RAAF in 1949.