HMAS Beryl (II) was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy on 9 October 1939. It was to serve with Minesweeping Group 54 in Port Phillip Bay.
HMAS Beryl (II) was requisitioned for naval service on 7 September 1939. On 12 September it departed Sydney for Melbourne to be fitted out for minesweeping duties, arriving at Melbourne on 15 September.
On 9 October 1939 Beryl (II) commissioned at Melbourne under the command of Commissioned Warrant Officer David Smith, RANR(S), and served in the Port Phillip Bay approaches as a unit of Minesweeping Group 54 until the beginning of February 1943.
The vessel then transferred to Minesweeping Group 63 based at Port Adelaide where it served until early December 1943, following which it proceeded to Sydney for conversion for boom defence duties. It arrived at Sydney on 15 December 1943 and on 30 December departed for Port Moresby to take up its new duties. It arrived at Port Moresby on 18 January 1944.
Beryl (II) served as boom gate vessel at Port Moresby until 20 April 1945 when it sailed, via east coast ports, to begin a refit at Melbourne where it arrived on 30 May 1945.
On 1 November 1945 Beryl (II) departed Melbourne for Sydney, arriving on 5 November, and it paid off to Reserve at Sydney on 13 December 1945.
Beryl (II) was returned to its owners, Cam and Sons Pty Ltd, Pyrmont, Sydney on 24 May 1946.
![]() |
Type |
Auxiliary Minesweeper |
---|---|
Role |
|
Pennant |
F71/BL |
Builder |
Cochrane & Sons, Selby, England |
Commissioned |
9 October 1939 |
Decommissioned |
13 December 1945 |
Fate |
Returned to owners and later scrapped in 1955 |
Dimensions & Displacement | |
Displacement | 225 tonnes |
Length | 37.11 metres |
Beam | 6.73 metres |
Draught | 3.71 metres |
Performance | |
Speed | 9 knots |
Complement | |
Crew | 18 (2 officers, 16 sailors) |
Armament | |
Guns |
|