HMAS Whang Pu

HMAS Whang Pu served as a mobile repair ship and stores carrier in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during 1943-46. It was built as the Whang Phu at the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company, Hong Kong in 1920. It was a 3200-tonne passenger and cargo vessel operated by the China Navigation Company, based in Hong Kong and from 1920 until 1941 it operated in the coastal waters and major rivers of China carrying passengers and cargo.

In late 1941 Whang Pu was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for conversion to a submarine depot ship in Singapore, however, due to the heavy fighting in Malaya and the frequent bombing of the dockyards, it departed Singapore on 2 February 1942 and dispatched to Fremantle, Western Australia. After arriving at Fremantle, on 2 March 1942, it was utilised as an accommodation ship for Royal Netherlands Navy submarine and minesweeper crews that had escaped to Australia following the capture of the Netherlands East Indies by Japanese forces in March 1942.

Whang Pu was handed over to the RAN in early September 1943 and commissioned, at Fremantle, on 1 October 1943 under the command of acting lieutenant commander George Owen, RANR (S). Soon after it sailed to Melbourne for conversion to a mobile repair ship. This work also included the fitting of a single Bofors gun and 3 Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft guns for self-defence. It sailed from Melbourne on 18 April 1944 and spent the next 4 weeks in Sydney loading stores and preparing for its voyage to New Guinea. Whang Pu departed Sydney on 23 May and sailed, via Brisbane, to Milne Bay arriving on 6 June 1944.

Its work was important but far from glamorous. Its ships company conducted repairs to engines and other equipment in motor launches and corvettes. Teams were sent to nearby ships to conduct boiler cleaning, thus sparing the ships company of these ships that onerous task. 

Its storepersons issued clothing, provisions and building material to ships and units ashore. A team was also sent ashore to clear vegetation, fill in shell and bomb craters and collect Japanese ordnance for dumping at sea. Its medical officer and sick berth attendants also provided treatment to personnel from smaller vessels. Whang Pu’s supply officer became a popular man, providing pay to the crews of many of the smaller RAN vessels as well as being the sole Commonwealth Savings Bank representative for the many RAN vessels operating in New Guinea waters.