HMAS

Uki

The steel twin screw steamship Uki was built by Lithgows Ltd of Glasgow, Scotland, for service in the northern New South Wales coastal river trade and named after the northern New South Wales town of Uki in the Tweed Valley.

She was requisitioned in Sydney from her owners, the North Coast Steam Navigation Company, for naval service on 3 November 1939.

HMAS Uki prior to being requisitioned for naval service, October 1939.

HMAS Uki following her fit out which saw the addition of a forward 12 pounder gun and minesweeping winch, Williamstown, Victoria.

Uki departed Melbourne on 15 January 1940 arriving in Newcastle four days later where she took up duty as a unit of Minesweeping Group 77. For most of the next two years, Uki, along with six other auxiliary minesweepers based in Newcastle and Sydney, performed the monotonous but necessary task of minesweeping off the New South Wales coast, maintaining a clear channel some 25nm off-shore.

By the end of 1941, 73 German mines had been located in Australian waters. Most were destroyed at sea by rifle fire or were dealt with by the Rendering Mines Safe section after being washed ashore.

Starboard aspect of HMAS Uki.

On 17 November 1941, Uki departed Newcastle to join Minesweeping Group 54 based in Melbourne. Two days later, the crew sighted a German mine off Montagu Island on the NSW south coast, hoisted it on deck and returned it to port for further examination. She arrived in Williamstown on 23 November where she continued minesweeping operations until the end of 1942.

Crew members surround the German mine that was picked up off Montague Isalnd. (AWM 128092)

Uki decommissioned in Melbourne on Christmas Eve 1942 and was transferred to the United States Navy for service as a stores carrier in Queensland waters. She was transferred back to the RAN on 29 September 1944 and returned to her owners on 27 October 1944.

Uki returned to the coastal trade post-war until the North Coast Steam Navigation Company ceased operations in 1954. She was subsequently sold to M Bern & Co and used as a gravel barge on the Brisbane River before being scuttled as a breakwater off Tangalooma, Moreton Bay, in June 1976. 

HMAS Uki now forms part of what is well known as the 'Tangalooma Wrecks' in Moreton Bay (http://www.everythingaustralia.com/adventure-moreton-island-brisbane-1039/)

Commanding Officers of HMAS Uki

03/11/1939	Lieutenant Maurice Boyd, RANR(S)
13/10/1941	Lieutenant Hudson C Asher, RANR(S)
01/05/1942	Lieutenant Charles H Thompson, RANR(S)
12/08/1942	Lieutenant Robert W Booth, RANR(S)