View source for HMAS Tarakan (L3017)

{{other ships|HMAS Tarakan}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=
|Ship caption=HMAS ''Tarakan'' in 1948
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=[[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''LST 3017''
|Ship builder=R & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd, Hebburn-on-Tyne, England
|Ship laid down=7 April 1944
|Ship launched=28 November 1944
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=[[Australia]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval}}
|Ship name=''LST 3017''
|Ship commissioned=4 July 1946
|Ship decommissioned=1954
|Ship renamed=16 December 1948
|Ship motto="Nothing Daunts"
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Scrapped
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship type=Mark III [[Tank Landing Ship]]
|Ship displacement=2,300 tons
|Ship length={{convert|347|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|55|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship speed={{convert|13.5|kn}}
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × 40mm anti-aircraft guns
*16 × 20mm anti-aircraft guns
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMAS ''Tarakan'' (L3017)''' was a Mark III [[Tank Landing Ship]], or LST(3), that served in the [[Royal Navy]] (RN) during 1945 and 1946 and [[Royal Australian Navy]] (RAN) from 1946 until 1954.

==History==

The ship was laid down on 7 April 1944 for the RN by [[R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company]] at Hebburn-on-Tyne in England, launched on 28 November 1944 as '''LST 3017''', and completed at Hendon Dockyard in Sutherland.<ref name="seapower" /> She was commissioned into the RN on 9 June 1945.<ref>{{cite web|title=HMS LST 3017 (LST 3017)|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/13204.html|website=uboat.net|access-date=26 January 2017}}</ref>

The ship was one of six LSTs loaned to the RAN, commissioning on 4 July 1946. She was named ''Tarakan'' on 16 December 1948, and served in Australian and [[New Guinea]] waters as a general purpose vessel, but was mainly used for dumping condemned ammunition at sea.<ref name=seapower>{{cite web |title=HMAS Tarakan (I) |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-tarakan-i |publisher=Sea Power Centre Australia |access-date=31 May 2010}} </ref> On 21 November 1947 nine soldiers were injured during an ammunition dumping operation when a box of fuses exploded while the ship was {{convert|20|mi|km}} off the [[Sydney Heads]].<ref name="SMH Hoodoo ship" />

On 25 January 1950, ''Tarakan'' was berthed alongside [[HMAS Kuttabul (naval base)|HMAS ''Kuttabul'' naval base]] at [[Garden Island, New South Wales|Garden Island]] in Sydney, making good defects prior to departure for New Guinea, when an explosion occurred aft under the mess decks. The explosion killed seven sailors and one dockyard tradesman, and injured twelve sailors and a second tradesman. The ship was extensively damaged.<ref name=seapower/> ''Tarakan''{{'}}s captain and executive officer were subsequently court martialed for negligence during March 1950, and were found not guilty.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52776087 |title=COURT EXONERATES OFFICER OF H.M.A.S. TARAKAN |newspaper=[[The Examiner (Tasmania)]] |volume=CIX |issue=9 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=22 March 1950 |access-date=26 January 2017 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187648410 |title=Captain freed on negligence charge|newspaper=[[The Age]] |issue=29,618 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=31 March 1950 |access-date=26 January 2017 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In April that year the coroner ruled that the explosion was accidental, and most likely caused by an electric arc from a fan in a compartment of the ship which had filled with petrol fumes.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18157828 |title=Accidental Finding: Tarakan Explosion |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=35,054 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 April 1950 |access-date=26 January 2017 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>   

''Tarakan'' never returned to seagoing service following the incident in 1950. She was sold for breaking up on 12 March 1954.<ref name=seapower/> The ship caught fire again while she was being scrapped in the Sydney suburb of [[Balmain, New South Wales|Balmain]] during September 1954, but damage was minimal and there were no serious injuries.<ref name="SMH Hoodoo ship">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27514989 |title=Men Escape By Seconds In "Hoodoo " Ship Fire |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=36,428 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 September 1954 |access-date=26 January 2017 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Portal bar|Australia|Royal Australian Navy|Engineering}}
{{LST-3 class tank landing ship}}
{{RAN amphibious warfare ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarakan}}
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions]]
[[Category:LST (3)-class tank landing ships of the Royal Australian Navy]]

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