HMAS Kweena (also known as Kweena), was a motor cruiser launched in 1933, that was requisitioned and commissioned as an auxiliary patrol boat and tender vessel during World War II by the Royal Australian Navy.
Launch and pre-war service Kweena was built by Lars Halvorsen Sons of Neutral Bay, Sydney for Sydney based furniture manufacturer William Fairweather in 1933. A motor cruiser, the vessel was built for comfort, with a cruising speed of only 8 knots. Fairweather was a member of the Royal Motor Yacht Club of New South Wales, and the vessel was recorded as taking part in a local regatta in December 1934. Fairweather himself would become the Vice Commodore of the Yacht club in 1941. Kweena would remain in his ownership until June 4 1943, when she was purchased for £1,150 by the Royal Australian Navy.
War Service In August 1941, Fairweather and other members of the Yacht club joined the Auxiliary Naval Patrol Scheme, and on 4 January 1943, Kweena was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy to serve as an Auxiliary patrol boat. In July 1943, she was commissioned at in Sydney to serve as a tender vessel, before being relocated to the training base in Nelson Bay by October 1943. She was eventually paid-off in March 1944, being sold back to Fairweather for £600 in 1945.
Post-war service Kweenas post-war service is unknown until 2004, when she was sold, before being sold again in 2006. Between 2006–2012, she underwent a complete restoration, eventually being re-launched and put on temporary display at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
References