Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

HMAS Bonthorpe Pennant

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Royal Australian Navy

1940 - 1945

Overview

A triangular souvenir pennant with a blue background and yellow border. On the left-hand side is a crown, anchor and wreath within a lifebuoy in yellow and red surmounted by two scrolls at the top and base. ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY is printed in yellow in the scroll at the base. To the right of the lifebuoy is the name of the ship in large white print.

Historical information

HMAS Bonthorpe (TR-8) was an Auxiliary Minesweeper requisitioned from the Albany Tug Company on 27 November 1939 and commissioned on 5 February 1940 under the command of Warrant Officer Stephen Armstrong in Fremantle. The ship swept East and West of the Western Australian coastline looking for mines. Decommissioned on 17 February 1945 Bonthorpe became part of the Reserve Fleet based at Careening Bay, Garden Island. Sold in 1947, the ship was damaged by ‘Caroomba” on 3 October 1950 during a 112km/h gale. Sold again in 1954, the ship was wrecked in 1959 at Cairns Inlet, Queensland.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2012.5.2

Item type

Pennants

Themes

Defence > Navy
War and Conflict > World War 2

Material

Acrylic Paints

Cotton (Textile)

Width

275 mm

Height or length

586 mm

Weight

10 g

Inscriptions and markings

"H.M.A.S. Bonthorpe" on the RHS of the pennant with "ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY" within lower scroll.

Contextual Information

Launched in 1917 in Ontario, Canada, Bonthorpe was a fishing trawler which arrived in Albany, Western Australia, in 1927. The trawler worked East and West of Albany before spending time anchored at the town jetty. In 1933 the hull was purchased by the Albany Tug Company, owned at the time by Clem Douglas (Master); Alex Armstrong (Engineer) and Frank Elliott (Stevedore). The ship was converted into Albany Port’s only tug and serviced Eclipse and Breaksea Island lighthouses from 1933 until it was requisitioned in November 1939.
The pennant was acquired by Armstrong’s son Alexander William Armstrong, an Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class, who served on board HMAS Bonthorpe along with his brother Donald ‘Dinkie’ George Armstrong. A plaque on Albany’s Avenue of Honour commemorates Donald, who drowned in Fremantle Harbour on 11 May 1942 while on 2 days leave.

Keywords

HMAS Bonthorpe

Royal Australian Navy

Auxiliary Minesweeper

Second World War

Albany

Port Of Albany

Place made

Australia

Year

1940 - 1945

Primary significance criteria