The HMAS Whyalla

The corvette HMAS WHYALLA was the first ship to be built in the Whyalla shipyards. It was launched in May 1941 and decommissioned in 1946 after extensive war service.

Until 1984 it was operated by the Victorian Ports and Harbours in Melbourne as The RIP. The opportunity then arose for Whyalla to purchase its namesake and so began a lengthy saga to return the ship to Whyalla where it was finally, and after much huffing and puffing, brought up onto land and positioned at the newly completed Whyalla Maritime Museum at Tanderra on the main highway to Port Augusta.

The saga of the ship’s return was the subject of many STAN cartoons.