History
Australia
NameHMAS Air View
OperatorRoyal Australian Navy
Ordered4 March 1944
BuilderFellows & Stewart, Wilmington, California
Commissioned20 November 1944
Decommissioned30 September 1946
FateTransferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1949
Ensign of the Royal Australian Air Force 1948–1982
Name02-109
OperatorRoyal Australian Air Force
Acquired1949
FateSold to private owners, 1985
StatusUndergoing restoration, 2012
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeMiami-class air-sea rescue boat
Displacement23 long tons (23 t)
Length63 ft (19 m) o/a
Beam15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Draught4 ft (1.2 m)
Propulsion2 × 630 hp (470 kW) Hall-Scott Defender V12 petrol engines
Speed31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph)
Endurance14.5 hours
Complement7 or 8
Armament2 × twin .50 cal. M2 Browning machine guns

HMAS Air View (923) was a Miami-class 63-foot Air-Sea Rescue Boat that was operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II, and later by the Royal Australian Air Force. Built by Fellows & Stewart in Wilmington, California.

Design

The Miami class rescue boats were wooden-hulled, and powered by two 630 hp (470 kW) Hall-Scott Defender petrol engines giving a top speed of 31.5 knots. They were armed with two twin .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns mounted either side of the bridge. The crew comprised one officer in command, a coxswain, two engineers, two seamen and one or two radio operators.[2]

Service history

Air View was one of a class of twenty boats ordered on 4 March 1944.[1] They were all Model 314 boats, designed by the Miami Shipbuilding Corporation, of Miami, Florida, but built at a number of shipyards in California.[3] Air View was built by Fellows & Stewart in Wilmington, California, as hull C-26683[4] and arrived at Sydney aboard the MV Laponia in June 1944, and was commissioned on 20 November 1944.[1]

Air View was stationed in and around Sydney until September 1945, when she sailed for Darwin, and subsequently operated in the Torres Strait into 1946.[5]

Air View was placed into reserve on 30 September 1946, and in 1949 she was one of thirteen RAN rescue boats transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force,[1] and renamed 02-109. She was stationed at Neutral Bay in Sydney, and in Townsville, Queensland.[6][7]

The boat was sold by the RAAF to private owners in 1985, being the last of her class still in service. In 2011 the boat was acquired by a Melbourne based scuba-diving training company and is undergoing restoration.[8][9]

Air View is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dunn, Peter (2008). "Air-Sea Rescue Boats, RAN, during WW2". Australia at War. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Thompson, R.H.J. (November 2011). "Fairmile class patrol boats and kin ships: a brief history" (PDF). The Fairmile Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Buhler, Jean E. (July–October 2008). "Development of the Miami 63-foot Aircraft Rescue Boat" (PDF). The Northern Mariner. Picton, Ontario: Canadian Nautical Research Society. XVIII (3–4): 173–184. doi:10.25071/2561-5467.337. S2CID 247330840. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  4. ↑ Colton, Tim (2013). "Fellows & Stewart". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "AWN78 Reports and proceedings HMA Ships and Establishments: HMAS Air View" (PDF). Australian War Memorial. December 1944 – June 1946. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  6. ↑ "ca. 1972–73: RAAF crash boat 02-109".
  7. ↑ "1960: RAAF ASR depot opposite submarine base".
  8. ↑ "International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers". iantd.com.au. 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Air View comes to Melbourne, August 2012". blog.aquability.com.au. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Air View (HV000574)". Australian National Maritime Museum. 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
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