HMAS Mavie

History
Mavie (later HMAS Mavie) and other luggers resting in harbour during the 1939 storm season
Australia
Name	Mavie
Launched	1903
Acquired	12 December 1941
Commissioned	31 December 1941
Honors and awards	Battle honours: Darwin 1942
Fate	Sunk 19 February 1942; scrapped 1959–1960
General characteristics
Type	Patrol boat
Displacement	19 tons
Length	38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Beam	11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)
Complement	4

HMAS Mavie was a 19-ton auxiliary patrol boat operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II.

The wooden lugger Mavie was built at Fremantle, Western Australia in 1903. It was 38 feet 6 inches (11.73 m) long, with a beam of 11 feet 11 inches (3.63 m).

On 12 December 1941, Mavie was seized from its Japanese owner, Jiro Muramats, as he was a citizen of a country at war with Australia. It was requisitioned by the RAN, and was renamed and commissioned for service at Darwin as the channel patrol boat HMAS Mavie, on 31 December 1941.

Mavie was attacked by Japanese aircraft in the air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942, near the Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin Harbour. Mavie was sunk by a near miss, although the crew of four survived. Mavie was salvaged in 1959–60 when the Fujita Salvage Company salvaged the cargo ship Neptuna, which had also been sunk in the raid.

Following a reorganisation of the RAN battle honours system, Mavie's service and loss was retroactively recognised with the honour "Darwin 1942".^[1]^[2]

References

^ "Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours". Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
^ "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours" (PDF). Royal Australian Navy. 1 March 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2012.

Wrecks in Darwin Waters, Tom Lewis, Wahroonga, NSW : Turton & Armstrong, 1992
For Those in Peril – A comprehensive listing of the Ships and Men of the RAN who have paid the Supreme Sacrifice in the Wars of the 20th Century, Vic Cassells, Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press, 1995

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in February 1942

Shipwrecks

2 Feb: U-581, W. L. Steed
3 Feb: Talthybius
4 Feb: India Arrow
5 Feb: HMS Arbutus, China Arrow, Empress of Asia
6 Feb: U-82
9 Feb: Empire Fusilier, USS Lafayette, Natsushio
11 Feb: USS Shark, HMCS Spikenard
12 Feb: HMS Maori, Skanderbeg, V-1302 John Mahn
13 Feb: HMS Tempest
14 Feb: HMS Grasshopper, HMS Li Wo, President Taylor, Vyner Brooke
15 Feb: HNLMS Van Ghent
16 Feb: Monagas
17 Feb: USS Detector, Empire Comet, USS Paramount, HNLMS Van Nes
18 Feb: HNLMS K VII, USS Pollux, HNLMS Soerabaja, Surcouf, USS Truxtun
19 Feb: British Consul, British Motorist, Don Isidro, Empire Seal, Kelat, Mauna Loa, HMAS Mavie, USAT Meigs, Miraflores, Neptuna, USS Peary, HNLMS Piet Hein, Portmar, Zealandia
21 Feb: Kurtuluş
22 Feb: Hanne, Sama
23 Feb: HMS P38
24 Feb: Empire Celt, Struma (disaster)
26 Feb: Cassimir
27 Feb: HNLMS De Ruyter, HMS Electra, USS Langley, HMS Jupiter, HNLMS Java, HNLMS Kortenaer, R.P. Resor, Tembien
28 Feb: USS Jacob Jones
Unknown date: I-23