Wreck of HMAS Parramatta (U44)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, navy, grave, place with historical importance, shipwreck

Built in 1938 for service with the Royal Australian Navy, the HMAS Parramatta commissioned into RAN service on April 8th, 1940 as the third member of the Grimsby Class of Sloops. Immediately upon her commissioning, the Parramatta sailed for Europe, where her services as a Convoy Escort ship were desperately needed.

Serving in this role for over a year, HMAS Parramatta was escorting a re-supply convoy of stores and munitions to a British Garrison at Tobruk when she was spotted by the German U-559 which fired a single of torpedo at the unsuspecting Sloop, striking the Parramatta forward of her engine room. The explosion punctured the boilers of the Parramatta, which then exploded when the superheated steam and metal came into contact with the cool seawater. A second explosion, likely from the ships magazines, followed soon after and the Parramatta broke apart and sank quickly at this location shortly after midnight on November 26th, 1941.

Of her crew of 138, only 24 survived the attack & sinking. Today the wreck of the HMAS Parramatta is considered a war grave.

www.navy.gov.au/w/index.php/HMAS_Parramatta_%28II%29