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Bincleaves

Vessel numberHV000568

Vessel Registration NumberMD09S

Previous owner Royal Australian Navy (Australian, founded 1913)

Builder Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd (1924 -)

Date1943

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 11.58 m (38 ft)

DescriptionThe design for BINCLEAVES was done entirely by Halvorsen for the Second World War, prepared as a standard defence boat with the ability to fulfil various roles. 147 were built and served with the RAN, RAAF, ARMY and US Army Small Ships Section. Officers of the US Army section declared the design to be the most efficient craft they used during the war. They were wooden craft, 11.58 m long, double planked single chine hulls with twin engine installations.

The RAN operated a torpedo range at Taylors Point on Pittwater NSW from 1943 to 1983. Navy launches cleared small boats from the firing range, then retrieved the torpedos after they had been fired and ‘hit’ their target, one of three pontoons moored in stages down the waterway with nets to secure the torpedo. The torpedos then in use had to be test fired before they went into storage ready for active use. BINCLEAVES served at the range from 1943 through to 1983. It was given an enclosed wheelhouse in the 1960s and after 1983 served at HMAS Waterhen from 1984 until being decommissioned in 1987 and sold at auction in 1988.

A sister ship LOCH LONG, TRB 585, was launched in June 1943. Both craft were named after torpedo testing establishments in the UK. The vessels could recover two torpedoes, they remained afloat and were placed one each side, slung from a beam. The craft were originally mounted with a machine gun, and powered by twin Perkins diesels, and able to travel at up to 24 knots. 5059 torpedoes were fired from the range, with only three going astray. In 1983 the firing station and outer wharf were removed and the centre was converted into a diving and hydrographic centre for HMAS Penguin.

BINCLEAVES was sold to new owners in Renmark SA, and it has since stayed there as a private launch on the Murray River through subsequent owners. In 2013 it has been purchased by new owners who are active with military vehicle preservation groups, and they intend to restore the vessel to its naval appearance and arrangement as TRB 586.

SignificanceBINCLEAVES is a wooden motor launch built at Lars Halvorsen Sons' yard in Ryde NSW for the Royal Australian Navy. It was built as a Torpedo Recovery Boat and launched on 31st August 1943, numbered TRB 586. It was adapted from a standard design and is the only Torpedo Recovery Boat variant of this design to remain extant in Australia.