Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Saturday 23 February 1946, page 3


YANDRA AND GERARD ARRIVE

Successful Tow From Kingston

Making remarkably good time with HMAS Gerard in tow, the naval auxiliary vessel HMAS Yandra reached Birkenhead yesterday morning, some hours ahead of

her estimated time of arrival. Officers said that the Yandra lost only a knot in towing the other ship; she made 7½ knots compared with her usual 8½ knots. The Yandra received a message on Wednesday night that HMAS Gerard, a naval store carrier coming here to pay off, was at Lacepede Bay (Kingston) with engine trouble. The Yandra turned back and towed her in calm seas to Semaphore anchorage and a tug brought the disabled ship up the Port River. The Yandra, which will also pay off here, was flying a paying-off pennant 70 feet long — a foot for every month of service. She has done valuable work as a radar training ship, and was credited with sinking a Japanese midget submarine with depth charges in Sydney Harbor in 1942. In a crew of more than 80, not one rating is a South Australian. There are two Adelaide officers, Lt. K. Nlcol, and Eng-Lt. J. Murray, who also looked alter Yandra's engines in peacetime. Her owners, Coast Steamships, Ltd.. expect that she will return to the West Coast trade. She was specially built for that run. Two ships, the Broadway and Kopoola, maintained the service in the war. But Yandra can enter Venus Bay and Elliston, which were inaccessible to the Broadway. The captain of HMAS Yandra is Lt. D. D. Clarkson. Gerard Had Sails When the Navy first acquired the Gerard from R. Fricker & Co., she was classed as a three-masted schooner, and had sails. Until these were removed to make way for armament, sails were set once a month. The ship developed engine trouble last Saturday, and ran before the storm to Lacepede Bay. Venturing out again early on Wednesday, she soon had to return there and await the Yandra. Lt. B. H. Leak, brilliant State cricketer and Sturt footballer, is an officer. Lt. R. A. Lorains, of Melbourne, is captain.