| Navy | The Royal Australian Navy |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Class | Bathurst |
| Pennant | J 191 |
| Built by | Evans Deakin Ltd. (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) |
| Ordered | 24 Sep 1940 |
| Laid down | 3 May 1941 |
| Launched | 6 Oct 1941 |
| Commissioned | 29 Jul 1942 |
| End service | Apr 1946 |
| History | Decommissioned in April 1946. |
Commands listed for HMAS Broome (J 191)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Ronald Alexander Denovan, RANVR | 29 Jul 1942 | 17 Oct 1945 |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Notable events involving Broome include:
11 Nov 1942
Combined convoy J Q.
This convoy departed Townsville for Port Moresby / Fall River.
It was made up of the transports; Fort Pine (British, 7133 GRT, built 1942), Janssens (Dutch, 2071 GRT, built 1935), Larchbank (British, 5150 GRT, built 1925) and Montoro (British, 4057 GRT, built 1911).
On departure from Townsville, around 1400K/11, the convoy was escorted by the minesweeper HMAS Broome (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Denovan, RANVR).
Around 0600K/12, the destroyer HMAS Stuart (Cdr. S.H.K. Spurgeon, DSO, RAN) joined near Fitzroy Island.
Around 1700K/13, ' Convoy J ' and ' convoy Q ' split up. ' Convoy J ' was made up of the Janssens and Montoro set course for Port Moresby escorted by HMAS Broome. It arrived at Port Moresby around 1115K/14.
' Convoy Q ', made up of the Fort Pine and Larchbank set course for Fall River, Milne Bay escorted by HMAS Stuart. They arrived at Fall River also on the 14th. (1)
15 Nov 1942
Convoy O.
This convoy departed Townsville around 1800K/15.
It was made up of the following transports; Balikpapan (Dutch, 1279 GRT, built 1938), Bantam (Dutch, 3322 GRT, built 1930), Bontekoe (Dutch, 4668 GRT, built 1923), Both (Dutch, 2608 GRT, built 1931), Cremer (Dutch, 4608 GRT, built 1926), Japara (Dutch, 3323 GRT, built 1930), Jesse Applegate (American, 7176 GRT, built 1942), John B. Ashe (American, 7176 GRT, built 1942) and Maetsuycker (Dutch, 4131 GRT, built 1936).
On departure from Townsville the convoy was escorted by the destroyer HMAS Arunta (Cdr. J.C. Morrow, DSO, RAN) and the minesweepers HMAS Ballarat (T/Lt.Cdr. A.D. Barling, RANR(S)) and HMAS Katoomba (Cdr. A.P. Cousin, RANR(S)).
Around 1930K/17, the convoy split up in two sections.
The ' Port Moresby ' section was made up of the Bontekoe, Both, Cremer, Maetsuycker and Jesse Applegate. It was escorted by HMAS Arunta. Around 1500K/18, the minesweeper HMAS Broome (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Denovan, RANVR) joined coming from Port Moresby. This section of the convoy arrived at Port Moresby around 1915K/18.
The ' Milne Bay ' section was made up of the Balikpapan, Bantam, Japara and John B. Ashe. This section was escorted by HMAS Ballarat and HMAS Katoomba. This section of the convoy arrived at Fall River around 1300K/19.
6 Jun 1944
HMAS Vendetta (Lt.Cdr. J.S. Mesley, RAN) and HMAS Broome (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Denovan, RANVR) conducted radar and gunnery exercises off Milne Bay. (2)
26 Jun 1944
Around 1710K/26, a convoy departed Langemak Bay (Megum Island anchorage) for Humboldt Bay (Hollandia).
This convoy was made up of the (troop) transports; Abigail S. Duniway (American, 7176 GRT, built 1944), Ada Rehan (American, 7176 GRT, built 1944), Ambrose Bierce (American, 7176 GRT, built 1942), Don Marquis (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Franklin K. Lane (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), George Eastman (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), George A. Pope (American, 7212 GRT, built 1944), Henry White (American, 7216 GRT, built 1944), Julien Dubuque (American, 7194 GRT, built 1943), Mormachawk (American, 6711 GRT, built 1942), Otis Skinner (American, 7176 GRT, built 1944), Robert S. Bean (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Simon Bamberger (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Stephen M. White (American, 7176 GRT, built 1942), Van der Lijn (Dutch, 2464 GRT, built 1929), Walter Williams (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Watson C. Squire (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943) and Wilfred Grenfell (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943).
On departure from Langemak Bay the convoy was escorted by the destroyer HMAS Vendetta (Lt.Cdr. J.S. Mesley, RAN, Senior Officer of the escort), minesweepers HMAS Broome (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Denovan, RANVR), HMAS Bunbury (T/Lt. J.S. Bell, RANR(S)), HMAS Gladstone (T/Lt. J.W. Penney, RANR(S)), HMAS Kiama (T/Lt. S.J. Benson, RANR(S)), HMAS Stawell (T/A/Lt.Cdr. S.J. Griffith, RANR(S)) and the patrol vessels PC-1131 (?) and SC-749 (Lt.(jg) H.W. Sadler, USNR).
At 0040K/27, the transports; Joseph P. Bradley (American, 7191 GRT, built 1943) and Francis A. Wardwell (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943) joined the convoy. They were escorted by the patrol vessel PC-1121 (Lt. R.D. Blocksom, USNR) which also joined the convoy.
Around 1000K/28, the Francis A. Wardwell, Joseph P. Bradley and Julien Dubuque were detached to Aitape escorted by all three American patrol vessels.
The convoy arrived at Humboldt Bay around 0800K/29. (2)
Sources
- Report of proceedings of HMAS Broome for November 1942
- Report of proceedings of HMAS Vendetta for June 1944