Handed over to the British Civil Administration Unit in Borneo
General characteristics
Class and type
Snake-class junk
Tonnage
80 tons (gross)
Length
66 ft (20 m)
Beam
17 ft (5.2 m)
Depth
7.6 ft (2.3 m)
Installed power
Gray Marine 64 YTL diesel, single screw, 300 hp (220 kW)
Speed
9 knots (17 km/h)
Range
500 nautical miles (930 km)
Capacity
20 tons of cargo
Complement
9
Armament
Two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, three or four M2 Browning machine guns or Bren Guns
HMAS River Snake was a Snake-class junk built for the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War. She was launched in 1945 and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy on 19 February 1945. She was used by the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) and was paid off on 2 November 1945, before being handed over to the British Civil Administration in Borneo.[1]
Operation Suncharlie
During Operation Suncharlie SRD operatives were deployed from HMAS River Snake, an Australian built Country Craft, in Portuguese Timor on 23 April 1945. This operation, partly using folboats (collapsible kayaks), was to be for long term intelligence work, but after a short reconnaissance they returned to River Snake on 26 April 1945.[2]
"The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations – Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 2 – Operations Part 1 page 53-54". National Archives of Australia. pp. 131–133.
Australia
