HMAS Ovens

DESCRIPTION

Accession NumberP369Title (extended title only)HMAS OvensDescriptionHMAS Ovens – Gifted to the City of Fremantle
This plaque has a wooden base and a painted clay centre. The clay centre is in the shape of the badge used by the HMAS Ovens. The badge features a red brick oven with fire coming out of the entrance and exit. The oven is in the middle of a blue circle and the circle is surrounded by a gold knot. The top of the circle has a black ribbon with a gold outline and “OVENS” written in gold. On top of this is the naval crown which features a ship with sails flanking it. There is some very minor wear of the paint on the outside of the clay piece.DateBetween 1st January 1995 and 31st December 1995ProvenanceThe HMAS Oven (S 70) is an Oberon-class submarine that was used by the Royal Australian Navy. The submarine was laid down 17 June 1967 by Scott’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, a shipbuilding company based in Greenock, Scotland. The company was founded in 1711 and ceased trading in 1983. The submarine was launched 4 December 1967 and commissioned 18 April 1969. It was initially decommissioned 10 September 1973 before being recommissioned 31 October 1975. A second decommission occurred 10 March 1980 because again being recommissioned in late 1982. Another decommission occurred in 1987 before a refitting lead to the fourth and final recommissioning on 4 July 1990. It was decommissioned for the final time on 1 December 1995 and in November 1998 it was gifted to the West Australian Museum and is currently owned by the Western Australian Maritime Museum where it resides as a museum ship. HMAS Ovens made numerous trips to various parts of Australia, the schedules of which do not appear to be thoroughly documented so the date this plaque was gifted cannot be conclusively verified, but given that Fremantle Harbour only had a submarine base in use during WWII and former naval base HMAS Leeuwin was located in the town of East Fremantle since 1942 and current naval base being located on Garden Island, it is less likely the HMAS Ovens visited Fremantle over these locations. It is therefore extremely likely that the plaque was gifted in August 1995 when the HMAS Ovens visited Fremantle, seemingly the only time a visit to Fremantle is explicitly stated rather than the nondescript “Western Australia” and potentially the submarines only visit to Fremantle while active. This visit was the last stop the submarine made before it was decommissioned at its final stop at HMAS Stirling.
It is unclear who was the Commanding Officer during this time but the mayor of the City of Fremantle was Jenny Archibald, who was in office from 1994-1996.Relevance to the CityHMAS Ovens is on display in Fremantle at the Maritime Museum of WA

SubjectHMAS Ovens (Submarine)Royal Australian NavyCollectionCivic Collection

INTERNAL

LocationCivic Collection

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