HMAS Westralia (F95/C61) was a twin screw motor vessel built by Harland and Wolff in Govan, Scotland, and completed in 1929. Originally operated by the Huddart Parker company, she served as a merchant vessel until her requisition by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in November 1939 for wartime service. She was fitted with seven 6-inch (150 mm) guns and two 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft guns, and commissioned in January 1940 as an Armed Merchant Cruiser with the pennant number F95. During her service as an AMC, Westralia primarily escorted convoys across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Notably, in December 1941, she transported troops from Darwin to Timor and later to Cairns, an operation marked by a significant mutiny involving 104 men—the largest in RAN history—who refused duty amid shortages and strained supplies. The mutineers were arrested, and the record of their legal proceedings has been lost. Westralia also participated in the defense of Sydney Harbour during the Japanese midget submarine attack in May 1942. In 1943, the vessel was converted into a Landing Ship, Infantry (LSI), with the pennant number C61, capable of carrying 933 soldiers. As an LSI, she transported U.S. Army and Marine units and participated in numerous amphibious assaults, including landings at Cape Cretin, Hollandia, Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, and Borneo. After the war, she was present at Ambon for the surrender and occupation of the island, and took part in repatriating Australian troops. Westralia was decommissioned in September 1946, earning five battle honours: "Pacific 1941–45," "New Guinea 1943–44," "Leyte Gulf 1944," "Lingayen Gulf 1945," and "Borneo 1945." Post-war, she supported the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan and was operated with a merchant navy crew until 1951, when she was returned to her owners. Later sold in 1959 to the Asian and Pacific Shipping Co Ltd, she served as a livestock carrier under the names Delfino and Woolambi before being scrapped in Japan in 1961.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.