HMAS Heros was a tugboat

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

 which was operated by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 (RN), Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN) and the Australian shipping firm J. Fenwick and Co. She was built for the RN in 1919, was sold to J. Fenwick and Co. in 1925 and was commissioned into the RAN between 1941 and 1942 and 1943 and 1947 before being scrapped in 1966.

Operational history

The ship was built for the RN as the Rescue/Saint class ocean tug St Erth. She entered service in 1919 and was sold to J. Fenwick and Co. in September 1925 and renamed Heros. She was hired by the RAN for short periods in 1934 and 1937 to tow targets during naval exercises.

Following the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Heros was requisitioned by the RAN on 2 November 1939. She was later converted to an auxiliary anti-submarine vessel and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 3 July 1941. During her naval service she was fitted with weapons and a raised forecastle

Forecastle

Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

. In late November and early December 1941 she took part in the search for survivors from HMAS Sydney and found one of the ship's carley float

Carley float

The Carley float was a form of invertible liferaft designed by American inventor Horace Carley . Supplied mainly to warships, it saw widespread use in a number of navies during peacetime and both World Wars until superseded by more modern rigid or inflatable designs...

s: one of only two items found from the cruiser, and currently on display at the Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...

 in Canberra. She was returned to her owners on 13 August 1942.

Heros was taken over by the RAN for brief periods during the remainder of 1942 and early 1943 before being recommissioned at Brisbane on 25 February 1943. During her second commission she was used as a tugboat, and served mainly in northern Australia and New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. She was paid off from the RAN on 12 February 1947 and returned to her owners on 5 November that year. She continued in commercial service until she was sold for scrap on 9 December 1964 and was beached to be broken up on 7 December 1966.