HMAS Tarakan (L3017)

HMAS Tarakan (L3017) was a Mark III Tank Landing Ship, or LST(3), that served in the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

The ship was laid down on 7 April 1944 for the RN by R. and W. Hawthorne, Leslie and Company at Hebburn-on-Tyne in England, launched on 28 November 1944 as LST 3017, and completed at Hendon Dockyard in Sutherland.

The ship was loaned to the RAN, commissioning on 4 July 1946. She was named Tarakan on 16 December 1948, and served in Australian and New Guinea waters as a general purpose vessel, but was mainly used for dumping condemned ammunition at sea.

On 25 January 1950, Tarakan was berthed alongside HMAS Kuttabul naval base at Garden Island in Sydney, making good defects prior to departure for New Guinea, when an explosion occurred aft under the mess decks. The explosion killed seven sailors and one dockyard tradesman, and injured twelve sailors and a second tradesman. The ship was extensively damaged and never returned to seagoing service. She was sold for breaking up on 12 March 1954.