“This delightful book deals with the birth, service, near death and resurrection of the ship in all its gritty detail.”

Fifty-six Australian corvettes went to war in the 1940s. Thirty years later most had been scrapped, and the hulk that was once minesweeper HMAS Castlemaine was also headed for the breaker's yard. Then in 1973 the Maritime Trust of Australia came to the rescue and its volunteers took Castlemaine home to her birthplace of Williamstown, Victoria.

Since then, volunteers have restored the ship's wartime configuration, and today maintain the heritage-registered corvette. HMAS Castlemaine, still afloat, tells her tale of conflict in the Pacific - and of the young men who confronted its dangers with courage, hard work and good humour.

Second edition includes fascinating and moving entries from diaries kept by members of Castlemaine's crew, plus new photos and updated crew lists.