HMAS LITHGOW was one of sixty Bathurst Class anti-submarine minesweepers built in Australian shipyards as part of the Commonwealth Governments's wartime shipbuilding program. LITHGOW was built at the Mort's Dock and Engineering Company in Balmain, Sydney.

These Australian minesweepers were similar to the British Bangor class and were popularly termed corvettes. Twenty were built on behalf of the Admiralty but were commissioned and manned by the Royal Australian Navy, four were built for the Royal Indian Navy and 36 for the Royal Australian Navy. She was the seventh ship of her class launched and the third to leave the slips at Morts Dock. She was launched in the presence of Commodore Gould, William Morris, Minister for the Navy and Mr Robert Fullagar, Mayor of Lithgow.

The role of the Lithgow was as a convoy escort, undertaking anti-submarine duties, shore bombardment, evacuation duties and minesweeping. Commander A.V. Knight OBE, DSC, RD, RANS (S), was the first commanding officer. LITHGOW began her active career in July 1941 as a unit of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla sweeping in Bass Strait and Tasmanian waters. Twenty German mines were swept by the Flotilla in 1941, LITHGOW accounting for one of these off Tasman Island on 14 October.

The outbreak of the Pacific War ended sweeping operations for LITHGOW and she temporarily assumed anti-submarine patrols off Sydney, before proceeding in January 1942 to Darwin, escorting the first US convoy, where she then passed in to the control of the Darwin command.

On 20th January 1942, LITHGOW took part in the destruction of the Japanese minelaying submarine I-124 together with HMA ships DELORAINE, KATOOMBA and the destroyer USS EDSALL. The submarine I-124 was nearly 100 feet longer than LITHGOW and armed with a larger gun and torpedo tubes. The submarine sank in 27 fathoms with no survivors.

Escorting the Darwin-Thursday Island convoys occupied LITHGOW until September 1942 when she departed Townsville, escorting a troop convoy of three ships for Port Moresby. The remainder of the year was spent with Operation Lilliput, protecting New Guinea convoys on the regular supply line between Buna and Oro. In December she took part in the landing of troops and equipment at Oro Bay for the Buna campaign. ON 30th December 1942, on completion of more than eighteen months service, LITHGOW was put into Brisbane for refitting.

The refit was completed on 5th March 1943, and LITHGOW then began 9 months escort and anti-submarine duty on the Queensland coast, ending in December when she led a convoy into Port Moresby. In May, LITHGOW helped search for survivors of the Australian hospital ship CENTAUR which had been sunk off Moreton Island by the Japanese submarine I-77. LITHGFOW found no survivors. The year 1944 began with escort duties to New Guinea, followed by the ships annual refit in Melbourne. In April, LITHGOW arrived at Milne Bay to begin a period of 10 months escort and anti-submarine operation sin New Guinea waters. She was in constant service to Langemak, Hollandia, Madang, Wakde, Biak, Morotai, Moemfoot and Mios Woendi.

Seven weeks refit at Williamstown in April and May 1945 was followed by a return to New Guinea waters. In June and July the ship took part in Allied operations in the Solomons supporting the land forces with anti-barge patrols and undertaking bombardments against enemy held territory on East Bougainville.

LITHGOW remained based in the Solomons until the end of September 1945, operating predominately as a minesweeper in the latter period. An incident during this period emphasised the constant danger that LITHGOW and other members of the Royal Australian Navy were to constantly encounter. Sweeping between the southern extremity of Bougainville and the Shortland Islands, a relatively narrow strip of water and close to Japanese held territory, it was discovered to be infested with mines. Lt Champion decided to withdraw and return to their task at a later date. To navigate through this extremely dangerous situation, LITHGOW had to rely on the skill of the Asdic operator who used the anti-submarine equipment to pinpoint the mines and constantly instruct the helmsman to change course. When the passage was eventually swept, there wer no fewer than forty eight mines detected. To add to their early good fortune, a few days after returning to their base at Torokin, the war ended.

Following the cessation of hostilities, LITHGOW, with war correspondents, photographers, etc, set out for the southern tip of Bougainville, to rendezvous with a Japanese vessel to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands. However when the Japanese barge came alongside, it was discovered that General Kanda was not on board. Captain Takanaka, representing General Kanda, carried a message indicating that the General did not have the necessary authority to surrender.

LITHGOW was then despatched to Rabaul in advance of the occupation troops and to sweep the entrance channnel of Rabaul Harbour. LITHGOW then spent four days in Rabaul Harbour surrounded by the Japanese, on full alert with a machine gun on each wing of the bridge. Nobody was allowed ashore during this time until the arrival of the troopship DUNTROON when Australian soldiers landed for occupation. The surrender ceremony took place on the British aircraft carrier HMS GLORY.

LITHGOW also has the hour of firing the last shots in anger by a RAN ship. On August 9, 1945 LITHGOW bombarded Japanese positions on the east coast of Bougainville, LITHGOW ended her active war career when she entered Sydney Harbour on 1st November 1945. Between 1946-47 LITHGOW was operating as a unit of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla, constantly employed on minesweeping duties. The Flotilla consisted of twelve corvettes as well as Flotilla leader, the sloop HMAS SWAN. This was the beginning of well over twelve months intensive sweeping operations between the New Britain-Solomons area and the Queensland coast. It was during this time that, after many incident free months of duty, one of the Flotilla was lost in the Barrier Reef region of the north Queensland coast. HMAS WARRNAMBOOL who always swept immediately ahead of LITHGOW struck a mine and went down with the loss of four dead and twenty nine injured sailors. Her sea-going career ended in January 1948 when she arrived at Fremantle, finally paying off into the Reserve Fleet on 8th June 1948, havening steamed 178,000 miles and being under way for almost 20,000 hours.

On 8th August 1956, LITHGOW was sold as scrap to the Hong Kong Delta Shipping Company along with HMAS DELORAINE.