HMAS Bathurst was one of 60 Australian minesweepers built during World War II. She weighed 733 tons and was 186 feet long (approximately 60 metres). The HMAS Bathurst had a top speed of 15 knots and a crew of 85.

On July 31 1940 the mayor of Bathurst was informed that a corvette type war vessel was to be launched and named after the city of Bathurst as it was considered to be one of the oldest and most historic cities outside of the capital cities of Australia. The Bathurst mayor at the time, Alderman P. J. Moodie, was also asked to make a presentation at the ceremony and to bring along a souvenir from Bathurst such as a book to place inside the ship. HMAS Bathurst was commissioned in Sydney on 6 December, 1940 under the command of Lieutenant Commander A.V Bunyan.

HMAS Bathurst began her journey as a unit of the 21st Minesweeping Flotilla of the Royal Australian Navy, operating and patrolling on the east coast of Australia. In March 1941 HMAS Bathurst left Australian waters to operate as a patrol vessel based just off the coast of Singapore until 26 May, 1941. On 25 August, 1941, HMAS Bathurst began a period of three and a half months on patrol in the Gulf of Tajura in French Somaliland.

After the Red Sea patrols ended, HMAS Bathurst than proceeded to Colombo . During 1942 the ship was based there for escort and patrol duties in the Indian Ocean and surrounding areas. At this stage in her career, she had steamed over 70,000 nautical miles and had escorted more than one million tons of shipping without loss. She continued her escort duties between Bombay and Colombo until 1945.

On 9 December, 1945 HMAS Bathurst returned to Sydney, bringing her Navy career to an end. During that time HMAS Bathurst had steamed 160,165 nautical miles. On 27 September, 1946 she was placed in reserve for disposal and sold in June 1948 to T.Carr and Co of Sydney. She sank at mooring in Sydney Harbour in June 1950.

A new HMAS Bathurst called HMAS Bathurst II or NUSHIP Bathurst was officially commissioned on 10 February, 2006. Bathurst mayor, Councillor Norm Mann attended the ceremony and saw the ship commissioned under the command of Lieutenant Commander Andrew Paul Quin. Veterans from the first HMAS Bathurst also attended the ceremony.

NUSHIP Bathurst is a patrol boat that protects Australia's coastline. she is one of three Armidale class patrol boats to join the Royal Australian Navy. Her purpose is to intercept and apprehend vessels suspected of illegal fishing, quarantine, customs and immigration offences. The Armidale Class is a class of patrol boats that have increased range, surveillance, and state of the art tools and equipment.

The boat only requires 21 crew members to operate her compared to 85 on the original HMAS Bathurst. The NUSHIP has a displacement of 300 tons 77 tons lighter than the original HMAS Bathurst and is 56.8 metres long.

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