Ivan Lindsay Hope was born in Wynyard, Tasmania on 28 May 1927, one of the members of the large family of a local farmer, Denis Hope and his wife Thirza Mahala (nee Reeve).
When he enlisted in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve on 2 May 1945 he described himself as a factory hand, later on he would work as a carpenter.
After spending time at the naval bases HMAS Huon in Hobart and HMAS Penguin in Sydney Ivan joined the corvette HMAS Warrnambool as a Stoker in March 1946. During that year the ship was engaged in mine clearance work in the Solomon and New Guinea Islands.
HMAS Warrnambool was one of sixty Australian Minesweepers (commonly known as corvettes) built in Sydney at Mort’s Dock and Engineering Co. Ltd. She was commissioned on 23 September 1941 and was engaged in patrols in Bass Strait before proceeding to northern Australian waters. Late in 1942 she transferred to the Australian east coast.
Ivan was discharged on 26 March 1947, not long before the Warrnambool was lost in the Great Barrier Reef when it struck a mine while engaged in mine clearance work and sank on 13 September 1947.
He returned to Wynyard where he married Trixie Jean Lowrie on 28 December 1949. He died on 21 August 2015 and is buried at Wynyard.
