HMAS Dubbo (FCPB 214)

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History
Naval Ensign of Australia.svgAustralia
NamesakeCity of Dubbo
BuilderNorth Queensland Engineers and Agents
Laid down9 August 1982
Launched21 January 1984
Commissioned10 March 1984
Decommissioned2 February 2007
Homeport HMAS Coonawarra
Motto"Fight to the Finish"
Honours and
awards		One inherited battle honour
FateScrapped
Badge HMAS dubbo crest.png
General characteristics
Class and type Fremantle-class patrol boat
Displacement220 tons
Length137.6 ft (41.9 m)
Beam25.25 ft (7.70 m)
Draught5.75 ft (1.75 m)
Propulsion2 MTU series 538 diesel engines, 3,200 shp (2,400 kW), 2 propellers
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph)
Complement22
Armament
  • One general purpose 40 mm/60 Bofors gun
  • Two 12.7 mm machine guns
  • One 81 mm mortar (removed later)

HMAS Dubbo (FCPB 214), named for the city of Dubbo, New South Wales, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Contents

Design and construction

Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the Attackclass, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment. [1] The Fremantles had a full load displacement of 220 tonnes (220 long tons; 240 short tons), were 137.6 feet (41.9 m) long overall, had a beam of 24.25 feet (7.39 m), and a maximum draught of 5.75 feet (1.75 m). [2] Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied 3,200 shaft horsepower (2,400 kW) to the two propeller shafts. [2] Exhaust was not expelled through a funnel, like most ships, but through vents below the waterline. [3] The patrol boat could reach a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and had a maximum range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). [2] The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel. [2] Each patrol boat was armed with a single 40 mm Bofors gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81-mm mortar, [2] although the mortar was removed from all ships sometime after 1988.[ citation needed ] The main weapon was originally to be two 30-mm guns on a twin-mount, but the reconditioned Bofors were selected to keep costs down; provision was made to install an updated weapon later in the class' service life, but this did not eventuate. [3] [4]

Dubbo was laid down by North Queensland Engineers and Agents at Cairns, Queensland on 9 August 1982, launched on 21 January 1984 in the presence of Thomas Arthur Slattery and Joan Slattery, then Mayor and Mayoress of Dubbo,[ citation needed ] and commissioned into the RAN on 10 March 1984. [5]

Operational history

Fate

Dubbo was decommissioned at HMAS Coonawarra on 2 February 2007, and was the last ship of her class to be stationed at Coonawarra. [6] The patrol boat was broken up for scrap in Darwin during 2006 and 2007, at a cost of $450,000 to the Australian government. [7]

Citations

  1. ↑ Mitchell, Farewell to the Fremantle class, p. 105
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 89
  3. 1 2 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 88
  4. ↑ Jones, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222
  5. ↑ Moore, Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86, p. 26
  6. ↑ http://www.defence.gov.au/media/AlertTpl.cfm?CurrentId=6342 [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Australian National Audit Office (5 February 2015), Management of the Disposal of Specialist Military Equipment (Report), Government of Australia, p. 63, retrieved 24 April 2015

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References


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