Assigned to the naval base HMASCairns, Townsville was primarily assigned to fisheries protection and border patrol operations in northern Australian waters. In December 1981, the patrol boat recaptured an escaping illegal fishing vessel. The next year, she was used for filming of the Patrol Boat television series. Townsville was deployed to Fiji as part of Operation Morris Dance in May 1987.
Townsville was decommissioned in May 2007. The ship was donated to the Townsville Maritime Museum for preservation. Attempts to put the ship on display stalled and the ship fell into disrepair, with the maritime museum acquired by Port of Townsville in 2015.
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 (41.9m)long overall, had a beam of 24.25 feet (7.39m), and a maximum draught of 5.75 feet (1.75m).[2] Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied 3,200 shaft horsepower (2,400kW) 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 (56km/h; 35mph), and had a maximum range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300km; 5,800mi) at 5 knots (9.3km/h; 5.8mph).[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]
Townsville was laid down by North Queensland Engineers and Agents at Cairns, Queensland on 5 March 1979.[5][6] She was launched on 16 May 1981 by the wife of Queensland Governor James Ramsay.[6] The ship was commissioned into the RAN on 18 July 1981, and assigned to the naval base at HMASCairns.[5][6] The patrol boat has variously been nicknamed "The Black Knight Mustang 205" and "Wily Coyote" (the latter after the Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote).[7]
Operational history
Townsville, like all the Fremantle-class vessels, was primarily assigned to fisheries protection and border patrol operations in northern Australian waters.[6] Tasks included boarding and inspection of ships operating in Australian waters, preventing unauthorised arrivals and illegal fishing, intercepting smugglers, and acting in support of Customs and law enforcement operations.[6] Additionally, during the construction of the Fremantle class, Townsville was the designated buddy ship for vessels completing sea trials and initial working up.[citation needed]
On 25 December 1981, Townsville was called on to pursue the Taiwanese fishing vessel Yuan Tsun.[8] The ship, which had been detained in Trinity Inlet after being caught illegally fishing in Australian waters, took the opportunity to escape while most military and law-enforcement personnel were on leave for the Christmas holiday.[8]Townsville maintained pursuit of Yuan Tusn as the ship attempted to escape the Great Barrier Reef, fired several warning shots, and received approval from the Defence Minister to fire directly on the ship before the captain surrendered.[8]
Front (top) and back of commemorative t-shirt for the recapture of Yuan Tusn.
During 1982, Townsville was one of several Fremantles used to depict the fictional HMAS Defiance for filming of the second season of the ABC television series Patrol Boat.[8][9]
In late May 1987, Townsville was deployed to Fiji as part of Operation Morris Dance, as relief for one of the patrol boats sent following the initial coup d'état earlier that month.[10] The Australian government decided on 29 May that the situation had stabilised, with Townsville sailing for home that day.[10]
On 1 June 1990, the patrol boat intercepted a vessel carrying Cambodian refugees off Bathurst Island.[11] The vessel began sinking while the boarding and inspection was underway, with the personnel of Townsville rescuing 45 men, 17 women, and 17 children, and transporting them to Darwin.[11] The following month, the patrol boat was in Nuku'Alofa for celebrations of the King of Tonga's birthday.[12]
In January 1992, Townsville was used as the platform from which a team of clearance divers disposed of undetonated bombs found on Middleton Reef.[13]
In July 1993, Townsville was used for water flow and cavitation experiments on the vessel's propellers.[14] Two windows were inserted into the ship's hull above the propellers to allow filming of these effects.[14]
During February 1994, Townsville visited several Papua New Guinean ports while conducting patrol operations in the Coral Sea.[15]
From 24 to 28 May 1999, the patrol boat operated in the Thursday Islands as part of a sweep for illegal activity.[17]
Decommissioning and fate
In 2007, Townsville was marked for disposal. On 23 April, the Australian Government announced Townsville had been given to the Townsville Maritime Museum as a museum ship, along with $200,000 in funding to build a dry dock for display.[18][19] Another $100,000 was promised by Townsville City Council.[20] The patrol boat was decommissioned at HMAS Cairns on 11 May 2007, in a joint ceremony with HMASIpswich.[21] The two patrol boats were the last of the class in active service.[21]
The vessel is fully operational (minus weaponry), and the museum intended to keep Townsville in a sailable condition, with maintenance undertaken by volunteers.[7][22][23] In addition to being opened for public display, the Townsville Maritime Museum has also been contacted by cadet groups and emergency response organisations wanting to use the vessel for training.[7] While waiting for approval to construct the dry dock adjacent to the museum site, Townsville was berthed at the Curtain Bros. wharf in Ross Creek.[22]
Townsville resting on the bottom at low tide, at the Curtain Bros. wharf.
As of January 2012, construction of the dry dock was scheduled to begin in mid-2012, pending council approval of building plans and the securing of additional funding.[23] By March 2015, approval for the dock had not been granted: the museum blamed the delays on the Port of Townsville and other government authorities for not supporting the project and delaying approvals for a seabed site lease, while the Port of Townsville claimed that the museum had not put forward a viable business plan.[20][24] In the interim, the condition of the patrol boat has deteriorated, with the museum unable to fund maintenance.[20] There are concerns over the condition of Townsville's hull, both from marine growth and from the lack of recent care resulting in the patrol boat resting on the rocky bottom at low tide.[25][26]
Following meetings between the museum, the port authority, the council, and the regional development and tourism organisation, the Port of Townsville offered to take over the museum.[25]
Citations
↑ Mitchell, Farewell to the Fremantle class, p. 105
1 2 3 4 5 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 89
1 2 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 88
↑ Jones, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222
↑ "Farewell to the Fremantle class"(PDF). Semaphore. Sea Power Centre – Royal Australian Navy. 2005 (17). October 2005. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
1 2 Gubb, Mathew (1988). The Australian Military Response to the Fiji Coup, An Assessment. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre Working Paper No. 171. Canberra: Australian National University. p.8. ISBN0-7315-0497-6.
1 2 Bendle et al., Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005, p. 5
↑ Bendle et al., Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005, p. 6
↑ Bendle et al., Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005, p. 14
1 2 Anderson, John (15 March 2011). "Low-key Dawn Service". Townsville Bulletin. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
1 2 Fernbach, Nathalie (9 January 2012). "Patrol boat plans". ABC North Queensland. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
HMAS Advance was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed during 1967 and commissioned into the RAN in 1968, Advance operated from Darwin and patrolled northern Australian waters.
HMAS Aitape was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It was named for the small town of Aitape, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. Completed in 1967, the vessel was one of five assigned to the RAN's Papua New Guinea (PNG) Division. The patrol boat was transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1974 as HMPNGS Aitape. She remained active until 1982, when she was removed from service for use as a parts hulk. Aitape was scuttled off Port Moresby for use as a dive wreck in 1995.
HMAS Aware was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
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The Fremantle-class patrol boats were coastal patrol vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1979 to 2007. Designed by British shipbuilder Brooke Marine and constructed in Australia by North Queensland Engineers and Agents, the Fremantle class were larger, more powerful, and more capable than the preceding Attack class, and the two primary patrol boat bases required infrastructure upgrades to support them. Although up to 30 vessels were planned, fifteen were ordered and constructed, with an unexercised option for five more.
The Armidale class is a class of patrol boats built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Planning for a class of vessels to replace the fifteen Fremantle-class patrol boats began in 1993 as a joint project with the Royal Malaysian Navy, but was cancelled when Malaysia pulled out of the process. The project was reopened in 1999 under the designation SEA 1444, with the RAN as the sole participant. Of the seven proposals tendered, the Austal/Defence Maritime Services (DMS) proposal for twelve vessels based on an enlarged Bay-class patrol boat was selected. Two additional boats were ordered in 2005 to provide a dedicated patrol force for the North West Shelf Venture.
HMAS Bendigo was a Fremantle-class patrol boat serving in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
The Australian Patrol Boat Group is a Force Element Group (FEG) of the Royal Australian Navy. It manages the Navy's patrol boats.
HMAS Wollongong, named for the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, was one of fifteen Fremantle-class patrol boats to operate with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Wollongong is the only RAN vessel to have appeared in two television series, portraying a fictional Fremantle-class patrol boat in both.
HMAS Ipswich, named for the city of Ipswich, Queensland, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HMAS Cessnock, named for the city of Cessnock, New South Wales was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HMAS Bundaberg, named after the city of Bundaberg, was an Armidale class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was built in Henderson, Western Australia, and was commissioned into the RAN in March 2007. Based at HMAS Cairns, Bundaberg spent much of her career deployed as part of border protection and fisheries protection patrols as part of Operation Resolute. In addition, the patrol boat was involved in several national and multinational training exercises, visited Vanuatu in 2011, tracked a suspected drug-smuggling vessel that led to a multimillion-dollar seizure, and participated in the International Fleet Review 2013. In August 2014, a large fire broke out on the ship while she was undergoing refit. Extensive damage from the fire led to the ship's decommissioning in December 2014.
HMAS Whyalla, named for the city of Whyalla, South Australia, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HMAS Fremantle, named for the city of Fremantle, Western Australia, was the lead ship of the Fremantle-class patrol boats, entering service in the Royal Australian Navy in 1980 and decommissioning in 2006. Fremantle was the only ship of the class not constructed in Australia, and it is claimed that her delivery voyage was the longest ever made by a patrol boat.
HMAS Bunbury, named for the city of Bunbury, Western Australia, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HMAS Gawler, named for the town of Gawler, South Australia was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HMAS Gladstone, named for the city of Gladstone, Queensland, is a Fremantle-class patrol boat, formerly of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by North Queensland Engineers and Agents during the early 1980s, Gladstone was commissioned into RAN service in 1984.
HMAS Warrnambool, named after the city of Warrnambool, Victoria, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
NQEA Pty Ltd is an engineering and shipbuilding company based in Cairns, Australia. The company was founded in 1948 as an engineering supply company named North Queensland Engineers & Agents, then expanded in 1966 into shipbuilding and was renamed.
Bendle, Vanessa; Griffin, David; Laurence, Peter; McMillan, Richard; Mitchell, Brett; Nasg, Greg; Perryman, John; Stevens, David; Wheate, Nial (2005). Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005(PDF). Working Papers. Vol.18. Canberra, ACT: Sea Power Centre – Australia. ISBN0642296235. Archived from the original(PDF) on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946. Brookvale, NSW: Child & Associates. ISBN0-86777-219-0. OCLC23470364.
Jones, Peter (2001). "Towards Self Reliance". In Stevens, David (ed.). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-555542-2. OCLC50418095.
Mitchell, Brett (2007). "Farewell to the Fremantle Class". In Forbes, Andrew; Lovi, Michelle (eds.). Australian Maritime Issues 2006(PDF). Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Sea Power Centre – Australia. ISBN978-0-642-29644-3. ISSN1327-5658. Archived from the original(PDF) on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
The chapter is available separately as Semaphore, Issue 17, 2005 in PDF and HTML formats.
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