HMAS Gawler (FCPB 212)

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of Australia.svgAustralia
NamesakeTown of Gawler
Builder NQEA, Cairns
Laid down18 January 1982
Launched9 July 1983
Commissioned27 August 1983
Decommissioned8 July 2006
Motto"Serve With Pride"
Honours and
awards
Three inherited battle honours
FateScrapped
Badge HMAS gawler 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

HMAS Gawler (FCPB 212), named for the town of Gawler, South Australia 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 Bofors 40mm 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]

Gawler was laid down by NQEA in Cairns, Queensland on 18 January 1982, launched on 9 July 1983, and commissioned into the RAN on 27 August 1983. [5]

Fate

Gawler was decommissioned at HMAS Coonawarra on 8 July 2006. [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. "HMAS Gawler (II)". navy.gov.au. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. Australian National Audit Office (5 February 2015), Management of the Disposal of Specialist Military Equipment (Report), Government of Australia, p. 62, retrieved 24 April 2015

Related Research Articles

HMAS Acute was an Attack-class patrol boat operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Adroit</i> (P 82)

HMAS Adroit was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Assail</i> (P 89)

HMAS Assail was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS Barricade was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS Bombard was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

<i>Fremantle</i>-class patrol boat Patrol boat class of the Royal Australian Navy

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 NQEA, 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.

HMAS <i>Bendigo</i> (FCPB 211)

HMAS Bendigo was a Fremantle-class patrol boat in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Dubbo</i> (FCPB 214)

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

HMAS <i>Wollongong</i> (FCPB 206)

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 <i>Ipswich</i> (FCPB 209)

HMAS Ipswich, named for the city of Ipswich, Queensland, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Townsville</i> (FCPB 205)

HMAS Townsville, named for the city of Townsville, Queensland, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by NQEA, Cairns, the ship was laid down in 1979, and commissioned into the RAN in 1981.

HMAS <i>Cessnock</i> (FCPB 210)

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

HMAS Whyalla, named for the city of Whyalla, South Australia, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Fremantle</i> (FCPB 203)

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 <i>Bunbury</i> (FCPB 217)

HMAS Bunbury, named for the city of Bunbury, Western Australia, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Gladstone</i> (FCPB 216)

HMAS Gladstone, named for the city of Gladstone, Queensland, is a Fremantle-class patrol boat, formerly of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by NQEA during the early 1980s, Gladstone was commissioned into RAN service in 1984.

HMAS <i>Geraldton</i> (FCPB 213)

HMAS Geraldton, named for the port city of Geraldton, Western Australia, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Geelong</i> (FCPB 215)

HMAS Geelong, named for the city of Geelong, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Launceston</i> (FCPB 207) Australian patrol boat

HMAS Launceston, named for the city of Launceston, Tasmania, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

HMAS <i>Warrnambool</i> (FCPB 204)

HMAS Warrnambool, named after the city of Warrnambool, Victoria, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

References