First Armidale Class Patrol Boat Commissioned in Darwin
(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued Jun 23, 2005)
The first of Navy’s Armidale Class Patrol Boats that will be used to protect Australia’s northern coastline was commissioned in a centuries-old traditional ceremony in Darwin today.
Defence Minister Robert Hill attended the commissioning of HMAS Armidale - the first of 12 Armidale Class Patrol Boats designed and built in Australia.
Senator Hill said the aluminum vessels are bigger, faster and more capable than the aging Fremantle Class Patrol Boats and will operate out of Cairns and Darwin armed with the Rafael 25mm Typhoon stabilised cannon and equipped with state of the art communications systems.
The new boats will be able to operate in a greater range of sea conditions and will improve Navy’s capability to intercept and apprehend vessels suspected of illegal fisheries, quarantine, customs or immigration offences.
"This Project is demonstrating the ability of Australian industry to design, construct and deliver an important fleet of ships for the Navy on time, on budget and with excellent capability," Senator Hill said.
Defence contracted Defence Maritime Services (DMS) to deliver the ships as well as provide integrated maintenance, logistic and crew-training support to the vessels throughout their operational lives. DMS subcontracted Austal Ships to build the vessels at its Henderson shipyard in Western Australia.
"The Armidale Class have more modern systems and will be able to operate for longer at sea than the current Fremantle Class Patrol Boats and, have a longer range of some 3,000 nautical miles than the Fremantle Class.
"The new patrol boats will be multi-crewed resulting in benefits from an overall higher usage of the boats and a more coherent training and respite regime for Navy personnel."
The 24 ships company, led by their Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Andrew Maher, RAN, marched onto the ship and hoisted the Australian White Ensign and the Australian National Flag for the first time.
Attending the event was the ship’s Commissioning Lady, Ms Janice Stone, eldest daughter of Ordinary Seaman Donald Raymond Lawson who served on the original HMAS ‘Armidale’, a Bathurst class corvette, during World War II.
Also in attendance was Northern Territory Administrator, Mr Ted Egan, Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie and Acting Maritime Commander, Commodore Peter Lockwood.
The Armidale Class Patrol Boats will be multi-crewed (more crews than boats) using a squadron concept (where a number of crews rotate across a smaller number of boats) resulting in benefits from overall higher usage of the boats and a more coherent training and respite regime for Navy personnel.
The Armidale Class Patrol Boats also have greater cabin and recreation space that will allow crew to perform at their optimum while at sea.
-ends-